Warm Winter in New England...ferment temp trouble

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becsbrew

becsbrew

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So I started brewing a few weeks ago with an extract kit, and during a cold snap fermentation got stuck at 1.020....I wrapped my bucket in an electric blanket, and sure enough the bubbles started up again and reached the target FG in a couple days.

Fast Forward to Batch #2....I got a partial mash porter going on sunday (while the rest of the world watched football), and after the first experience figured I shouldn't screw around with the temperature so I used the electric blanket from the start. Now I'm worried its too hot in there, and probably has been the whole time (2.5 days). Today I stuck a thermometer on the outside of the bucket, inside the blanket, and saw its around 80* when it should be at 67*....I'm kicking myself for not looking at the temp sooner, but how bad do you think I screwed it up?

If I get it down to the right temp for the rest of the primary, will it taste ok or did I blow it?
 
Well the high temp could make some off flavored notes but let it cool down and Finnish. I wouldn't dump it with out letting it Finnish. What are you useing to ferment in bucket or glass. I would say get a few temp strip that stick to your buckets they work great for a quick check at a glance. And maby look at a heat belt instead of a blanket. But have fun man don't get bummed out I have a batch that I might dump cause flavored didn't work out like I wanted.
 
becsbrew said:
So I started brewing a few weeks ago with an extract kit, and during a cold snap fermentation got stuck at 1.020....I wrapped my bucket in an electric blanket, and sure enough the bubbles started up again and reached the target FG in a couple days.

Fast Forward to Batch #2....I got a partial mash porter going on sunday (while the rest of the world watched football), and after the first experience figured I shouldn't screw around with the temperature so I used the electric blanket from the start. Now I'm worried its too hot in there, and probably has been the whole time (2.5 days). Today I stuck a thermometer on the outside of the bucket, inside the blanket, and saw its around 80* when it should be at 67*....I'm kicking myself for not looking at the temp sooner, but how bad do you think I screwed it up?

If I get it down to the right temp for the rest of the primary, will it taste ok or did I blow it?
Click to expand...

You may have some off flavors, but I wouldn't worry too much. Definitely do what you can to drop the temperature to a more reasonable level now, but I'm guessing that your fermentation is done considering how hot you had it running. Take a hydro sample and taste it in a few days, you'll have a better idea of how the heat affected it.
 
Ok - blanket is off and she is cooling down, bucket is still a bit warm to the touch but must be approaching the ambient 66* room temp. Before taking off the blanket it was still bubbling 2-3 times per minute, but now bubbling has stopped. I suppose I'll wait and check SG tomorrow....sure hope it won't taste awful.

Would leaving it to condition longer than usual help with off flavors I might have created, or is there anything else I can do about that?

Thanks!
 
becsbrew said:
Would leaving it to condition longer than usual help with off flavors I might have created, or is there anything else I can do about that?
Click to expand...

longer time will help, but you may still get stuck with some of the excess esters & fusels.
 
Leave this one in the primary fermenter for a longer period of time than you normally would. That mass of yeast at the bottom can help quite a bit with the flavor. I'd probably be planning on a month or more.
 
nope. I'd only secondary if you plan to bulk age for months or add fruit, otherwise its not really necessary.
 
Alright, temp is around 67*, gravity is 0.016 but no more visible signs of fermentation.

I took a sip expecting the worst and was pleasantly surprised - its still a bit sweet but it tasted great. I'll check gravity again today or tomorrow, hopefully things are still happening in there. It probably got colder overnight, hopefully it wont stall out like the last batch...
 
becsbrew said:
A month! Should I still do a secondary after that?
Click to expand...

Nope. And you don't need to leave it on the yeast for a month. Wait for the gravity to stabilize (exact same reading for 2-3 days) and taste it. If you want to leave it on the yeast for longer after that to try and clear it up or mellow it out or remove some strange off-flavors that are coming through, then just wait until it starts to taste like you want it to. The yeast can help a beer condition by removing some compounds left over after the attenuative phase of fermentation is complete. If it tastes fine to you after your gravity stabilizes, feel free to go ahead and bottle/keg it.
 

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