Beer vs SWMBO and a/c

I got home yesterday and the wife had let it get 84 degrees in the house, taking my fermenting beer with it. I have two batches, one had been fermenting since saturday night, the other since Monday evening. Both were over 80degF, so I moved them to the basement to cool off. I'm more worried about the younger one, only 48 hrs fermenting. The krausen fell when I moved it, but it looks like it wants to come back. Should I toss it in the fridge for a few hours to bring it back down?

I could be and probably am wrong but I think the most damage to flavor is done via high temps during yeast replication. If you had krausen then replication was complete. I wouldn't worry too much. Get your temp back down slowly to avoid shocking the yeasties and let them do their thing. You might need some extra time in primary for them to clean up any potential nasties.

yes, toss swmbo in fridge.

Great! Thanks.

turtle said:

yes, toss swmbo in fridge.

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Nice! You win 100 internets!

To the OP: I'm going to go ahead and say you're fine as most yeast esters/phenols are created at the reproduction/peak-fermentation phases. You were probably past that. Hell, you may have actually gotten lucky and had the yeast clean-up faster with the increased temperature

turtle said:

yes, toss swmbo in fridge.

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Haha! Growing up, my dad kept the a/c rockin year round- to the point of sweaters and blankets in the summer He freezes it up on occasion. She calls his house the arctic circle.
Meanwhile she grew up without ac at all. It's a constant battle. But I was still amazed how hot it was when I got home from work! I work in a kitchen, and I was about done with heat that day.

Most yeast flavors are produced during the lag and reproduction stages. Once critical mass is reached and active fermentation is reached flavors are not the main byproduct.

What was the actual temperature inside the fermenting wort?

You should be fine. Worry not. If you had krausen, just let it go.

I like how she is called SWMBO but everyone gets annoyed when she messes with the a/c

RighteousFire said:

Most yeast flavors are produced during the lag and reproduction stages. Once critical mass is reached and active fermentation is reached flavors are not the main byproduct.

What was the actual temperature inside the fermenting wort?

You should be fine. Worry not. If you had krausen, just let it go.

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I've got two better bottles with the sticky fermometers on the outsides. They only go up to 78, so it was higher! I'm gonna check the temp and gravity once the chirrun are in bed.

obeyed, but not always tolerated

So my IPA is stuck at 1.020. It should be 1.010. I took a reading two days ago, and another tonight. Should I repitch?

turtle said:

obeyed, but not always tolerated

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Exactly. Sometimes, a guy has to vent about the things SWMBO does to make our lives difficult. Hence, this thread.

One more item of note: I'd be leery about chilling this too quickly. Too much and you might put the yeast into sleep mode, preventing them from cleaning up. One of these days, I'm going to do an experiment. Split a batch, ferment at 60-65F for the first 24-48 hours, then raise to 80+. Then chill one back to 65 (or the original temp) and keep the other at the higher temp. I'd like to see what differences arise in gravity, taste, and so forth. My suspicion is that the one which stays at the higher temp would finish lower and taste cleaner, but I easily could be wrong.

Chefencore said:

So my IPA is stuck at 1.020. It should be 1.010. I took a reading two days ago, and another tonight. Should I repitch?

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I wouldn't. Are you sure it hasn't moved at all? Its only been a week mind you. If Revvy hears you talking about repitching a week from brew day he'll chew you up lol

Yeah, 1020 for 48+ hrs. I'm gonna let it ride for a few more days, but not cuz I'm afraid of Revvy- I'm a PK ya know! And it's my momma's the reverend, so... Besides, Yooper scares me more, my wife is from almost-Canada too.

Lol... what's PK? Those guys give me the willies... brewnazis ala Seinfeld. Still, I've learned more being here a month than in 2 years of brewing with my friend. I've actually got an 1.085 IPA I brewed last saturday that I would love to see at 1.020. Started a similar thread to yours (but mine was chilled from the garage being left open) and got the Revvy treatment. Step away from the beer! The yeast knows what its doing!

Preacher's Kid. Were kinda like cops' kids. Except we're damned.
I take everything here with a grain of salt. I've been cooking since before I could drive a car, and I've been a professional chef for about 5 years now. Everyone has their own techniques and rules. They've all been in the situation that we're in. If not, then too bad they didn't have a chance to learn why we have learned. Just because the shelled out the $125 to get a pretty icon and lotsa PM space doesn't make them better brewers. Not that I don't respect or value their opinions. But what they say is NOT law by any means.
Yeast are alive. Sometimes **** happens. You ever have an off day?

Make sure that "stuck" beer is at a high enough temp and swirl a bit to rouse the yeast. Sometimes those lazy bums need a little encouragement to finish off the job.

It's at 68 degrees, gave it a gentle swirl, so I didn't get any krausen krud and o2 mixed in. Any yeast/ trub it swirled up immediately fell back. Checked it this morning and no activity. I'll take another reading tonite

Chefencore said:

... Besides, Yooper scares me more, my wife is from almost-Canada too.

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Don't make me use my hockey stick! :cross:

If it's at 1.020, it just might be finished. I've had beers, especially extract batches, that just would NOT go below 1.020. Some extracts aren't as fermentable as you'd like, plus some ingredients like crystal malt can leave some residual sugars in the beer.

If it's still at 1.020 in a day or two, I'd call it done. I'd let it sit another week to clarify and condition a bit before packaging it.

Hey Chef, is the the IPA from the SODZ get together @ Cols. Brewing Co.? I had exactly the same thing happen @ my home. I moved it to the basement, the krausen has dropped out and I just took a reading and it is sitting @ 1.016.

+1 on not worrying about it at 1.020. Also might recommend double-checking that your hydrometer reads 1.000 in distilled water. Did that for the first time this week and lo-and-behold it's 0.0035 off!

osagedr said:

+1 on not worrying about it at 1.020. Also might recommend double-checking that your hydrometer reads 1.000 in distilled water. Did that for the first time this week and lo-and-behold it's 0.0035 off!

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Lol hydros aren't accurate enough for .0035 to matter IMO. they are really only accurate to the hundredth (.0x) and anything else is just guessing anyways.

tesilential said:

Lol hydros aren't accurate enough for .0035 to matter IMO. they are really only accurate to the hundredth (.0x) and anything else is just guessing anyways.

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Um, they're generally accurate to the thousandth, demarcated at every .002

Every hundredth would be REALLY awful

And some hydrometers are able to measure a narrower range and allow greater accuracy, requiring separate ones for original and terminal gravity.

Yeah, Bad- I had a XL starter too, someone said he might not have yeast so I built up. And final volume was 5.3 gal in a 6 gal better bottle-huge blowoff, lost a lot of yeast. I wonder if anyone else had similar results.
Yooper- please don't hit me!! This brew was all-grain, mashed at the local microbrewery. It was quite an experience.
I'm just gonna let it ride and drink it after while! Why not?

Chefencore said:

I got home yesterday and the wife had let it get 84 degrees in the house, taking my fermenting beer with it. I have two batches, one had been fermenting since saturday night, the other since Monday evening. Both were over 80degF, so I moved them to the basement to cool off. I'm more worried about the younger one, only 48 hrs fermenting. The krausen fell when I moved it, but it looks like it wants to come back. Should I toss it in the fridge for a few hours to bring it back down?

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This is a little off topic, but I'm glad to see I made it into your signature.

Chefencore said:

Yeah, Bad- I had a XL starter too, someone said he might not have yeast so I built up. And final volume was 5.3 gal in a 6 gal better bottle-huge blowoff, lost a lot of yeast. I wonder if anyone else had similar results.
Yooper- please don't hit me!! This brew was all-grain, mashed at the local microbrewery. It was quite an experience.
I'm just gonna let it ride and drink it after while! Why not?

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Chef I had to "take and boil" my wort (son and I had a ball game @ 2:00) I didn't want to be rushed. Thought I had enough but after the 90 minute boil I only collected a little over 4.5 gallons in a 6.5 gal. carboy, so blow-off was not a problem. I had a built a big starter also, hit the wort with some o2 and pitched @ 66 deg. I had pretty vigorous fermentation within 3 hours it lasted for the next three days. On Wednesday it slowed and I took a look @ the temp. and it was 78 deg. So off to the basement and there it is finishing out @ 68 deg. Here is to hoping that it was long enough along before it formed any fuse alcohols.

Bad, we met very early in the day! I came with Vic. Mick, right? Or Nick? I'm terrible with names. Mine's Joe. Will you be at the meeting tomorrow? How did your son's game go?

Is your IPA modeled after CBC's IPA? That one isn't that bad! I love the caps that say made in Ohio.
I used to live south of C-bus... I miss it sometimes- then I go catch a bunch of walleye or shoot a bunch of pheasants then get paid to cook a bunch of walleye or pheasant for rich people who just come to the plains to fish, shoot and drink.

Chefencore said:

Bad, we met very early in the day! I came with Vic. Mick, right? Or Nick? I'm terrible with names. Mine's Joe. Will you be at the meeting tomorrow? How did your son's game go?

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Yes, That's me (Mick), and yes I will be at the meeting. I'm hoping to sample some Mead or buy a bottle or two. And as for the sons game, it was 4.5 innings of a pitching duel, but we were able to pull out a 6 to 1 lead in the 5 th. thanks for asking see you tonight.

CHefJohnboyardee said:

Is your IPA modeled after CBC's IPA? That one isn't that bad! I love the caps that say made in Ohio.
I used to live south of C-bus... I miss it sometimes- then I go catch a bunch of walleye or shoot a bunch of pheasants then get paid to cook a bunch of walleye or pheasant for rich people who just come to the plains to fish, shoot and drink.

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This recipe was one of the 3 the AHA suggested for the "Big Brew Day". C-bus. Brewing Co. provided the grain, mashed it in there system and let us roast a pig on sight. It was a great time and my first big brew out.

bad67z said:

This recipe was one of the 3 the AHA suggested for the "Big Brew Day". C-bus. Brewing Co. provided the grain, mashed it in there system and let us roast a pig on sight. It was a great time and my first big brew out.

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Thats awesome! I need to find some more people around here to brew with...

turtle said:

obeyed, but not always tolerated

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swmbobnat