I brewed a 10 gallon batch of a Belgian Tripel (OG -1.075 w/Wyeast 1214 Belgian Abbey yeast) on Saturday. I moved the wort into my sanke keg fermenter that was in my chest freezer with a temp controller set for 64*F. At noon on Sunday, I noticed as was leaving the house that the temperature was reading 73*F! As I was running late, I couldn’t do anything at that moment, and when I came back home at 7pm, the temp was 85*F! It appears I’m having a serious problem with my freezer.
I immediately went to the local Walmart, thinking I would buy some dry ice to put in the freezer to bring the temperature down. Apparently they no longer sell dry ice, so I bought a few bags of ice and put them in an old 6 gallon bucket I used to use as a fermenter, and placed them inside the chest freezer.
(Keep in mind, I’m using a sanke keg with 11 gallons of wort, and measure the wort temperature via thermowell inserted into the wort. I pump the wort into the fermenter, and pressure-transfer the beer out into serving kegs — There is no way to lift the full fermenter out of the chest freezer, so taking it indoors was out of the question, as was using any kind of a water bath to lower the temperature.)
By Monday morning; the temp was in the upper- 70s, and 70 by Monday evening. (Not sure if it’s the ice, or if the freezer is starting to cool more efficiently.)
Obviously, I’m concerned about the beer. I was brewing this beer for an upcoming competition and won’t likely have time to brew again in time to have the beer ready to go.
I know Belgians are often fermented at warmer temps, but 85 seems awful warm, even though it was at that temp for less than 24 hours. I know temp control is most critical in the first few days, so this happened at the worst time possible.
Anyone have experience with this yeast at these temps? I’m thinking I may go ahead and move it to a couple of corny kegs after a week, and let it sit for awhile, but I’m hesitant to enter it. After I free up the fermenter, I can brew again this weekend, and try to rush it for the competition, but that’s not optimal, either.
What can I expect from the roller coaster temps this beer has experienced?
I immediately went to the local Walmart, thinking I would buy some dry ice to put in the freezer to bring the temperature down. Apparently they no longer sell dry ice, so I bought a few bags of ice and put them in an old 6 gallon bucket I used to use as a fermenter, and placed them inside the chest freezer.
(Keep in mind, I’m using a sanke keg with 11 gallons of wort, and measure the wort temperature via thermowell inserted into the wort. I pump the wort into the fermenter, and pressure-transfer the beer out into serving kegs — There is no way to lift the full fermenter out of the chest freezer, so taking it indoors was out of the question, as was using any kind of a water bath to lower the temperature.)
By Monday morning; the temp was in the upper- 70s, and 70 by Monday evening. (Not sure if it’s the ice, or if the freezer is starting to cool more efficiently.)
Obviously, I’m concerned about the beer. I was brewing this beer for an upcoming competition and won’t likely have time to brew again in time to have the beer ready to go.
I know Belgians are often fermented at warmer temps, but 85 seems awful warm, even though it was at that temp for less than 24 hours. I know temp control is most critical in the first few days, so this happened at the worst time possible.
Anyone have experience with this yeast at these temps? I’m thinking I may go ahead and move it to a couple of corny kegs after a week, and let it sit for awhile, but I’m hesitant to enter it. After I free up the fermenter, I can brew again this weekend, and try to rush it for the competition, but that’s not optimal, either.
What can I expect from the roller coaster temps this beer has experienced?
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