Cold temperatures ruin my fermentation

EDIT: Colder temperatures = turn up the heat in my house = higher fermentation temperatures, hence the title

I think my fermenter was at around 70 degrees for all of last night, and this morning the airlock smelled a bit like a belgian yeast strain was used, but it was an Irish Ale yeast. I cut the temperature back in my house, but I'm worried that a whole night of that kind of fermentation might have given me some permanent estery flavors. Bleep. Anyone ever catch this in mid-fermentation and have the brew turn out alright?

ayrton said:

I think my fermenter was at around 70 degrees for all of last night, and this morning the airlock smelled a bit like a belgian yeast strain was used, but it was an Irish Ale yeast. I cut the temperature back in my house, but I'm worried that a whole night of that kind of fermentation might have given me some permanent estery flavors. Bleep. Anyone ever catch this in mid-fermentation and have the brew turn out alright?

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I am a bit confused between the post title and the thread? Higher temperatures will push the fruity esters out, is that what you mean in that you turned the temps down when you caught them running too high? Not sure if you'll get too much of those ester qualities or not. Depends on lots of factors from what I understand. Temperature is indeed the main way to regulate these, but certain strains produce certain types in abundance....that plus certain styles seem to mask/blend esters and in others they just punch through.

zoebisch01 said:

I am a bit confused between the post title and the thread? Higher temperatures will push the fruity esters out, is that what you mean in that you turned the temps down when you caught them running too high? Not sure if you'll get too much of those ester qualities or not. Depends on lots of factors from what I understand. Temperature is indeed the main way to regulate these, but certain strains produce certain types in abundance....that plus certain styles seem to mask/blend esters and in others they just punch through.

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Yeah, that was dumb, sorry. See my edit.

Not sure if you're using White Labs but from their site:

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WLP004 Irish Ale Yeast
This is the yeast from one of the oldest stout producing breweries in the world. It produces a slight hint of diacetyl, balanced by a light fruitiness and slight dry crispness. Great for Irish ales, stouts, porters, browns, reds and a very interesting pale ale.
Attenuation: 69-74%
Flocculation: Medium to High
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-68°F
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium-High
--------------

I don't think 2 degrees above optimum would be much an issue. Probably just the funk of this style.

ayrton said:

I think my fermenter was at around 70 degrees for all of last night, and this morning the airlock smelled a bit like a belgian yeast strain was used, but it was an Irish Ale yeast. I cut the temperature back in my house, but I'm worried that a whole night of that kind of fermentation might have given me some permanent estery flavors. Bleep. Anyone ever catch this in mid-fermentation and have the brew turn out alright?

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Yes, I had a couple batches of an English brown ale that fermented too warm (exactly for this reason actually -- it got really cold outside and SWMBO cranked up the heat in the house). Anyways, they were both awful 2 weeks after bottling - lots of estery off-flavours, and a distinct banana taste. But after 3 months of bottle conditioning at about 60 degrees, the off-flavours disappeared.

So give the beer a taste before your bottle or keg it. If it tastes off, you might consider conditioning it in the carboy or in bottles for a good long time. Worked for me!

FlyGuy said:

Yes, I had a couple batches of an English brown ale that fermented too warm (exactly for this reason actually -- it got really cold outside and SWMBO cranked up the heat in the house). Anyways, they were both awful 2 weeks after bottling - lots of estery off-flavours, and a distinct banana taste. But after 3 months of bottle conditioning at about 60 degrees, the off-flavours disappeared.

So give the beer a taste before your bottle or keg it. If it tastes off, you might consider conditioning it in the carboy or in bottles for a good long time. Worked for me!

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Excellent, thanks. Fortunately, I have until April before my cousin - who this beer is for - returns from Germany (he's done in Iraq as of this weekend - woo!), so it'll have time to condition.

ayrton said:

Yeah, that was dumb, sorry. See my edit.

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Okee dokee, I wouldn't say it is dumb just not worded clearly Thanks for the clarification!

What about Sunlight? will this cause issues? My barrel is bubbling away, with a fleece blanket wrapped around it, to keep it warmish (it's winter in NZ) and while the fleece protects it from direct sunlight round the outside, I still have some concerns. and no we dont have any heat in the room in question.

My other query is is the temperature stays low around 16degrees Celcius (62 Farenheit), i assume this fermentation process will just take longer?

Better to be on the cool side of the yeast productive temp range than the high side. Cooler a bit longer but you don't want it to stall. Blanket is a good idea and maybe not on a cool floor.

Sunlight is always bad for beer, be it fermenting or complete. Keep it covered like you have it but a darkened room (cellar) is perfectly acceptable as well. Indirect sun light is not a problem, fluorescent is however.

Nice thread resurrection too .

Db

Wow, this thread got dug-up over 5 years later...A thought though: at what temp was the yeast pitched?

Its bubbling away nicely still, wasnt really pitched at all as it was a kit form beer with an ale style yeast. this is my first one just to get the hang of things really, its currently in the spare room, which seems to be keeping the temperature at a more consistant 18 degrees Celcius. and putting a hottie under it at night to keep it from getting to cold.... hopefuly this is ok.
the curtains are drawn and its not on the floor, and has the blanket wrapped around it.

Just for the record, in NZ we don't have cellars... kind of a shame really, I have an unlined garage, but given we are entering the middle of winter, im concerned it will get too cold (-1 deg C last night alone.)