Temperature Question

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EndlessPurple

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Where I live does not have indicidual hot/cold AC. Last night they switch the complex to heat and my place jumped to the low to mid 80s overnight from upper 60s. Will that hurt my meads that are going if they are at those higher temps for maybe 12hours?

Some have been stabilized and are bulk aging, some are aging but not stabilized and one has just been racked into the secondary on top of some chocolate.

Thanks for any feedback.

PS. Opened up some windows trying to cool the place down.
 
If you have the space, make a fermentation/aging chamber (or a few of them). You don't want to age things that warm. Typically things are aged at cellar temperatures (no more than the low 60's). You can ferment with a swamp cooler (posted many times, do a quick search for details) to conserve space.

Personally, all my beer is either in the basement, or in the brew fridge. The basement, currently, is at 58F (has gone as high as about 62F on a rather warm day).
 
Thanks for the reply.

For clarification, will one day at high 70s/low 80s ruin all my mead?

Also does mead aged at the mid/upper 60s just not work in general?
 
One day won't kill it, but I wouldn't let it stay that way for long. At lower temperatures, the aging happens slower. This is how aging is normally done. I would aim for the low 60's and below (50-60F being a better target).

At the lower temperatures, flavors will be more stable from bottle to bottle (once bottled). If you have batches that are not yet bottled, then taste them before thinking about bottling. IME, 10-12 months is a good minimum time frame. Lower ABV batches going on the lower end of that range. So, <14% 10-12 months before bottling. 14-18% 12-14 months. Above 18% 14-18 months bare minimum. That is, unless you have super tight control over temperatures, getting the yeast to perform optimally, producing little (or no) off flavors. Chances of any 'new' brewer/mazer doing all that is rather remote.
 
I think not, because the water in these meads will tend to warm up much more slowly than the air, and even if it did get that warm, I think a short period such as this would have no noticeable effect.
 
Cool, I won't worry then. Got the room temps down to 72 now and it should drop faster now that it is night and have some cool night air to blow in from the window. Sucks when they switch the whole complex to heat from cold and don't warn you to turn off your system.

Also not in any hurry to get them out of carboys, so they will have plenty of months/years to age (esp. my new chocolate plum port mead I am trying).
 
I have a 21% base mead that will be used to make my Mocha Madness MkII batch. Started it last December and have to start the flavor additions soon. I also have a 14% maple mead/wine that's about ready for bottle. I have another 14% traditional that I need to sample and decide what to do with it. All three were started at the beginning of December 2011. They're in my basement now, so I know I'm good. :D

Good luck with keeping the temps under control. Just remember to sample things before you go the next [big] step. Racking every few months while aging a mead is ok, just don't do it too often and make sure you don't oxidize it.
 
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