Temperature for fermenting. How much does it matter?

So I just brewed my first beer. It was a Belgian Pale Ale. I threw it in the primary fermenting bucket and placed it in a room that is around 90 F. I realized my mistake(2-3 days later) and moved it too a room that was 76 F.

Will I have bubblegum tasting beer? Oh, yes and bubbles stopped coming out of the air lock after 2 days.

 

Depends on the yeast, but ya 90F is WAY to hot. If I were to guess, I would say there will probably an overpowering bannanna smell/flavor.

 

If you are having trouble finding a cool place to ferment, consider using a water bath next time.

 

Okay, so if you (ahem) happened to have your brew in a fridge with a digital temp controller on it, and you (ahem) happened to not quite have mastered the settings of said temp controller, and came home one day and found that your beer had been at 78-80 for nearly 24 hours, all this during the most active portion of the primary fermentation, can any amount of repentance and temperature correction redeem you? Or, more importantly, redeem your beer?

 

OK, so what kind of beers can I brew at temperatures from 74-68 degrees.

 

Umm, I say you are going to definately notice some off flavors, and no subsequent temp. reduction will help what has already happened... though it will keep it from getting worse.

 

A lot of brews.

Hefeweizen
Belgium Witbeir
Stouts
Kolsch
California Common
American ale

Pretty much any ale really....that list was to help you get going. Only lagers need fermented under 60. Though some ales may be better in the low 60's.

 

Most ale ferments are best below 70F... and some ale yeasts do fine down to 59F.

Hefes and Belgians are good to brew above 70F.

 

+1... I generally have to keep my freezer at about 60-62F to keep my fermentor at 66F during the first few days of th ferments.

 

So,considering this will be swims second brew he will probably go the igloo cooler way.(CHEAPER). So if swim goes with the belgian pale ale again and ferments it again in a room that is 74-68 F. What temp should he keep the water? In addition, would the water/air temperature fluctuating create a problem for the taste of beer.

 

Why did you leave your bucket in the sauna? :fro:

 

I disagree that hefeweizens should be fermented warm, they turn into a phenolic mess even more than most beers when temps get too high. For the best balance of clove and banana most German wheat strains should be kept between 62-64F.

If you are fermenting above 68F I recommend sticking to Belgian ales, but there is a couple English strains that can handle high 60s pretty well.

 

Man, I fermented my Hefe at 70F and it was awesome with the WLP300! MM MM bananas!

 

Yeah, well taste is subjective and if you want a banana-bread/juicyfruit beer that would be the way to make it. Personally I have never liked the results when the temp gets above 65 on a weizen...so I followed Eric Warners advice of pitching cold and fermenting around 64 and have been quite happy since.

 

+1 on temp control being the most critical.
You'll still have beer. But it will be MUCH better beer when you are very very careful about fermentation temps.

 

What yeast did you use? I've found that this makes a huge difference. Some yeasts are very forgiving.

My first summer brewing, I had been doing no boil extract batches. My fourth batch I decided to do something more challenging. I made a Westmalle clone, using Trappist Ale yeast. I didn't think the temperature made much difference, since my other batches came out ok and they were all at higher then recommended temperatures. So I let the Trappist yeast go to work at 85-90F and it came out tasting like bubble gum flavored nail polish remover. This isn't some subtle off flavor that can be detected by a highly trained beer snob. There was nothing subtle about it. It was bubble gum.

I've found that if you don't have good temperature control, use a more forgiving yeast. I've found that Cooper's ale yeast is pretty forgiving. It has a large temperature range and can handle high temperatures well.

 

!!!! AMEN !!!!