I'm a stupid idiot-help with fermentation issues

[JP2013]

Hello, stupid idiot here.

I brewed up a 5 gallon porter on Saturday. Everything went flawlessly as I thought, "Hey, I've finally got this brewing thing down. I'm practically an expert." Boy was I wrong...(OG 1.059 after proper temp converstion)

I do not have a wort coller so I cooled it as quickly as I could to 72 degrees (as I always do). I then pitched my Wyeast 1056 at 72 degrees, aerated it, then put it in the back of my closet to let it cool down to 66-68 degrees (which it ALWAYS HAS in the past) and let fermentation begin. I went to bed as happy as could be, woke up, peeked in, saw a lovely inch or two of krausen, heard that lovely bubbling sound from my airlock, and went about my day.

However...when I got home that night (Sunday) and checked on it up close it was hovering between 72-74 degrees! I quickly gave my carboy a bath in cool water and cooled it down to 68 degrees...which I had to do every few hours to keep it below 70 degrees.

Fast forward to today (Wednesday), and the krausen has gone away almost entirely. I still hear the bubbling sound every 30 seconds or so, but there is no krausen activity and the temperature is again between 72-74 (unless I give my carboy an icebath).

So, my question is: Fermentation is probably close to, if not already, complete, but due to the higher range of temperatures will I be left with esters?

Is there anything left to do to "save" it?

Signed,
A sad stupid idiot...

 

[Chrisbrewbeers]

Would it save you trouble to just get a cooler or plastic storage bin, fill with some water and toss in a few ice packs or frozen water bottles to keep it cool? I don't think you will have a problem but I have less than a year experience although I do brew often.

 

[JP2013]

That is where I am at now. I feel stupid for having this issue, but I will admit my closet has been right at 68 every other batch I've ever brewed, so I didn't even imagine this scenario. I currently have my carboy inside of my brew kettle, which is half full of cold water, keeping the wort at 68 degrees...I just noticed that the krausen has gone away (meaning the flavors are largely decided...) and the bubbling has slowed way down, so I am hoping it is not too late. I know that within the first 72 hours you do not want fermentation taking place at too high a temp, and I believe I hit 74-75 during the first or second day. Hoping it'll be okay!

 

[flars]

Fermentation is getting close to being done. Take a hydrometer reading in a few more days. Take another a few days later. May need a third one to actually determine if FG has been reached.
Study up on the different variations of swamp coolers to see which will fit your situation best.

Check out the web sites, for the yeast you use, for optimum fermentation temperatures. This will help you decide on the best wort cooling technique.

If being flush with cash is your problem, a refrigerator with a temperature controller is another option.

 

[cilestiok]

68 is even pretty warm for 1056 unless you like a moderate amount of ester in your final product. I would say you'll be okay though just perhaps a little more additional "flavor" than you're used to. I agree with the last post though about a small ice pack bath from the start. If you like cleaner flavored beer try to stay at the very low end of the recommended temp range for any yeast strain. If you don't like cleaner flavored beer ignore all of my advice!


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[cilestiok]

Also leaving the beer on the cake for maybe a week or two longer than you usually would might help the beer clean up a little bit of the byproduct from the mistake. That's a coin toss though.


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[bottlebomber]

Whether or not you'll get too many or undesirable esters is tied to a lot of things such as pitching rates and oxegenation. You'll just have to wait and see. I don't think it will be awful brew though, but you may have to sit on it a month longer than you would if you had a more controlled process.

 

[riderkb]

It won't be that bad don't beat yourself up over it. Just wait until it ferments out and package. Next time you can have the tub ready with some ice packs.

 

[Chrisbrewbeers]

When I started brewing last winter I could count on my closet being around 64- 68 ish. I did a imperial brown that I thought was good, that was my second brew. First was a racer 5 clone using wyeast American ale 2(might be wrong on name but close to 1056 I believe)in those conditions and it was good. When weather got hotter I had two go off scale of that thermometer on side of bucket, no idea how high it was, 90 ? The one that used s-04 is the one I dumped it was gross. The other was San Diego super yeast and was tolerable . I think the style you brewed is going to work in your favor.

 

[JP2013]

Thanks, guys.

 

[Barny]

One more thing to keep in mind since you've mentioned the temp in the closet several times. Fermentation is an exothermic reaction, meaning it generates heat itself. If the closet was 68 then during the height of fermentation your wort was probably somewhere in the 74 to 78 range. Do you have a thermometer on the pail or carboy itself?

Time will clean up some of the esthers and fusel alcohol if the yeast is left in the beer. So, as a couple people have said, give it an extra week or two.

 

[cjgenever]

Leave it on the cake and no more cooling. You want the yeast to stay in suspension add long as naturally possible to clean up the esters and fusals.

Package it after you let it clean up for a few weeks. Hopefully it's drinkable, but start slow. Don't drink a load in one night. If there's a lot of fusals it will give you a wicked headache.

 

[MrSnacks]

It's fine. I guarantee it.

 

[doodoobutter]

I've done worse than that during summer months with run away fermentations. Let it sit, and it tasted good. Best hot fermentation I did was with an ipa and california ale yeast. I thought it was screwed and it tasted pleasantly fruity.

It's hard to screw up. Your temperatures that you thought were too high, are what I aim for in the summer...