fix for high fermentation temp

I've ended up with a bad batch of beer and I'm wondering if anyone knows a fix.
I made an IPA and everything went fine until I sampled it to find out the gravity after a week in the carboy. The gravity was still higher than I expected and it tasted off. Everyone asks what it tasted like, but these things are hard to describe. It has an obvious smell and tastes like a cross between soap and alcohol. It's also kind of an aftertaste not like the beer is completely bad. I am a bit anal about sanitation so I don't think it's contaminated. Also one week seems a bit too soon for a full blown infection. All I can think of is that it's been hotter than usual and I didn't take that into account before I brewed. Any ideas for saving the batch?

Just give it another week in a secondary, it's probably fine. Most beer doesn't really taste that good after only a week, so just give it some time. Whatever you do, don't throw it out unless you are absolutely sure it is contaminated! RDWHAHB!

If you're tasting alcohol, and it's a hot-alcohol taste, you had some fusels develop during fermentation. I've heard conflicting reports from people on whether those will mellow out over time or not. It's a byproduct of high fermentation temperatures. Next time, consider doing a water batch, or a wet t-shirt and a fan (evaportative cooling) to keep temps in the high 60°s.

If you really think it's too warm where you have your carboy, it couldn't hurt anything even now to cool things down. Have you tried the wet t-shirt trick?

I have had this same problem before. The only time this happens is when the fermentation temperatures are higher than they should be. Now I put the carboy in a tub with a couple of two liter bottles of ice and just change them every other day. The temp usually stays around 62.

Charlie

Thanks. I guess I just needed reassurance that I shouldn't throw it out yet. I've since put it in a tub of water and used the t-shirt trick. I don't seem to get a lot of results, but I live in Oregon and the humidity is pretty high. Luckily the weather is cooperating this week. I built a cooler out of high density rigid insulation from home depot. I plan on putting bottles of ice in there with the carboys. I may end up putting in the fan and thermostat setup I've seen if need be. We only get a couple warm months a year here so it may not be a big issue.
Any one have a suggestion whether I should store the beer cold or regular temp while I wait for the off flavors to go away?

fusel alcohol flavors never mellow out. I've had 2 batches of beer fermented at high temperatures that were aged for one year, yet they were still very strong on the "hot alcohol" taste.

You could try cutting it with some soda or a "cheap" brew (BMC)...

Thanks for the help. I plan on kegging it, and saving it for while. If it nothing happens I'll have a ceremony and dump it. Better to have a fridge full of good beer than have that one keg in the back you never want to touch. It's a like an old pair of pants that you never want to wear but you keep in the back of your closet for eight years just in case.

Hold off on the black armbands, time heals almost everything.

Hey...we can develop a taste for anything. Even the worst brewed homebrew has a place in my belly.

Maybe, the first 100 times someone accidentally brewed an IPA, they threw it away thinking "wow...who can handle all that hop flavor?"

Hold on to it and serve it to the party crashers. or to your friends when are drunk and not looking.

homebrewer_99 said:

You could try cutting it with some soda or a "cheap" brew (BMC)...

Click to expand...

I second that idea. My first brew suffered from fusel alcohol and wasn't that pleasant to drink. But when I mixed one bottle of that with another bottle of a good beer (whether commercial or one from my next batch), the result was a decent tasting beer.

are you at the end of fermentation or going into secondary? well the production of soap taste can be come from dodecanoic acid. there can be other flavors your discribing but thats a start. that flavor can come from bad hops or contaminationof butyric acid bacteria during the boil. but hey this is just a guess by the flavors your telling us so i may be way off. but hey if its drinkable go for it.