Your Yeast and Cold Weather

I have been brewing beer for over twenty years. When it gets cold outside, the places where we typically ferment our beer also gets cold. Last Sunday, we brewed a batch of Chocolate Bock and I decided keep the fermentor on the kitchen counter until the following morning when the fermentation was off to a good start. I later put the fermenter in our pantry so it would remain at a good fermentation temperature. (our pantry is now my "aroma therapy" on steroids!)

Stanton, a very accomplished homebrewer, told me about a "miracle" product that saved me several boil-overs and now, a foam over from a high gravity brew fermenting in glass, in my pantry. It's called FermCap-S As the foam in my 6.5 gallon glass carboy was approaching the top, I put 3-4 drops of FermCap S in the fermentor and the head dropped down to about an inch of foam. Amazing! If you haven't seen this work and you're tired of boil-overs and foam-overs, be sure to get a bottle from Barley & Vine today and use it in your next batch. (click here for details)

Another item to consider using is a "Brew Belt".  Simply belt this handy item around your fermentor and plug it into an outlet. It will keep your brew nice and warm so the yeast will be on their merry way fermenting your brew as if it were summertime!
(click here for details on the Brewing Belt)

I also found that a better than normal batch of yeast must go into your fresh brewed beer. Some brewers grab two packs of yeast to keep things simple. Yes it costs a dollar or two more, but your yeast will thank you! Another plan it to use a yeast starter. Barley & Vine has a good price on growlers and both 1L and 2L Erlenmeyer flasks.
(For details with pictures on making your yeast starter...)