Obligatory did I ruin it thread

Well, the first batch is in the fermenter, and nothing is doing. I cooked on Friday and sometime my temp dropped to about 67 and all activity stopped. I tossed a small heater in the room and the temp got back up to 73 and activity started back up again. Before bed, the bubbles were coming every 4 seconds or so. This morning the heat was up to 85 and there was no activity. I finally decided to just move the fermenter up from the basement, but there is still no activity. So, the question of the day is did I kill it? I wouldn't think that 85 would kill the yeast. BTW I was using Wyeast 1056 American Ale Yeast 60-72 degree.

No, you didn't kill it, but I bet it's done.

Depending on how long it fermented above 75F will determine if it's turned "fruity". Have you taken a hydrometer sample? Be sure to drink the sample afterward to see how it's progressed.

Time to rack to the secondary.

Your beer is probably just fine - perhaps a some of those fruity esters were produced, but your beer is almost certainly finished with the most active portion of its fermentation. Rack to a clearing tank/secondary if you have one, or just give it a few more days to a week in the primary before bottling.

homebrewer_99 said:

Have you taken a hydrometer sample? Be sure to drink the sample afterward to see how it's progressed.

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I'm with homebrewer_99 - I love taking a few hydrometer samples along the way if for no other reason than to taste the progress of my beer. At a minimum, I usually sample the cooled wort as I transfer it, the results of primary fermentation, and the results after clearing a bit...not to mention the finished product!

Don't take a hydrometer reading! You might find out it's done and stop worrying.

Thanks for the help. Somehow I got it into my head the temp for the yeast was 70-77 degrees. When I finally figured it out I was pretty upset. Anyway, I'll thow it into the secondary tonight and put it back in the basement where things stay a pretty constant 65. Thanks again for the help though.

giono2 said:

Thanks for the help. Somehow I got it into my head the temp for the yeast was 70-77 degrees. When I finally figured it out I was pretty upset. Anyway, I'll thow it into the secondary tonight and put it back in the basement where things stay a pretty constant 65. Thanks again for the help though.

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I used Wyeast 1056 on my last brew and had a problem getting the temp below 72 even with the wet towel. Most of the fermentation was done between 72 and 75 degrees and my beer came out fine. Would it have come out better at the proper temp? Who knows

Anyway I'm almost positive my Wyeast 1056 packet said between 60 and 75 degrees. It was a smack pack.

Tommy

Well I took a hydrometer reading and it was 1011. I forgot to take one after the boil, first time jitters, so I don't know what the change was. The sample tasted pretty boozy. Isn't this pretty high for fermentation to have stopped? I was just making a Northern extra pale kit.

giono2 said:

Well I took a hydrometer reading and it was 1011. I forgot to take one after the boil, first time jitters, so I don't know what the change was. The sample tasted pretty boozy. Isn't this pretty high for fermentation to have stopped? I was just making a Northern extra pale kit.

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sounds perfect...
you might drop another point or 2 in the secondary, but this is certainly not too high...

Sounds good. 65 is perfect for 1056. If your carboy was on the bare basement floor it probably dropped a bit lower than that. Keep it off the floor unless your aging.

Today marks the end of week three since my beer has been bottled and I'm enjoying one as I type this. I had a hard time with temp while I was fermenting as well as in secondary. The temp was betwen 72 and 75 most times and at times up to 76 degrees. While in the bottles it hit 80 in my basement.
I used Wyeast 1056 also. My beer tatses very good, better than my first batch.

Tommy