Too much heat? too fast ferment?!

Hey all, I am also brand new to all of this and recently bought a Coopers Kit with Lager malt. I'm in Florida in the USA and it is pretty hot on average. I added everything according to direction but forgot to take the initial hydrometer reading. I then sealed the fermenter, but apparently it was not fully sealed. I realized this after almost 24 hours of fermenting. I could tell it was fermenting though because of the smell and the krausen (froth on top right?). I also realized that I had added about an extra 1 to 1.5L of water (not my main concern). Once I sealed everything down, there was alot of bubbling all through the night, but now about another 24 hours later, it is only bubbling about once every minute or two. The temperature has been a constant 26-28*C or 76-82*F. I know this is running pretty hot, but there isn't a cooler place in my house. According to the thermometer on the side it is probably staying around 76 plus or minus. I am going away for the weekend and I was wondering if I should just let it sit until May 1st, this monday or bottle it tomorrow before I leave. I am planning on just letting it sit until monday. I also took a hydrometer reading today and although I don't know the starting gravity, (kit said it should be 1.048~) the reading was at 1.012~ which the kit indicates as time to bottle. I could really use some help as I have read a great deal of conflicting info. I am leaning towards the waiting though. Any help would be great, Thanks All.

You're probably right, a little on the warm side, so you've probably got much more fruity ester production than most would desire, but not the worst thing in the world, you've still got beer.

I would for sure leave it until the 1st. Even then letting it sit for a full 2 or 3 weeks won't hurt, or better yet rack to a secondary when you get back. Either of those methods will allow your beer to become clear and more mellowed.

Gravity of 1.012 sounds pretty close to done, you're right. Now just let it mellow and clear while it sits for a while before bottling.

Good luck.

Thanks for the advice. Any other ideas on how to keep the brewer colder when I make the next batch? It is already in a cooler, darker room of the house, maybe a cooler or a fan? Thanks again.

I'm in Tallahasee and grew up in the Tampa bay area, I know how the weather is around here. There are a few options, probably the most complex (though still relatively simple) - is to build a fermentation cooler. Do a search, you should be able to find a thread or two with the instructions in it. Basically you just build a cooler large enough to hold your carbory and a couple jugs of ice and then put a fan in there linked to a thermostat and you can regulate the temp quite effectively (it's simpler than it sounds).

The easiest method is to just place the carboy in a bucket or bin (rubbermaid chest for example) full of cold water. Add ice every day or so and you should be able to keep it plenty cool. You can also throw a damp/wet shirt or towel over the carboy and place a fan on it.. put the base of it in a tub of water and it should wick the water out of the bucket as it dries (or you can just manually re-wet the towel every day). Get some stick on thermometer strips from your LHBS so you can have a better idea exactly what fermentation temp you're at. If the beer gets real hot (i.e. above 80F) it can start taking on a solvent taste (fusel alcohols). 75F or so and it may just taste fruity. This is also a function of your yeast, a clean tasting yeast such as nottingham dry hardly tastes fruity at all even at 75F but I'd sure hate to see what a Belgian wheat yeast would do at those temps.

1.012 is plenty low enough for a final gravity, if the bubbling has ceased then the beer is done. You can leave it in the primary for 1 - 2 weeks at most. Rack it to a secondary when you get the chance and let it age a bit before bottling.

I use the wet towel method to cool mine down once it gets too warm. I just brewed a hefe and the next day my temp went up to 76 degrees so I quickly ran a bath towel under cool water, wrapped it around the carboy and it's been at a very steady 68 degrees for the last 4 days. I only re-wet the towel if I see it move up to around 70 degrees, so far i've only had to wet the towel twice in the last 4 days. Some say to wet the towel once or twice a day but for me it hasn't been neccessary.

I am new to this aswell i have a coopers kit and made a lager myself left it in the fermenter 4 5days then bottled it cuz it read1.010 and the og was 1.050 I am in australia home of coopers mine did the same had a rapid bubbling action for around 2 days then slowed down eventually stopped gave it 2 more days bottle and now waiting till 11/7/06 to give it a try which is a little over 3 months from when i bottled it the longer its left the clearer and more better the look and taste

My Kolsch primary fermentation happened at 72 then lowered to 64 then brought back to 72 to ferm. out. Today I saw a bubble in my secondary as I was preparing to bottle. The carboy temp strip says 76 and I see little carb bubbles coming up from the bottom? Now what - should I take a gravity sample? put back in the 68 degree cellar for a week? or just bottle it.