kwbbpc

Recipes 

I was doing some reading in my last BYO magazine, and read about under/over pitching. Has anyone here used their pitch rate to compensate for the lack of temperature control?

My brewing quarters are set up in an apartment, so space is limited and sadly the best form of cooling I have available is the wet t-shirt method. During the upcoming summer months, if I'm not closely watching my thermometer it can get up to around 80 degrees in the small second bedroom where I ferment and condition.

I was hoping that if I increase my pitching rate, it would result in a much cleaner tasting product (considering the yeast won't go through their full cycle, producing less esters) as if it was fermented at a lower temperature...

Just a thought, I was wondering if there was any validity to it. Thanks.

Nateo

Recipes 

My first thought is that increasing pitching rate may increase yeast activity. Increased activity means increased temperatures. So that might actually be counterproductive.

The worst thing about high fermentation temps is fusel alcohol production. High temps also generate more esters (good IMO, but other may differ). But fusel production has multiple factors, such as oxygenation level, pH, and yeast strain selection.

Pick a yeast that ferments well at higher temps, make sure it's well oxygenated, and make sure you're rousing and degassing during fermentation. CO2 = carbonic acid = low pH = stressed yeast = increased fusels.

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