First ever brew....a few questions

That would depend on how warm the wort/beer is getting. You can make it pretty warm without harming the yeast, but what's best for the yeast isn't usually what's best for the beer. For the yeast that came with the kit, you probably want to keep the fermentation temp below 70F. That's fermentation temp, not ambient temp. When the fermentation is active, it will be a few degrees above ambient, because fermentation produces heat. Based on your description of your house temps, I would not add any heat at all.

Have you informed the yeast about your schedule? JK. But the yeast will determine when fermentation is finished (you can measure that with a hydrometer) and when an off flavors have been cleaned up (taste the beer). Kit instructions generally suck.

You can cold crash if you want. It depends on how clear you want the beer to be, and how fast you need that to happen. But note that cold crashing can suck oxygen back into the fermenter if you have no way to prevent it. So it's a tradeoff. Regarding "clean up," cold crashing will help make the beer clear, but it won't clean up off flavors. You should make sure that "clean up" is done before you crash.

Yes. It's also true that longer time (at any temp) will help clear the beer, compared with a shorter time. It's a function of time and gravity. Cold crashing can accelerate that.

If you're kegging, you don't need priming sugar, because the CO2 will force carbonate the beer. You can carbonate with priming sugar in a keg if you want. Most people don't. If you think you need to cold crash, you can skip that separate step when kegging if you want, because you can effectively cold crash in the keg while carbonating, then pull off the stuff that settled out with the first pint or so of finished beer.

 

If you are talking 5 gal batches then a 5 gal carboy is not the right size. You need headspace for the krausen to expand . . . typically that's done in a 6.5 gal bucket/carboy. Sounds like you got away with it, but brewing a smaller amount or larger fermenter is the safe way to go.

As Vikeman note, the yeast do their thing independent of kit instructions. Typically active fermentation will take 5-7 days, and conditioning another 5-7 but each batch is different. When you think active fermentation is over take a gravity reading and compare to target FG, then another reading 2-3 days later. Repeat this until grav no longer drops . . . then they are done.

Temp control is one of the most important and difficult variables to manage. Fermentation will raise temp 2-6 degrees initially, then it will reduce to ambient. Each strain may be different and your ambient room temp is changing plus changes in liquid temps are slow. This is like shooting a duck from a moving airplane in gusty winds . . . you want to lead it but nothing linear going on here. Until you get a dedicated ferm fridge and thermowell this will always haunt you. A poor man's approach is putting the primary in a tub of water and managing the water temp. You'll need some sort of thermometer attached to primary/tub . . . this is tricky but can be made to work. Remember, it the yeast ain't happy, then nobody's happy.

Kegs are good . . . drop in on Home Bar for lots of discussion on the subject. But until you get one, it will be the bottling bucket and added sugar.

 

@Levithan9 did your kit come with a hydrometer and test jar? If not, now would be a good time to get one at a homebrew shop, or off the internet (MoreBeer, Amazon, Northern Brewer, etc). You want the triple-scale type that measures specific gravity for beer, wine, mead etc. You don't want an alcohol meter, which looks similar but is used for distilled spirits.
Hydrometers on Amazon

 

Something no one has mentioned yet is that you may be damaging the glass by putting something nearly 200 degrees hotter than it and the liquid it's holding on your carboy. Some people have had glass carboys shatter for nearly no reason, some have used them for years without issue, but I don't think putting that kind of heat on it is a good idea.

 

Amen brother. If you need external heating try an electric blanket or heating pad. They are made for human skin contact and will certainly do the job.

 

Yep I use a heating pad, I just set the fermentor on top of it and put it on the lowest heat selection and the Ink bird turns it on/off based on the desired temp I’ve selected. The Inkbird also has an outlet for the deep freeze as well and cycles it too. Keeps the selected temp pretty close.