I’d be really smart.....—x

if it weren’t for all the dumb stuff I do.

A couple of weeks ago I was testing out a heating system for my keezer. I plugged in a $12 hair dryer to heat the chamber to 70f. I had a batch of apricot cider that was just about done fermenting (5 gallons of apple juice, 3lb apricot pureee, 2.5 lb honey- sg of 085ish).
My first mistake was not plugging the hair dryer into the temp controller. Of course I fell asleep.
When I awoke the next morning the chamber was at 140f. I confirmed that my cider was also at 140f. I immediately set the temp to 65f. It must have taken 24 hrs to get the cider back down in temp. Luckily, no equipment was damaged. I do ferment in an Anvil ss brew bucket.

I repitched the same yeast, as the honey hadn’t fermented out yet. About a day later , I could see signs of fermentation again.

The only reason I’m admitting being a d*#@a*#, is because the cider is totally fine. I was fully expecting to taste off flavors, but I can’t detect anything. It’s still young but tastes the same as other batches I’ve done. I do about 10-15 gallons every year for the last five years. Ive always been paranoid when pasteurizing that if I went too long I would pick up off flavors.
While I wouldn’t recommend this procedure, I’m no longer afraid to pasteurize for a bit longer.

 

I’m surprised that the hair drier kept going overnight! I love the mental picture of waking up in the morning, hearing the droning noise of the drier and thinking “oh no.”

Glad it came out ok!

 

I was surprised too. I picked the cheapest dryer I could find at Fred Meyers. I have zero use for a hair dryer unless I’m using it for beer or to warm my scalp.
The dryer works like a champ and can raise the temp in my keezer fairly quickly. I now have it plugged into my temp controller.