Yes, more details on the flavor as weizen yeast does contribute specific flavors.
Also, for temperature control, try doing a swamp cooler and a wet t-shirt around the fermentor. I set my fermentor in a rope bucket with water in it and a wet t shirt draped around the fermentor. In the summer I put bottles of frozen water in the bucket every 8-10 hours and have a small desk fan pointed at it as well. I can easily keep the beer around 65 or lower.
Weizen yeast does give off certain flavors depending on fermentation temperature, the temperature at which you pitched the yeast, how much yeast was pitched and possibly other factors. The more information you can provide about your process the better.
@morticaixavier, i can’t describe the taste exactly…didn’t bring up anything familiar and i think i’m not good at that! haha
@bboy9000, never worried about temperature control. I think i will buy one of those big thermal bags. I pitched at around 22C and the quantity was the appropriate for 5 gallons (11.5g).
I used my chiller and it went down to something like 29C then i isolated it with the airlock and pitched only next day (22C).
Probably i will buy one of these big bags and use frozen bottles.
Do yout guys think its all lost? Seriously, i don’t believe in contamination…but who knows?
You are simply not going to make good beer fermenting at 25C. For a weizen you’d really be better off pitching and fermenting at around 15-16C. Most ales you will find do well at 18-19C but too much warmer than 20C and you will start having all kinds of off flavors. Fermentation must be kept cool, and you also must remember that it is the temp of the beer you must control, not ambient. Fermentation is exothermic so it generates its own heat and can be much warmer than the ambient temp.
The swamp cooler method is a good approach but a dedicated freezer or fridge with external temp control is ideal. The other exception to the rule might be saison yeast strains which do better at warmer temps.
Weizen strains are different than cleaner ale strains. It should have a banana and clove character from the yeast. At as warm as you are talking about though it may have a ton of banana character or may just have a bunch of muddied flavors that don’t stand out.
Finally, make sure your hydrometer is calibrated. I don’t have one hydrometer in my arsenal that reads accurately. I have some off as much as 4 points. Put the hydromter in a flask of distilled or even tap water and take a reading. If it is off either subtract or minus depending.
I agree the flavors you are experiencing are probably due to the high fermentation temperatures. Good temp control is important for good beer! A dedicated chamber with temp control is ideal but if it’s not in the budget then a swamp cooler set up with ice bottles is the next best thing.
As for finishing that low, it’s most likely due to mashing lower than you should have so in addition to verifying your hydrometer, do the same with your thermometer. There is a big difference in a few degrees as to the fermentability of the wort you create.
I tasted it today and i think Its a fruity flavor. So Its probably the temperature.
@duboman, you mean my meshing temperature was lower than expected? Could you explain about the relation between it and the low gravity or post a link to some explanation?
Also, should i verify If the hydrometer and thermometer are measuring correctly?
Mash temperatures affect the makeup of sugars in the wort. Lower temps tend to encourage the formation of shorter, more fermentable sugars so a lower final gravity. Higher mash temps tend the other way.
By verifying that your thermometer is correct AT MASH TEMPS you will be better able to accurately control this.
By verifying that your hydrometer is accurate (measure the gravity of the purest water you have access to, it should be very nearly 1.000. Any deviation can be accounted for in future measurments) you can ensure what you are seeing is correct.
I using a biab system and i was checking the mashing temperature all the time, so i THINK it was ok. Also, my gravity was near the expected in my recipe. Is there another way to know i did something wrong?
I checked my thermometer temp using the water boiling temp and it was ok for my altitude. I will recheck! I also checked the hydrometer with my water and it was pretty close to 1. So i don’t think that’s a problem
The trick with checking a thermometer is that they do not always respond linearly. While it may read ~100c at boiling (adjusted for altitude as you mention) it may not read 0c in ice water. And if it reads correctly both at boiling and freezing, there is still no surety that it is correct at 68c. This is a sticky problem, how do you know? if you have access to a Lab grade thermometer you can check yours against that at a given mash temp (68).
Another option is the empirical approach, if it finishes too low at what your thermometer says is 68c try mashing next time at 70c and if that gets you what you want you will know that on your system you need to mash about 2 degrees higher than you think.
LOL I remember when those bags came out years ago.
I wouldn’t worry so much about the gravity but more in the taste. You’ll have to determine whether the “fruity” flavor makes the beer drinkable or not. You should consider packaging this weizen now and move on to the next batch. Those Juicy-Fruit esters can diminish with some conditioning.
As you say, the lesson is the important thing. Just getting back on the horse is the way to go. I had an imperial stout that I struggled with for months trying to get it to drop below 1.035. That beer was never good and had I just dumped it I would not have had to clean up several bottles worth that burst in the bathroom. But I’m still glad I did because I learned important lessons:
do not use dark malt extract when making extract beers
do not use beano post boil to increase fermentability (cause is just doesn’t stop)
The insulated space and ice bottles will get you what you need and you will start turning out great beer in no time!
