Re: Keeping the Beer Cold during Fermintation

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outdoors76

outdoors76

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Hello everyone. I am new to brewing my own beer. Brewed my first batch last night a Blonde Ale. Had it at 70 degrees when I put it in the spare bathroom tub. This morning I went to check and see if it was fermenting. It was going crazy so I checked the temp and it was at 82 degrees. I immediatly grabed a tupperware tub and filled it with water and iced it down, only had enough ice to get it back to 70 degrees. Then I had to leave for work. Will get more ice on it at lunch. My question is have i hurt the beer in the fermentor or am I ok. Also I have a spare fridge in the garage and was wondering if it is possible to keep it at 60-70 degrees for the fermentation process.

Thanks in advance.

Erik
 
You can swap out frozen water bottles a few times a day to keep the temp down, along with a swamp cooler. OR get a temp controller for about 60-120 bucks to keep the extra fridge at the desired fermentation temp.
 
outdoors76 said:
Thanks for the insight, but did I ruin my first batch by it being at 82 degrees overnight.
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Ruin is a strong word, you've still made beer in any case. You will probably have a bit of an estery/fusely beer but I'd imagine that it will still be good, just not exactly what you were shooting for. If it's a more complex malty beer like a Stout/Porter the esters may fade with some time to the point that they are no longer noticable.
 
Yeah, at that temperature, you are definitely going to have some fusel alcohols hanging around. Keeping the temperature somewhere around 68 is the best for most typical yeast strains and the first few days are the most important.
 
Putting in the secondary really won't impact anything at this point. Many people would likely suggest leaving it in the primary a little longer (like 3 or 4 weeks) on the yeast cake to allow the yeast to continue to work on the beer. It might help. Putting it in a secondary likely won't "fix" the beer anymore than just bottling and letting it sit for a while.
 
As a follow up to this thread, during the winter i normally just ferment in my aparment since it stays pretty cool and in the summer I was planning to use a swamp cooling technique and fermenting in my basement. The problem being that my basement is three floors down and I don't always want to climb the stairs.

I know that the first few days of fermentation are the most important for flavor development so my question is, is it okay to let the temperature creep up after those first few days as long as I keep it cool in the beginning?
 
chibrew said:
As a follow up to this thread, during the winter i normally just ferment in my aparment since it stays pretty cool and in the summer I was planning to use a swamp cooling technique and fermenting in my basement. The problem being that my basement is three floors down and I don't always want to climb the stairs.

I know that the first few days of fermentation are the most important for flavor development so my question is, is it okay to let the temperature creep up after those first few days as long as I keep it cool in the beginning?
Click to expand...

You want your temps as stable as possible. If you're creeping from 62-68 you will probably be fine, but it all depends on the yeast strain you're using and how vigorous the fermentation is. Letting it go higher after the initial stage isn't as detrimental, but you can have issues like over attenuation and even some higher alcohols. Just because most of the off flavors are from the first few days doesn't mean that temperatures should be ignored after that.
 
With 6 batches of beer under my belt I am still pretty new to all this as well. But I am happy to share some lessons learned from my expierences. I use to pitch my yeast in the low 70's but whatever temp you pitch its going to only climb from there. Since most ale yeast strains are happy in the mid 60's range I try to pitch in the low 60's and let the fermentation climb to a happy 66-68 or whatever strain I'm using is most happy with. Evey batch I had until now has Fusels in it but it did not "ruin" the beer really. Everyone I gave it too still enjoyed it, I was actually the only one complaining about it.
Now that summer is almost upon us I realized I need a more reliable way to keep my beer fermenting happily and made a Fermentation chamber based on the SOF designs.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachments/f51/15623d1273871544-my-sof-chiller-dscn1827.jpg
I love this thing. If you have the space for one I recommend it.
 
outdoors76 said:
Would running it through the secondary help with that or not.
Click to expand...

No. You didn't ruin your beer, though.. it will be good, I am sure. You may detect a bit of a phenolic aftertaste (like plastic), due to the high temps, but that will reduce after it is bottled for a month (I know, you don;t intend for it to last that long, heh). It wasn't too hot for too long, prolly.

Live and learn... I did the same thing. Temp control of the fermentation will have a big influence on the subtle flavors.
 
To follow on to that last point, I had similar temperature variations during the fermentation of my 1st batch, and it did have an odd aftertaste 3 weeks after bottling. I'm at about 5 weeks now though and the aftertaste is almost entirely gone.
 
My batch was in the high-70s yesterday (oops!)... got it down to 68 today. Definitely bubbling a lot less vigorously at this temp., is that expected? Should I try to bring it down a few more degrees?
 
krelin said:
My batch was in the high-70s yesterday (oops!)... got it down to 68 today. Definitely bubbling a lot less vigorously at this temp., is that expected? Should I try to bring it down a few more degrees?
Click to expand...


I would check the temperature range for the particular yeast strain you are using. The high 70's may have already done the dammage its going to do. I did the same thing but hit the low 80's. Although it was only that high for a couple hours the yeast produced fusels. The beer still tastes ok though. Was a Stone Pale ale clone, :mug:
 
Yeast says it wants 70-75

-- Actually, I just checked online and it says 66-70 there... maybe 70-75 was pitching temp?
 
As soon as you read this you should purchase a conrtoller for that spare fridge you mentioned. The single stge controllers are like$50 if you have the means buy a two stage and a heater too. These things let you stay in 1d range. The happier those yeasties are the happier you will be with your beer. I went years without fermentation control and made average beer at best. Controlling the temp of your brew is as important as sanitation.
 
Drunkenfool said:
As soon as you read this you should purchase a conrtoller for that spare fridge you mentioned. The single stge controllers are like$50 if you have the means buy a two stage and a heater too. These things let you stay in 1d range. The happier those yeasties are the happier you will be with your beer. I went years without fermentation control and made average beer at best. Controlling the temp of your brew is as important as sanitation.
Click to expand...

I will be purchasing the controller for my next batch in a week or so. The 2 stage I dont think I really need though due to living in Tampa, FL it doesnt really get that cold here for the brewing part of it. If I had any problem with that it would be at night but by keeping it in the fridge it would keep 55 to 65 no problem i would think.

Thanks everyone for the advice this is a great forum and I am sure I will be posting again soon due to being a newb.
 
One more question about the fermentation process. I have my primary temp under control and fermenting at 65 degrees. But my extra beer that I put in the beer bottle to test and see if the fermentation is done is probably fermenting around 78 -82 i would guess, is the testing of that beer in the beer bottle a loss and will I have to open my lid on my primary to make sure it is done fermenting.
 
Yeah, I got myself a chest freezer (7cu ft., fits two carboys easily) and will be trying to acquire a temp. controller today. (I don't have much use for two-stages, either, though, I'm in San Diego)
 
to outdoor 76...was the "other beer" you mention primaried at a lower temp and now it is at the higher temperature? if that is the case your beer will turn out better. fermentation needs to start low and gradually be raised to the desired ferm temp or range. after it is pretty much done you can diacetyl rest it 10+ degrees warmer this lets the yeasts eat up all the bad stuff they may have produced during growth etc....
 
Drunkenfool said:
to outdoor 76...was the "other beer" you mention primaried at a lower temp and now it is at the higher temperature? if that is the case your beer will turn out better. fermentation needs to start low and gradually be raised to the desired ferm temp or range. after it is pretty much done you can diacetyl rest it 10+ degrees warmer this lets the yeasts eat up all the bad stuff they may have produced during growth etc....
Click to expand...

Unfortunatlely It sit started at 70 but over night it went up to 82 degrees for i am guessing a period of about 8 hours. I iced it down as soon as saw the temp. and it has been fermenting at 62-65 degrees since friday morning. My question is how do in know when it is done fermenting since I didnt cool the test brew that I kept out of the primary. It has been fermenting at what ever temp the house has been at. I was told not to open the primary until I got ready to bottle.
 
IF IT IS IN A BUCKET MAKE SURE THAT THE LID IS TIGHT SO YOU CAN SEE IT BUBBLING. WHEN THE FERMENTATION SLOWS PUT IT BACK IN THE 70-82D RANGE AND DO A DIACETYL REST...THIS WILL ENCOURAGE THE YEAST TO CONSUME THE BADNESS THAT THEY PRODUCED DURING INITIAL "HOT" FERMENTATION BEFORE THEY GO TO SLEEP. LEAVE IT IN THE WARMER CLIMATE UNITIL YOU ARE FAIRLY CONFIDENT THAT IT IS DONE FERMENTING.....AT ANY TIME YOU CAN CHECK THE GRAVITY OF THE BEER. DONT BE TOO AFRAID TO OPEN UP THE CARBOY/BUCKET,,,JUST FOLLOW PROPER SANITARY PROCEDURE. DONT COUGH IN IT..BEST TO NOT HAVE ANY FAN OR BREEZE OR THE DOG NEARBY SANITIZE EVERYGHING AND COLLECT A SAMPLE TO SEE IF YOU ARE NEARING YOUR FINAL GRAVITY...IF YOU DONT KNOW WHAT THAT IS FOR MOST COMMON BEERS IT IS SOMEWHERE NEAR 1.010-1.014. JUST GET YOUR SAMPLE QUICK AND RESEAL THE FERMENTER....AS A NEW BREWER YOU WANT TO BE CLEAN.. A FEW HOT BEERS WILL ONLY MAKE YOU A BETTER BREWER....AGAIN I ENCOURAGE TEMPERATURE CONTROL AS SOON AS YOU KNOW YOU WANT THIS AS A HOBBY IT WILL BE WELL WORTH THE INVESTMENT EVEN IN THE NEAR LET ALONG LONG RUN... NO KIDDING i HAD 9 YEARS OF OKAY BEERS, AS SOON AS I GOT AROUND TO TEMP CONTROL THE BEERS ARE LEAGUES BETTER, I MEAN COMMERCIAL QUALITY...NOT TO GET OFF SUBJECT BUT ANOTHER RANT FOR GOOD BEER IS YEAST STARTERS, YEAST STARTERS, YEAST STARTERS.....
 
Drunkenfool said:
IF IT IS IN A BUCKET MAKE SURE THAT THE LID IS TIGHT SO YOU CAN SEE IT BUBBLING. WHEN THE FERMENTATION SLOWS PUT IT BACK IN THE 70-82D RANGE AND DO A DIACETYL REST...THIS WILL ENCOURAGE THE YEAST TO CONSUME THE BADNESS THAT THEY PRODUCED DURING INITIAL "HOT" FERMENTATION BEFORE THEY GO TO SLEEP. LEAVE IT IN THE WARMER CLIMATE UNITIL YOU ARE FAIRLY CONFIDENT THAT IT IS DONE FERMENTING.....AT ANY TIME YOU CAN CHECK THE GRAVITY OF THE BEER. DONT BE TOO AFRAID TO OPEN UP THE CARBOY/BUCKET,,,JUST FOLLOW PROPER SANITARY PROCEDURE. DONT COUGH IN IT..BEST TO NOT HAVE ANY FAN OR BREEZE OR THE DOG NEARBY SANITIZE EVERYGHING AND COLLECT A SAMPLE TO SEE IF YOU ARE NEARING YOUR FINAL GRAVITY...IF YOU DONT KNOW WHAT THAT IS FOR MOST COMMON BEERS IT IS SOMEWHERE NEAR 1.010-1.014. JUST GET YOUR SAMPLE QUICK AND RESEAL THE FERMENTER....AS A NEW BREWER YOU WANT TO BE CLEAN.. A FEW HOT BEERS WILL ONLY MAKE YOU A BETTER BREWER....AGAIN I ENCOURAGE TEMPERATURE CONTROL AS SOON AS YOU KNOW YOU WANT THIS AS A HOBBY IT WILL BE WELL WORTH THE INVESTMENT EVEN IN THE NEAR LET ALONG LONG RUN... NO KIDDING i HAD 9 YEARS OF OKAY BEERS, AS SOON AS I GOT AROUND TO TEMP CONTROL THE BEERS ARE LEAGUES BETTER, I MEAN COMMERCIAL QUALITY...NOT TO GET OFF SUBJECT BUT ANOTHER RANT FOR GOOD BEER IS YEAST STARTERS, YEAST STARTERS, YEAST STARTERS.....
Click to expand...

Drunkenfool,

Thanks for the info that helps out alot, the instructions said it would be done fermenting in about 5 days and my brew stopped bubbling this morning or at least I thinnk it has I sat with it for about 30 min and never saw a bubble and it has only been 4 days I guess I will check it tomorrow for the Final Gravity.
 
krelin said:
My batch was in the high-70s yesterday (oops!)... got it down to 68 today. Definitely bubbling a lot less vigorously at this temp., is that expected? Should I try to bring it down a few more degrees?
Click to expand...

Yes, expected. Yes, bring it down (unless you have an odd yeast strain). I personally prefer the effect of keeping to the lower bound of the recommended range for the particular yeast I am using (which is like 60-70)
 
Weirdly, the recipe I'm using recommends a way higher temp. than the yeast the recipe suggests.
 
krelin said:
Weirdly, the recipe I'm using recommends a way higher temp. than the yeast the recipe suggests.
Click to expand...

not terribly unusual. Higher temps will yield different flavors than lower temps. I like an Abbey yeast (WLP500) that will be more 'earthy' at 60F and pure, sweet, banana bread at 70F. I ferment that at 65 for a balance of flavors. Many people ferment that as high as 75 to really emphasize the banana... but I pick up way too many phenols at that temp for my liking.
 
due to a broken thermostat I once brewed a batch of koelsch at 82 for 3 weeks. Had a funny taste to it for sure, nothing like koelsch, but it was still beer ...

One night at 82? I doubt you'll notice anything.
 

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