6th Batch- High Temps and other advice

[Capt_Huey]

This batch is my 6th total, have not had any issues like these before, so any input is welcome.

Brew day: 8/4/14
6lbs pilsen dme (Williams brew)

3.5 gal boil- 4gal finish (5 was target) lost some to a boil over and spill while transferring

1 oz hallertau mittelfrüh 60 min
1 oz German tettang 30 min

Wyeast 1187 ring wood ale
Pitched at 73 degrees cooling took about 90 min in bath tub with 30 lbs of ice.

OG- 1.061

The main issue has been high fermentation temps. On 8/6 the temp spiked to 81 degrees, I got it down within a day to 74, but because of working couldn't monitor it during the day time and since the 6th the temp has been fluctuating in the upper 70s despite my efforts. I tasted a sample on Monday and didn't detect anything off, the airlock is still bubbling about once a minute, and i broke my hydrometer beaker, new one should arrive tomorrow, and I hope to bottle soon) assuming the gravity is stable.

Any thoughts on the high temps throughout the fermentation or others I should be aware of?

Also how will the loss of 1 gallon between a boil over after the extract addition and the transfer spill affect the end result?

I was shooting for a light ale, but not sure what profile really fits it... Saison?


Thanks!

 

[fatnoah]

In general high fermentation temps will lead to more esters and other compounds and possibly more off-flavors. Also, big swings in fermentation (in either direction) are not ideal and can lead to off-flavors or poor attenuation. All that being said, the beer may turn out fine. I am not sure how the volume loss will affect the final product other than you'll have less beer in the end.

I've found that the biggest keys to a quality fermentation are 1. pitching plenty of healthy yeast (for more than 3 gallons of a 1.061 beer I can almost guarantee you would want to make a starter if using liquid yeast), 2. controlling fermentation temps (either with a swamp cooler type set-up or a dedicated fermentation fridge) 3. Good oxygenation up front (I just shake the crap out of the wort before pitching for about 3 minutes).

I am not sure what style this beer would fall under. While saison is a failry broad category I think most people would say you need to be using a saison yeast for it to be a saison. Ringwood is more of a regular ale or specialty ale yeast really. But, it is your beer you can call and do what you want with it.

 

[Kevin79]

It took you 90 minutes to cool 4 gallons in a bath run with 30 POUNDS of Ice? 73 degrees is still a little high for pitching temps. In general it is better to start low and have it warm up from there. Wyeast 1187 produces some fruity/estery flavors to begin with. Since you've been fermenting at the high end of its temp range, you will probably end up with some strong flavors, might be good, might be too much, you'll have to wait and see. What are you doing for temp control? What is the ambient temperature of the room your fermenter is kept? A swamp cooler and some frozen water bottles can go a long way in keeping temps low and preventing temperature large temperature swings.

 

[Capt_Huey]

Thanks guys. While I understand there's not much I can do at this point, it's good info for the next batch. We moved just before I brewed this batch and I never had to worry about temp control at my old place- I had a spot that would keep65-68 without any other measures.

The ambient room temp can get to the mid 70s most days, but we had a heat wave during the first few days of fermentation.

I will look into a swap cooler or other alternatives for the next batch.

If I had more boiled and cooled water i would have topped it up to 5.

Do you think I should have tasted any off flavors earlier this week, or will those only pop up after bottling?

Thanks again!

 

[Kevin79]

If you are not getting any off flavors by this point, that is a very good sign. Not to necessarily say that something might come up while conditioning, but if it does it should be fairly mild if it tastes fine now.