temps a bit high today in primary- please advise!

[treemind]

So i pitched a high gravity ale yesterday 1.080 with two packs of Wyeast 1056 american ale at 78F ...

I left it in my basement overnight thinking temps would fall, but we had an unusually hot day in Seattle today and the temps are still at 76F on my primary after the first 24 hours.

I just got home from work and i am a bit shocked, as my primary in the past has always dropped to upper 60s in the first day or so.

I turned a Fan on... & hope it will drop as Wyeast directions say the temps should be between 62 and 72.

It is bubbling like crazy, but will i get bad off flavors from the high temps?

Please advise!

 

[Yooper]

I like to pitch my yeast at 70 degrees, just so it doesn't start fermenting while it's still to hot. Plus, if you chill the wort to 70 degrees ASAP, you'll get a better cold break, so you will be less likely to have chill haze, or a cloudy beer. I guess that's my advice for next time!

For now, could you get a cooler and put some water in it, and then the fermenter? If you put 60 degree water in it, the temperature should equalize and get you in a better range for the yeast. I like to do that, and if it's still too warm (fermentation does create some heat), then add a frozen water bottle.

Fermenting 1056 at such a temperature may cause quite a bit of esters- some "fruity" flavor in the beer. Fermenting it at the lowest range of 62 degrees will give a super clean flavor, so I usually try for the lower temperature range. Still, it's not a lost cause! The fruity flavors might go very well in your beer.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

Yea, better to pitch cool and let it warm up. Trying to cool it now might lead to the yeast crashing, so don't do anything too dramatic. The fan is probably ok.

It might be a bit fruity. Probably won't be to bad. What kind of high grav ale is this?

 

[Col224]

I've heard that any changes in temperature should be done VERY slowly.

 

[ifishsum]

We're in the same boat here in Portland this week - I actually scratched my planned brewing this weekend because the expected warm weather coinciding with what would have been my peak fermentation. I'm not really set up to control temperature very well, so I'll wait until later in the week to brew when it's supposed to get cooler. Those first few days matter the most.

There's not much you can do at this point but try to cool it down below 70 somehow and hope for the best. You'll very likely have some fruitiness to it, but consider leaving it in primary a week longer than you normally would in the hope that the yeast cake can clean it up some.

+2 on pitching cooler wort - it helps a lot. I tend to pitch in the 65-67 range because it's easier to warm it up a few degrees than it is to cool it down once it's peaked above 70.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

For any of you that like making clean ales and don't have AC this summer, try Mauribrew from Australia. It works really clean at warmer temps!

 

[treemind]

THanks for the advice. This is only my 4th batch.

THis is an extract Arrogent Bastard clone. I chilled the wort in an ice bath in a large sink, so it is really difficult to get it below 70 that fast. I guess i need a wort chiller if i want to do this correctly.

Meanwhile It is cooling off now... slowly, down to between 72 and 74 now. I think it will be ok if I slowly get it down around 70 by tomorrow, and not drop it too fast.