So I brewed on Saturday. Everything went smoothly, but than Sunday came and it hit 94*. I didn’t think much about it, my closet has always been cool enough for fermentation. I failed the carbometter went of the scale, above 80*. I moved the beer to an ice batch and it’s sitting at 68*.
My question is should I call it a wash a dump the wort out, or try repitching. The only other time I had to repitch the beer was contaminated.
Thanks for any help.
Unless the temp got over 115 F, you didn’t kill the yeast.
Well it didn’t get that high. But the foam “Creson?” wen’t up and down in about four hours, not two to three days, and now i’m seeing no signs of active fermentation.
I just realized that i spent about 15 minutes swirling the carboy after pitching, and that is a new practice for me. Could all this just be me experiencing how the yeast works with well aerated wort?
Maybe, but it’s more likely due to a high fermentation temp.
Thank you Denny! Now I can go to work and not worry about my beer.
Never worry about homebrew.
If this batch has off-flavors from fermentation - figure out how to keep the temp steady and brew again.
Yeah I bet there is gonna be some solventy off-flavors if the temp got that high.
Your yeast didn’t die, but it may smell like it did.
94 is cool for summer here in Texas. Actually we are enjoying a “cold front” this week with highs in the mid-90s. Last Saturday when I was Austin it was 106.
Your yeast is probably ok. It may not be the best batch you’ve ever brewed but probably not the worst you will ever brew, either.
Similar thing happened to me once. Brewed an ale in July. Put it in the fridge I use to ferment. It was at about 65 or so. Went on vacation for a week. While I was gone a storm hit, knocked the power out for a day or so. The beer sat at probably 80-85 for that time. There was beer all over the fridge, I guess the yeast went nuts the first few hours as it got warmer and warmer. I bottled what was left. Far from perfect, but still drinkable.
I would never dump a batch without at first tasting it. Let it finish, taste it when you check the gravity and you’ll have a sense if it’s worth keeping.
If it is, package it.
Chances are it will not taste like you intended and it will have some solventy alcohol flavors.
If you choose to dump it, you’ll at least have gotten a sense of what flavors to expect from high fermentation temps.
One thing to note if it does have solvent flavors is that fusel alcohol can give you a whopper of a headache. I’ve been there, don’t want to go back.
RDWHAHB has become a taunt for me. I am still new to the hobby, haven’t done 20 batches yet. I need to accept the fact that I am still learning. It would have been so easy to just set up an ice bath, five extra minutes at the end. Oh well, next time.
I removed the blow off bucket and put on the fermentation cap last night. It’s going up and down, so my yeast is still alive. I’ll brew this same recipe next time, a lil more cautiously, and compare the two to see what differences happen with a high fermentation temp.
Dude, don’t “accept” that there’s a lot to learn, EMBRACE it! I was your age when I started brewing. Got starter equipment and a couple “kits” as a birthday present. There is SO much more free info out there now than even existed 20 years ago that, if you’re committed, you’ll be brewing good beer soon. Then comes the challenge of learning how to brew GREAT beer ! Hang in there.
+1 - mastering a craft is just that. Mastering. Which takes a lifetime. Luckily, once you manage to get a handle on fermentation temps and yeast pitching your beer will taste like you are a master! Not too difficult to figure out. Keep the temp of most ale fermentations in the low to mid 60’s and pitch the proper amount if yeast - see yeast pitching calc at www. Mrmalty.com. Be sure that you manage the temp of the fermentation, which will be 4-6+ degrees over ambient at high krausen (a stick on “fermometer” will give you a close indication of the actual temp of fern ration). Be sure to cool your wort down to pitching tomes FIRST before aerating and pitching your yeast. Never pitch over 72, and preferably pitch a few degrees below intended ferm temp. You get those part nailed and you’ll be maki g some incredible beers.
All so true Hoosier. I have a lifetime of brewing ahead of me and I know this wont be the last time a blunder on something. But the best part of this mistake is I caught it, so I wont let it happen again.
Also thank you Major, I have been doing things a bit different than you’re saying I should be. I’ll tweak my system a bit to see if that helps make my beer better.
This will be the loveliest 4th in quite a while: 93F and below 30% humidity. Beautiful clear skies with a light chance of rain after 7pm. Here in Tx it is not much different than the rest of the South when it comes to home brewing- normally we have about 4 months in which to brew without some form of temp control. :-\
My thinking is that someone new to homebrewing and already thinking this is gonna be a lifetime pursuit should bite the bullet and buy or assemble some temperature control. I’m talking doing it right and using a freezer or fridge to control the fermentation of your beer. And I would do it before there are any more upgrades such as kegging or larger kettles or going all-grain etc…
Read the “Beat the Heat” article that is down a ways. The author was from TX, and has some good solutions.
Tried the beer today, it does have some weird after taste. But hop flavor came through. In the past month I got a mini fridge from a garage sale, and started converting it to a temp control unit.
My next batch will be the same exact recipe, but with better control of temp. I am excited about trying this recipe with clean flavors.