fermenting temperature question

First time brewer. Ran into a similar problem as other posts in regards to fermentation stopping after 24 hours.

On the day that I brewed my batch (American light Ale, IronMaster), there was a heat wave. The ambien temp in the coolest part of my house was around 78-79 degrees and that is wheremy bucket is reading. I'm thinking that the elevated temperature is causing the yeast to stop after 24 hours.

I placed a wet towel and even a bag of ice on top to try to cool it down to 65 degrees, I'm wondering if the fermentation will start again. Or is this batch destine to go down the drain. of course I'll wait 7 days and then test the gravity.

Stupid me, I should have thought of preparing a ice bath or some type of cooling device earlier on. Any thoughts?

With the temps that hot, your beer is probably done fermenting. Let it finish like normal, but it is going to be very fruity from the very high temps. Inside the bucket is usually 5-10deg hotter than ambient temps.

Hi,
If you have a hydrometer, try taking a measurement with it. That will tell you if it is truly stuck.

At 78F, it probably would not kill the yeast, though it might lead to some off flavors. I would not panic, but if you can get the temp down a bit it might help. Try putting towels over it and put a fan on it. If you keep the towels wet you can cut about 10 degrees off it.

Brad