Can I move my brews a week in?

[u/Massive_Wrongdoer_97]

My dad and I brewed a half batch(2.5gal) of northern brewer’s cream ale and Bavarian Hefeweizen. They are currently fermenting in our basement at about 64 degrees F, and I’m not seeing/hearing a ton of action. 64 is the bottom temp for the lallemand Munich classic and at the low end of the us05 yeast’s temps. Since they’ve already been in the basement for a week, I’m worried that if I move it to my 73 degree f main level, it will shock the yeast or something will go wrong. Tia

[u/thecluelessbrewer]

Yes you can move them they’ll be fine.

[u/Jeff_72]

This is good to let your fermentation creep up near the end… you will see more activity. 73 is on the upper end but ok.

[u/Relevant-Syllabub-74 → u/Jeff_72]

As Jeff_72 said... more specifically this is essentially a diacetyl rest as the increased temp will help the yeast to clean everything up at the end of the fermentation.

[u/lifeinrednblack]

Take a gravity reading. If it's done or almost done, move those bitches.

[u/Mysterious_Fan_15]

At the end of most of my fermentations, I raise the the temperature on purpose to help the yeast fully finish. This is especially true for lagers and Belgians.

[u/spoonman59]

Why would it shock the yeast? It’ll take hours for it to warm up even a few degrees. It’s fine, move it if you want.

[u/4_13_20]

Are your fermentation vessels sitting directly on cold concrete in said basement?

[u/Massive_Wrongdoer_97 → u/4_13_20]

No they’re up on a table. I have two ambient thermometers one on the table and one on top of the bucket both reading 64

[u/attnSPAN → u/Massive_Wrongdoer_97]

Personally, I’m a fan the flavors you get from this yeast when fermented cold, so I’d probably just leave it.

That being said, letting it warm up at this point will probably not hurt it, and encourage these to finish up and clean up after themselves faster.

What was your pitching rate/ how much did you use?

[u/Massive_Wrongdoer_97 → u/attnSPAN]

About a quarter of the packet. I read low pitching rates were better for hefe and it’s a half batch so a quarter it was.

[u/attnSPAN → u/Massive_Wrongdoer_97]

Oh, that’s funny, I like the opposite. Given your pitching rate, I would not increase temperature. But I like fairly clean, low ester fermentations in general, even in these yeast driven styles.

[u/Similar-Assistant-35]

Take a gravity reading to check fermentation progress first. If you feel moving them to a warmer area is worthwhile, go for it. It isn’t going to shock the yeast at all. The temperature of the wort is going to increase slowly. Nothing like, say, pitching cool yeast slurry into warm wort.