Fermentation temperature

[chadkarol]

How important is fermentation temperature? I ask because I brewed a quad and had it fermenting in my basement for about a month. During this month the temperature fluctuated a bit. Probably from mid to upper 70s to mid to lower 60's, maybe even colder. Went from 1.080 to 1.012. Bottled and just tried it and it's very sweet and just doesn't taste good. Bad brewing technique or bad fermentation?

 

[boydster]

Fermentation temperature is one of the big 4 in my book. Sanitation, pitch rate, fermentation temperature, and patience. Generally, you want to start out on the lower end of the temperature range for the yeast, and as fermentation slows you should slowly raise the temperature to encourage the yeast to have a healthy finish to the fermentation.

That said, a quad generally does very well with a good deal of conditioning time. Try it at 6 months. I bet it'll be a different beer.

 

[BigFloyd]

Fermentation temperature is one of the big 4 in my book. Sanitation, pitch rate, fermentation temperature, and patience. Generally, you want to start out on the lower end of the temperature range for the yeast, and as fermentation slows you should slowly raise the temperature to encourage the yeast to have a healthy finish to the fermentation.

That said, a quad generally does very well with a good deal of conditioning time. Try it at 6 months. I bet it'll be a different beer.

+1 on boydster's big 4. They are the keys to good brewing.

Did you just bottle this? Seriously, a quad is going to take a minimum 6 months to get to where you ought to even think about chilling and taste-testing one bottle. Anything prior to that is simply a waste of beer.

 

[OkashiiBrew]

It is something that can't be ignored. My AC failed during the summer and my Irish Red went to 90 degrees for a day. Tasted like plastic banana pooh. Bottled and let it sit for 4 months hoping it might fix itself. Wrong..... still taste the same. Donating it to local brew store to use as an example of what not to do for those learning to brew.

 

[chadkarol]

That's what I expected. Normally basements stay mostly the same temperature, but not mine. It fluctuates so much. It's time I find a different way of fermenting. A temperature controller of some sort. I have a chest freezer with a temp controller, but use it for my kegs. Maybe it's time to move fermentation into the freezer and just bottle again.

 

[boydster]

You could also try a swamp cooler, lots of people on HBT do that with great results. Save the beer you have now for next Halloween/Thanksgiving and you might be pleasantly surprised.

 

[peterj]

That's what I expected. Normally basements stay mostly the same temperature, but not mine. It fluctuates so much. It's time I find a different way of fermenting. A temperature controller of some sort. I have a chest freezer with a temp controller, but use it for my kegs. Maybe it's time to move fermentation into the freezer and just bottle again.

Temperature control is most critical during the first 5-7 days of fermentation. After that, as long as it doesn't get too cold to make the yeast go dormant or way too hot, it doesn't matter nearly as much. So I would just take the kegs out until active fermentation is over then put the fermenter in a water bath to keep the temps a little more constant and put the kegs back in the fridge. Might be hard to go without beer for a 5-7 days though if you only keg. But drinking commercial brews isn't such a bad thing. Or I guess if there is enough room you could just leave the kegs in and drink warm beer for 5-7 days.

 

[ButteryJones]

I just started out earlier this year. Obviously didn't do enough research because I ended up with a plasticky-banana scented/flavored nightmare . It was enough for me to never let that happen again. If there's one thing that will make you pay attention to temp control its dumping out 2 cases and smelling that the whole time.

 

[pelipen]

How important is fermentation temperature? I ask because I brewed a quad and had it fermenting in my basement for about a month. During this month the temperature fluctuated a bit. Probably from mid to upper 70s to mid to lower 60's, maybe even colder. Went from 1.080 to 1.012. Bottled and just tried it and it's very sweet and just doesn't taste good. Bad brewing technique or bad fermentation?

Hard to say why it's sweet without a recipe. As stated, temp control is probably the single best thing you can do for your beer post-boil.
But... don't toss it. It's amazing what age can do. I had one that sucked, then became amazing after a year.