I've brewed between 5-10 all grain beers and all have suffered for "off" flavors, with some being drinkable and some going down the sink.  Research has led me to believe my biggest issue is fermentation temperature.  

Today, I ordered a stainless steel fermenter and a thermowell.  I already have an Inkbird controller.  Once I get the fermenter and can measure it, I'll buy a small chest freezer to use as a fermentation chamber.  

I'm a high ABV, dark beer fan, stuff like Imperial Stouts and Barleywines and brewing a good version of each is a long-term goal.  For this first beer with temperature controlled fermentation, I'm brewing an American Pale Ale, which is basically a clone of Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale.  

I'll report back on how much difference, if any, this new equipment makes.

Following with interest.

Good luck!

You should not need a controlled temperature fermentation for an APA unless you live in a very hot climate.  The vast majority of faults leading to undrinkable beer are related to sanitation.

I've mostly brewed dark beers, but the two lighter beers that were comparable to a Pale Ale that I brewed were the best, so it does seem they are more resistant to temperature issues.  My darkest beers have been the most problematic.

One of the reasons I'm starting with a lighter beer is that the darker beers I like need to age, sometimes for months, so this Pale Ale is something I can drink relatively quickly and find out if off flavors are reduced.  

I know that based on our house temperature and taking into account the thermic effect of fermentation, I'm probably fermenting, at least initially, in the mid-to-high 70's and the yeasts I've used have all had recommended temps in the 60's.  

You might look at this guide.  If you can find it the Fermentis SafAle US-05 might be able to solve your problems with a lot less hassle than a temperature-controlled fermenter.  

https://expertbrewing.com/high-temperature-yeast-strains-for-brewing/

It looks like Norther Brewer even carries it.

https://www.northernbrewer.com/products/safale-us-05-american-ale-yeast

Well, I don't have the fermenter yet, but I got the fermentation chamber ( ie, chest freezer) this weekend and I can say it works at making tempeh, which requires fermentation at a specific temperature range.

I do plan to switch to US-05 for the foreseeable future.  I want both the neutral and the temperature aspect of it.

If all goes well, I'll brew an American Pale Ale this weekend.  It's a slightly modified version of Sierra Nevada's recipe.

Ferment some malted barley that has been smoked over peat, then you take that and.. Oh, never mind.

I received my fermenter yesterday and the first temp controlled batch is fermenting!  

I saw the UPS guy carrying the box to my porch and I thought it was the wrong product.  I didn't realize how small a 4-gallon fermenter would be!!

Eight gallon brew kettle and four gallon fermenter, sitting on a 5.0 cu/ft chest freezer

Attached File



Raw ingredients

Attached File


Strike temperature achieved!

Attached File



Ready for the grain


Attached File


Beersmith nailed the strike temp in order to achieve mash temp!

Attached File


Mashing Attached File



Ready for the first hop addition.

Attached File



In the fermenter!

Attached File


Attached File

I just saw proof that fermentation is ongoing!

And I really just made this post to see if my new Avatar is showing up.

Well, how did fermentation go?

Building a keezer now..  Think I need to invest in a small freezer as well.

So far, I am VERY optimistic.  

It took a bit for fermentation to be visible, but I've never fermented at that low a temperature before.

My OG was 1.060 and FG was 1.011 for 6.4% ABV.

My set-up was a 5.0 cubic foot freezer with a Fermwrap, which is just a plastic sheet with heating elements built in, loosely surrounding the fermenter.  The fermenter is SS with a thermowell extending well in the center of the wort.  An Inkbird was the controller.  

Over two weeks of fermentation, the temperature never varied by more than 1 degree F, which was very impressive to me.  I bottled the beer this morning and even flat and at room temperature, it tasted like an American Pale Ale.  I can't wait for it to carbonate, get some maturation on it and to get cold, so I can finally see what I've created.

Later today, or tomorrow, I'm going to brew a Hazy IPA and if that goes well, I'll tackle something dark, like a barleywine, porter or stout.

I brewed a New England Hazy IPA yesterday and since I lack a chilling system, I used an ice bath to get it down to around 120 F and then transferred to the fermenter and placed it in the freezer with the Inkbird set at my pitching temperature of 66 F.  It took until this morning to reach pitching temperature and it's now fermenting.  OG = 1.057 or 1.058.  Predicted OG was 1.059.

Looks like a good setup.
I've fermented US05 all over the place, and it is definitely temp sensitive.  I like 68; I feel it is pretty clean there.  I would absolutely not run it into the mid to upper 70's personally.

Just some additional comments....

How steady is your mash temp?  You could probably hold it better in a cooler converted to be a mashtun.
Temp controlled fermentation; very important, you are addressing that.
How are you packaging?  Cold side oxygen exposure (or lack thereof) is very important for any kind of hop forward beer.  Until you can do very low or zero oxygen packaging, in my opinion your quality level on beers of this type will be capped.

If you can describe the off flavors and end to end process, it might help.

Professional brewer of 10 yrs here, breweries small, and with national distribution.

Anyway, temp control, pitch rate, and basic pH controls are king. There are creative ways to do cooling of a fermentation beyond a fridge/freezer. I am out of brewing at this point, exited the industry for better work/life balance last year.

If you want to ask questions. PM me.

Quick update:

I screwed up and totally oxidized the Hazy IPA.  I put it in a 70 degree fermentation chamber to help with carbonation, but didn't stop to think that 70 degrees is the middle of the wort in the fermenter and the Hazy IPA was in the open, with the fermentation heater right next to it.  Way hotter than 70 degrees, I'm sure.  It turned a remarkable shade of bronze.  Oh well, it was a good Hazy IPA, so I know my processes (other than the bone-headed move of putting it in the fermentation chamber) are good.  

The American Pale Ale clone, which was the first I brewed with temperature controlled fermentation, came out better than I originally thought.  I'm pretty sure it's a recipe problem, not a process problem.  I was conservative on the hops and way under hopped, resulting in an overly sweet beer.  The malt backbone of an American Pale Ale is there, it's just not balance with any bitterness or hop flavor.  

Yesterday, I bottled an 8.3% ABV Barleywine.  This is the first one I plan to try and wait out.  I'll try one every two weeks and see how it ages over the months.

Today, I brewed a stout, using the recipe from the Tree House Brewing Yahoo channel.  The wort was delicious.  I've made this recipe once, but ended up with fusel alcohol/solvent flavor and aroma.  

Finally, I went back and tested bottles of a SMASH beer and a brown ale that I brewed to guidelines, rather than a recipe. Both are drinkable, which I hadn't thought was the case, earlier.  

I think my plan is to let the stout ferment and once it's bottled, I'll put all of the other beers (SMASH, brown ale, Barleywine, American Pale Ale) in the freezer at a good refrigerator temperature.  Once the stout has had time to carbonate.  I'll add it, as well. I've been thinking that I would have better results if I can store finished beer at cooler than room temperatures, but haven't figured out how I might do that, equipment-wise.