Butterscotch Off-flavor and temperature?

Hey all, this is my first post here.

I recently moved into a new house here in Bellevue, NE and it's like pulling teeth to keep the temperature below 80 on a hot day. On a mild day, the A/C runs constantly to keep it at 74. I knew this would spell trouble for brewing even a warm-temp ale, but I decided to have a test-brew with a Cooper's canned kit; I brewed the Wheat Beer, using corn sugar and the included packet of dry yeast. (Don't flame me, now, this was a TEST run ) Primary was quick and secondary likewise quick. Can't find my dang hydrometer, but judging by the trub I got decent yeast activity. The wort isn't carbonated yet (just bottled 2 days ago) but I tasted a little before washing out my fermenter and bottling bucket and man, it didn't taste like wheat beer at all. I don't have the most discerning pallette in the world but I am sure I picked up a pretty strong butterscotch off-flavor. Is this due to the high temp? Also, is it high temps or fluctuating temps? Like I said, my house temp ranges from 70-80`F over the course of 24 hours. I was more afraid of a stuck fermentation than anything else, but now I'm worried that I will be contending with off flavors.

Besides getting a fridge (out of the question) and regulating the temps at room temp (I do like ales) what are my options? Are there any styles of beer, types of yeast, etc, that lend themselves to a nice warm summer house? I was really looking forward to ripping off a couple of all-grain batches now that I'm settled in, and I have had a hankering for a Steam beer, but now I just don't know if I can even brew!

Thanks for your input.

Sounds like a pretty clear case of diacetyl. It can be caused by high fermentation temps or bacterial infection. Sounds like high temps in your case. I would look into methods of fermentor cooling such as water baths.

Here is an interesting read on diacetyl. Link:http://beerme.com/diacetyl.shtml

Hah! That is a very good article. I will have to try that on my next test run...very, very good article, thank you very much Passload!

Leave the bottles out for two weeks, because the yeast won't eat the diacetyl until after they've consumed your priming sugar. If the butter scotch is still there, let them go another week.

I brew in Omaha without problems I wish I lived on base sometimes... not really but it be nice to crank down the AC and not worry about paying the bill.

I'm doing a Bavarian wheat this saturday