accidentally Pitched at 95 Degrees

[jscardami]

Ok so after 6 Months of carefully measuring everything and reading the threads and being patient with Primary, I finally made my first really bad mistake. Basically I would do an Ice bath to get the wort temp under 100 and then the cold sink water I added would always drop me to 70 to 75 degrees and then I would pitch my yeast.

This time I don't know what I was thinking but I never checked my temp until after I aerated and pitched and lo and behold it was 95 degrees in there. Needless to say I panicked put the lid on and brought it in the house to try and get it cooling but fermentation pretty much kicked in within 30 minutes and then became pretty violent overnight.

I understand that I have produced esters and this will impart an off flavor and possible a fruity flavor. It is a Sam Adam's Summer Ale Clone so I hope the fruity part of it won't be too bad.

My question is simply, since it has been in primary for 4 days, what do I need to do now or later to minimize my mistake. I have heard repitching, leaving it longer, and so on and so on. I am not a pop it open everyday and measure it kind of newbie so I will listen to your advice. My goal here is to save this batch.

 

[kh54s10]

You probably can't do anything at this point. If you got the temperature down quickly you might not notice too much. Leaving it in the fermenter a little longer might help. After two weeks or so check the gravity. If it is not low enough then you might need to pitch some more yeast.

In the future I would suggest getting the temperature into the mid sixties before pitching the yeast.

 

[jscardami]

Thanks and I will definitely do that. The great thing about making a mistake is wort temps will always be on my mind every time I am ready to pitch.

 

[KepowOb]

You probably can't do anything at this point. If you got the temperature down quickly you might not notice too much. Leaving it in the fermenter a little longer might help. After two weeks or so check the gravity. If it is not low enough then you might need to pitch some more yeast.

In the future I would suggest getting the temperature into the mid sixties before pitching the yeast.

I'm curious, what would leaving it in the fermenter longer do in this case?

My understanding is, if you pitch at too high a temperature the yeast will work too quickly for a proper fermentation. Pitching more yeast in this case makes sense, but a longer fermentation? I'm also in the middle of my first batch and could be completely wrong on this, which is why I ask .

 

[kh54s10]

Sometimes harsh off flavors will mellow given more time. It might not work but will not hurt.

I am among the group that feels that the yeast continue to work cleaning up after active fermentation has stopped. Many say a month or more in primary, I usually do three weeks. I have recently drained my pipeline and kegged 2 batches at 2 weeks. They are noticeably more cloudy.

If the original pitch of yeast fermented out all the available sugars pitching more yeast will do nothing.

 

[Uziyahu]

I would second leaving it in the primary fermenter longer. After the sugars are fermented out, yeast will clean up their fermentation byproducts. I do a month in primary and have found my beer to be much cleaner since then. I don't know how much a longer primary will help your batch, but it couldn't hurt. Still, I wouldn't worry too much. Your batch could taste great. You won't really know till you get the finished product.

 

[jscardami]

Thanks, I think I will check in a week just to make sure fementation is occuring and then leave it there at least 2 more weeks before I touch it. I will of course taste it at both times. I usually do a secondary, but I think I will just leave it on the yeast cake longer and call it a day with this.

Will rousing the yeast by gently rolling the bucket around my kitchen assist them in any way to clean up the by products or should I leave it alone all together?

 

[JeepDiver]

there is a real good chance you have fusel alcohols, which won't fade, and can give you a real bad headache from a single beer if you are sensitive to them. If the yeast has a higher temp range you may get away with it, but I wouldn't count on it. My second batch was a heffy that I pitched at about 85 degrees. I drank all of them, but it was hard to do. the last one was about a year after it was brewed and it didn't change at all

 

[m3n00b]

there is a real good chance you have fusel alcohols, which won't fade, and can give you a real bad headache from a single beer if you are sensitive to them. If the yeast has a higher temp range you may get away with it, but I wouldn't count on it. My second batch was a heffy that I pitched at about 85 degrees. I drank all of them, but it was hard to do. the last one was about a year after it was brewed and it didn't change at all

This. I've got a couple of my first ones still. Can't bring myself to try them. One I pitched at 90F. Stupid.

 

[pfgonzo]

High temps mean exponentially higher acetaldehyde production as well, so expect some apple aroma.

 

[jscardami]

ok so heres the update, Initially my OG was 1.035 at 95 degrees so roughly 1.040 at normal temp. After a week I popped the lid and grabbed a sample real quick and sealed it back up. It actually tastes decent and the SG is down to 1.010. So I will leave it there at least 2 more weeks and then maybe transfer to a secondary. I really hope it cleans itself up some so it won't give me headaches.