Oskar Blues Fermentation Schedule

I was listening to the CYBI episode where they were attempting to clone G'Knight from Oskar Blues. I found it very interesting that according to the brewmaster they ferment this beer around 70 degrees untill the beer is finished (around 10 days). Then remove the yeast/trub and then condition the beer further at 60 degrees. I'm pretty sure they use either 1056 or 1272. Do any of you guys use a fermentation schedule similar to this? I would have thought this would have made a beer with fusel alcohols and overbearing esters but I really like G'Knight. Also, it was always my understanding to start fermentation temparature cool then raise it slowly to help the beer attenuate and avoid "off flavors".

 

My (vague) understanding of the commercial brewing process is that many of them ferment under pressure of some sort, which for some reason allows them to ferment at higher temperatures while maintaining the characteristics of a lower temperature fermentation. I'm sure someone else here has more info. That said, optimal fermentation temperature for 1056 from wyeast's website is 60-72F, so while you might get more esters developing it's not outside a "standard" temperature for the yeast.

The important thing to remember is that it doesn't really matter what they do, what matters is what works for you. Your understanding of the standard fermentation process for homebrewers is correct, although I would say rather than start "cool", you should start at your desired fermentation temperature and after the majority of fermentation is complete, raise the temperature to the upper range of the yeast's recommended range.

 

It's true - think about the height of their fermentors.. There is a lot of weight in beer pushing down in the bottom of the conical. Apparently this allows them the ferment higher. I just brewing this 2 weekends ago and i thought on the show they say not to ferment over 65* to avoid any esters which is what I did. After 4 or 5 days I ramped the temp a degree a day to 68. Left it there for a week to clean up and will dry hop this weekend. I'm hoping it's a great beer!

 

One thing to keep in mind is when a pro talks about ferm temp, he's talking about the temperature of the liquid. Depending on your system, you may or may not measure it that way. I know I do mine by taping a thermometer to the side of the better bottle. Since we know that fermentation is exothermic, the actual liquid is higher than the surrounding air. I figure this measurement is probably lower than the actual temp of the liquid. With that in mind, I usually keep this number at 67-68 degrees for 1056 and it always turns out great.