Delayed paradise

It's pretty cold outside. We got a couple inches of snow around here in some spots, and the roads are pretty slick.

It's pretty cold inside, too. At least my yeast seems to think so.

NOT AS COLD AS JUSTICE

I noticed this morning, before I left for work, that the persistent bubbling had stopped in my airlock. The warm glow around the top of the bucket was gone. It was cold, but I didn't have time to fix it. I nudged it a few times, provided exhortations on productivity and teamwork, and went on my way.

I got back from hockey practice tonight and saw it was still halted. I whipped off the top and took measurements with my (sanitized!) thermometer and hydrometer. The hydrometer read a specific gravity of 1.018-- not quite where I want to be when I rack this thing to the secondary fermenter for conditioning. It's not quite done fermenting yet. And the thermometer told me why: 59 degrees F, on the very low end of the range for the yeast.

A quick search on Homebrew Talk showed that many people have ways of controlling temperature in cold conditions, like blankets or even heating blankets. So, I parked my bucket in the bathroom (which is always warm) and wrapped it with a towel. Hopefully, I can find ways to keep Rhys out of it for about 48 hours. Then we'll see if I got anywhere.


EDIT:

YOU EITHER DIE A HERO OR LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO BE THE HERO AGAIN

It worked! Well, I hope it did. The airlock is bubbling along this morning. The question remains: is it because of the Ideal Gas Law (increase in temp is causing an increase in volume and expelling gas from the headspace) or because of fermentation? Tonight, I'll check the specific gravity. If it's lower than 1.018, we'll have our answer.