03rangerxlt

Recipes 

RECIPE:
Shoultz-Meyer Brewery Mow the Yard
Makes 5 Gallons @ 75% Efficiency

Briess Pilsen Light LME Unhopped 5 lbs, 0 oz
Rice Syrup Solids 1 lbs, 0 oz
Williamette Pellets 1 oz @ 60 mins
Williamette Pellets 1 oz @ 7 mins
Danstar Nottingham Ale Yeast 1 ea

Recipe Specifications.
og 1.042 - 1.055

fg 1.006 - 1.012

ibu 15 - 20

srm 3 - 5

abv 4.20 - 5.60

Recipe Notes
Boil for 60 minutes. Add DME and Rice Syrup Solids with 20 minutes left in the boil. Ferment at 65F.

PROBLEM:
Temperatures have been a little high around here in Georgia, and after a fitful day of sleeping (I work nights, gimme a break!), I went into the spare bathroom to check on the creme ale that is supposed to be fermenting at 65F. The sticker on the side of the carboy says 73F, and the ambient temperature in the room is 70F. I've taken the cardboard box cover off the carboy (that blocks light) and replaced it with wet t-shirts, to help wick away some of the heat. There still apears to be some activity in the airlock, but the beer looks kinda dead. I gently shook it, hoping that doing so will wake up the yeast.

So, how bad of an issue is this temperature problem? How do you guys manage the temperatures of your brews? I am concerned with the hot summer coming up, that it will be damn impossible to maintain good brewing temperatures in our house. I am really hoping this brew isn't a write off! This is an important batch! We are taking this batch to Savannah with us in April for our wedding!

ETCS

Recipes 

You might get some off flavors from it, that is at the upper limit of that yeast. It will still make beer though. When beer ferments, it generates heat. I cool my wort to 60º and the closet I keep it in ranges between 58º - 60º and it usually gets itself up to 65 or so. For keeping the temps cool, use the search function for "Swamp Cooler" or if you want to go big, you can search "Son of Fermentation Chamber". Hope that helps.

Cheers

__________________
Brewers make wort, Yeast make beer!!!!

jbaysurfer

Recipes 

It's probably OK. I had a double IPA that went a little crazy with the fusel alcohols at those temps, so you could get some off tastes like that, but this beer doesn't have nearly the fermentables as my IPA did.

It's not a write off though!

Get a chest freezer and a 2 way temp controller for summer time. You'll definitely have problems this summer in Georgia if you already are. Or plan on doing a lot of attending to your fermentors with damp towels and ice water baths.

__________________
First Brew was thanksgiving 2011, I'm at 46 batches and counting, and ran out of room in my signature to list them all.

03rangerxlt

Recipes 

Ugh. I'm still worring about this batch of beer. It turns out the bathroom in the basement is staying consistantly mild, so I moved the carboy down there, and I got the tempurature back in a comfortable range. There seems to be little to no airlock activity, and the beer doesn't look like its doing anything. Too much tempurature difference? Too much sloshing when I carried it downstairs? Is all lost!?!?!

imperialipa

Recipes 

Have you had any Krausen? How many days has it been since you pitched the yeast?

70 degrees is not going to kill the yeast. It may give off some fruity flavors you might not like but you will still get beer.

Temperature control is key for getting a good tasting beer, but its not going to make or break it unless you are in the extremes of the yeast temp range.

HDChef

Recipes 

The higher temperature probably sped up fermentation. Gravity check to confirm. Maybe going to a secondary to get it off the sped up yeast?

IffyG

Recipes 

The yeast certainly isn't dead when it ferments warm (hell most yeast prefers high temps), but it might be throwing off some esters at that point. Also, a warm ferment will wrap up much faster than a slower one. Personally, I don't like Nottingham's profile, particularly when it ferments warm but YMMV.

As far as temperature control goes, I had to re-purpose my old college refrigerator as a fermentation chamber to brew during the summer months as I can only cool my house to 78 degrees. That being said, any form of ice bath will get the job done with a little bit of work.

03rangerxlt

Recipes 

I'll take a gravity reading tomorrow. There is no krausen right now. The beer just looks kinda flat and dead. I'll check back in tomorrow.

KevinW

Recipes 

Ahh, it should be fine! Nottingham is a good versatile yeast and worst case scenario is you will have some minor fusel alcohols to deal with.

Give it at least 3 weeks in the fermentor then bottle/keg!

(the beer is supposed to be flat at this point) If active fermentation is complete you will have little to no airlock activity however airlock activity does not indicate fermentation either. Take a gravity in 3 weeks and I bet you will be surprised!

__________________
“I don't drink beer all the time but I can drink (a) beer anytime" - Me

iskuse

Recipes 

I have done a bunch of batches at 75F had no way to get the temperature lower. after about two weeks in the bottle, there were some off flavours but they all pretty much mellowed out after about a month in the bottle