Safale US-04 at flesh-melting temperatures

[invivoSaccharomyces]

I decided on Saturday I wanted to brew an imperial stout. Probably going to age it on some bourbon and oak. I had a yeast cake of US-04 ready to go, and I figured that ought to be fine for my purposes. It's a big beer (1.095), it needs a lot of yeast. I've got no air conditioning at my apartment, but I've got a Cool Brewing fermentation bag, and it's not that hot around here lately (mid-80s). So I brewed it up on Saturday, dumped it straight on the yeast cake, hooked up the world's most necessary blowoff rig, and stuck it in the bag with all the frozen water bottles I could find.

I wake up Sunday morning to find that all the ice has melted, the blowoff rig is bubbling like mad, and the Fermometer on the side of my fermentation bucket can't register a temperature because it doesn't go up high enough. I swear, the yeast must've decided to skip that whole metabolic "glycolysis" nonsense and went straight for combustion instead!

Fermentation sputtered to a crawl by the evening, so they must've gotten through that sugar fast. Temperatures are stabilizing at around 70, thank goodness.

So, how foul are these off flavors gonna be once this beer's done in 3-4 months?

 

[Yooper]

So, how foul are these off flavors gonna be once this beer's done in 3-4 months?

It's probably going to be very "hot" and full of fusel alcohols that give monster headaches. The thing is with S04, it tastes pretty yucky above about 72 degrees, so aside from the fusels with the headaches it might be very fruity as well.

How cool did you get your wort before you pitched it onto the yeast? If you cooled it to the low 60s, it might not be all that bad if it raised pretty slowly.

 

[bovineblitz]

S04 typically goes crazy and cranks up the heat quickly. With an OG that high and at that temp, I'd be concerned that it's gonna be no good.

 

[g-star]

It will be disgusting. I certainly wouldn't waste my time or bourbon/oak with this disaster. Sorry.

 

[Darwin18]

I wouldn't waste my time with it either. Make another batch while you give this one time to ferment out and see where you stand. I hate to say it, but don't get your hopes up.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Would it be ok to boil brats in or make cheese and beer soup? Might not be a total waste...

 

[reed1911]

Would it be ok to boil brats in or make cheese and beer soup? Might not be a total waste...

Thinking like I do. Something happens to ruin the plan "A", no problem, what can I use this to cook with? Chances are it will turn out different than plan "A" but I would not dump it. Let it finish and see what develops, if nothing else you can use it to cook with.

 

[BigFloyd]

and it's not that hot around here lately (mid-80s).

When talking about fermentation, "mid-80's" and "not that hot" usually don't belong in the same sentence.

At what temp was your wort when you pitched on that cake?

 

[invivoSaccharomyces]

Ha, cheers for the feedback. Worse than I hoped for, but about what I expected. I pitched at about 75 (without a wort chiller, wort takes forever to cool below 90, but it's partial mash so I fill the rest up with cold water; final temp is close to 75).

I'm gonna go ahead and try this again this weekend, with a more "traditional" starter of half a gallon of US-05. I will also buy the corner store out of 2L sodas, so I can be sure to chill the heck out of it as it's brewing!

Then next year, I'm renting an apartment with some damn A/C!

 

[NathPowe]

It's my understanding that making starters for US-05, or any dry yeast, is not recommended. Better to just pitch another packet if you need a higher cell count.

Just my $0.02. Hope the next brew goes better for you.

 

[austinb]

Then next year, I'm renting an apartment with some damn A/C!

We have been averaging about 80-85 here this summer in Portland, OR. Except when we had a few days that were more humid than our usual dry summer heat we have managed to keep the house relatively cool and comfortable by opening the windows at night when the outside temperature drops below the inside temp and then closing our windows in the morning. We also run a big box fan we got at a local department store for only $16 and point it out one of our windows so it creates a cross breeze and draws cool air in at night. Maybe working on keeping your apartment temp cooler in combination with your ferm contraption you can keep your ferm temps down without AC.

If you are still having issues keeping things cool then maybe consider investing in a ferm chamber. If you are just doing 5 gallon batches then look on Craigslist for a used mini fridge without a freezer in the top that you can fit your fermenter with the airlock attached in. Old wine chillers with the racks removed or those small fridges with a coke or Pepsi logo you see at convenience stores could work well also because they are very box shaped without extra drawers, freezers or shelves on the door. You will need to get a temperature controller for it. The ranco or Johnson controllers are popular with home brewers or you can DIY one for a lot less with one of those grey and orange aquarium thermostats on eBay from Hong Kong if you don't mind a simple Celsius to Fahrenheit conversion.

 

[Transamguy77]

I made an English ale last year with S04 and it fermented in the high 80s also, it had a lot of fusel smell and taste that eventually went away somewhere in the 6 to 8 month range I don't recall headaches but I know I wasn't drinking much of it at a time either.

If you are doing a partial boil with top off water I'd put 2-3 gallons of your top off water in the fridge the night before so maybe you can get your starting temp lower to begin with.

 

[BigFloyd]

If you are doing a partial boil with top off water I'd put 2-3 gallons of your top off water in the fridge the night before so maybe you can get your starting temp lower to begin with.

This is a good idea on partial boils + take the extra step of putting the top off water in the freezer right when you begin brewing. You want to get it to just above frozen.

Pitching at 75*F is too warm. You end up fighting to get the temp down into the mid-60's at the same time the yeast is generating heat.

If you ice bath the kettle in the sink and get it down to around 80-82*F, you can then top it off with the near-frozen water and get the wort down to around 60-62*F (which is really where you want to be for pitching most ale yeasts).

+1 on not making a starter using dry yeast unless you first rehydrate it in warm (95-105*F) tap water that has been boiled then allowed to cool. You can make a starter just fine out of rehydrated dry yeast. In this situation, I'd be more inclined to rehydrate/pitch 3 packs for a really big beer than to make a huge starter.

 

[mewithstewpid]

Just call it a saison style stout.

 

[reed1911]

The problem there is the yeast strain is not applicable to it. Saison yeast strains do well at higher temps while the yeast used does not.