I brewed a 5gl batch of Morebeer Christmas Ale from their kit 2 days ago. Prior to that I made a 2L yeast starter from WLP001 yeast and pitched it all into the wort and aerated by shaking the carboy for 4 minutes. Fermentation started pretty quickly, and while it wasn't excessive (nothing went through blow-off hose), it was fairly active. My only concern right now is that I'm detecting a fairly strong aroma of something close to banana bread coming out of the carboy. Suggested fermentation temperature was 68F and I'm pretty sure that the temp inside my apartment didn't go above 71-72F. I was under the impression that banana-like aromas are produced at high fermentation temperatures, but 71-72 doesn't seem that high to me.. Am I wrong?
I don't have an answer except to say that most of my brews so far have the classic 'fruity' taste. I'm noticing the first batch I brewed is improving--but very slowly.
I agree that it'll be better with a little time. Fermentation produces all kinds of strange smells, and that isn't necessarily an indication of the taste of the future beer.
One thing I will ask, though, if 72 was the temperature of the room, or of the fermenting beer? Fermentation is exothermic, and the temperature inside the carboy can be 6,7,8, maybe even 10 degrees higher than the ambient air temperature. I use those cheap stick on thermometers on each fermenter to keep an eye on the temperature of the beer. Right now, mine are fermenting at 62 degrees, so they are fine with WLP001.
__________________ Broken Leg Brewery
Giving beer a leg to stand on since 2006
You call me a dog well that's fair enough 'Cause it ain't no use to pretend You're wrong
But when it's my time to throw The next stone I'll call you beautiful if I call at all
YooperBrew makes a very good point, if the ambient temp in the room your fermentor was in was in the low 70's, you can bet your fermenting beer was in the mid to high 70's.
One thing I will ask, though, if 72 was the temperature of the room, or of the fermenting beer? Fermentation is exothermic, and the temperature inside the carboy can be 6,7,8, maybe even 10 degrees higher than the ambient air temperature. I use those cheap stick on thermometers on each fermenter to keep an eye on the temperature of the beer. Right now, mine are fermenting at 62 degrees, so they are fine with WLP001.
Yes, I realize fermentation is exothermic, it just didn't feel warmer than the room to touch, but I guess thermometer is the best way to tell. I'll have to pick up some of those stick-on ones.
Any suggestions on cheap/easy way to lower the fermenter temperature? I heard of people wrapping a wet towels around the carboy and pointing a fan at it.
As many on here do, I have a small rubbermaid tub that I put my carboy in. I put a couple inches of water inside as well. Often, that is enough to keep the beer cool. If not, rotate in and out some frozen bottles of water that you stick in the water. This isn't as great as having a temperature regulated space to ferment in, but I live in a small apartment so I do what works!
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Tiocfaidh Ar La
"I kissed the bottle, I shoulda been kissin' you"-jawbreaker
I have an Igloo Ice Cube cooler with wheels. I actually made a different lid out of styrofoam that fits tightly over the carboy. I can lager in it, in my basement in the winter. That's probaby way overkill for your needs, so a simple cooler with some water in it (all the way up to the beer level is good), and a frozen water bottle in the water would really work well. I have a floating thermometer that I float in the water around the fermenter- those stick on themometers aren't waterproof so I needed something else.
__________________ Broken Leg Brewery
Giving beer a leg to stand on since 2006
You call me a dog well that's fair enough 'Cause it ain't no use to pretend You're wrong
But when it's my time to throw The next stone I'll call you beautiful if I call at all
I throw a wet T-shirt over the carboy, then dip the tails of the shirt in two different containers of water. That way, the shirt wicks up the water from the containers and keeps the shirt moist throughout the day. It works flawlessly.
As soon as I can afford it, I'm going to buy a temperature controller ($70-$80) that you can attach to a small refrigerator. The temp controller enables you to raise the temp inside the refrigerator to as high as 75 degrees I think. So just throw your carboy in the fridge, set the temperature to the desired temp, and it should maintain.
Banana bread smell - RDWHAHB or ..?
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