Brew hot, then cold

[ShadowCat]

Ok....so I have a crazy idea. Start with a multi-temp yeast, like Nottingham dry, do a 1 week primary fermentation at 70 degrees and then cool to a 50-55 degree secondary fermentation. (repitching if needed).

Anyone have any thoughts or experiance with this?

[dogismycopilot]

Probably better to switch those temps. Start lower, then raise to let the yeast clean up after themselves.

[spiderwrangler]

What is your goal with this ferm profile? What are you looking to get out of it?

[Kbar]

Both are good statements and question by the previous poster. I do agree with "dogismycopilot", swith them around. My best beers (ales) start low for 2-4 days and then ramp up slowly.

[Ozwald]

Both are good statements and question by the previous poster. I do agree with "dogismycopilot", swith them around. My best beers (ales) start low for 2-4 days and then ramp up slowly.

While I agree with switch them around as in start low & finish higher, I wouldn't start as low as 50-55 unless I was planning on a greatly extended primary that could be significantly shortened with no ill effect (depending on style) by doing the primary anywhere between 62-66 (again, depending on style). I see no issues letting the primary ramp to 70 after fermentation has subsided. I don't believe in secondaries for yeast issues such as 'letting them finish up', only for aging on things such as fruit or wood.

[fistwizard]

from chris white on fermentation timeline- doesn't exactly line up with OP's timeline or possible thought process but can be done wihout detriment:

http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/Yeast_Life_Cycle.pdf


"The lag phase can be carried out at a higher temperature than the rest of fermentation because very little flavor compounds are produced. Ethanol production is also very limited, therefore ester formation is not a concern. Some brewers begin the lag phase for ales at 72-75F, and complete the fermentation at 68F. This can be done with success for lagers too, with starting the lag phase at 72-75F and lowering the fermentation temperature to 50-55F."

[spiderwrangler]

I'm still interested to know what he wants to get out of doing hot then cold. General consensus will say switch temp profile, but with the thing Fistie posted, I was wondering if the OP was looking to speed things up by fermenting 'hot'. Going hotter during the lag phase seems like it would be difficult to monitor, and would require some pretty good temp control to get it down afterwards, it seems like any speed benefits would be minor. Decreasing your lag phase from 3-15 hours to 2-10 hours doesn't really get you anywhere... unless there are other benefits in terms of yeast uptake and overall health. If the OP is going for speed, he'd get it at a hot ferment... along with lots of unpleasant byproducts that won't get cleaned up in the conditioning... That being said, 70 isn't all that high, not like he's wanting to ferment at 85 for 2 days...

[fistwizard]

i'm also curious of the rationale. it's unlikely op was specifically targeting lag phase- maybe i was just trying to advocate the original idea was not as "crazy" as assumed.

i agree that trying to abbreviate the lag period may complicate things unnecessarily, and the fermentation schedule as originally posted could be a recipe for higher alcohol formation.

hoping the op will chime in so i can pass judgment on whether or not he is actually crazy.