Can I fix it?

[CourtHouseBrewing]

I Live in central Florida and wanted to brew a pilsner. I found a small fridge for $180.00 delivered to my door in three days. I cut off the shelves on the door, painted the foam so it would not mold from moisture when not in use. What I did not realize is that the door shelf is what closed the switch to turn the unit on. I was hoping that the unit would be at 55oF in time before the yeast got going too much. What a mistake, I looked this morning and it was still at 73oF. That’s when I realized it never came on and the light was on all night, about 12 hours. So this morning I put a toothpick in the switch and it came to life. My question is:

Did I do harm to the beer?
I used White labs WLP800 Yeast and not the muntons yeast that came in the True Brew Kit.

It also looks darker than I thought it would. Is that normal for home brew to be dark?

Thanks for the help.

 

[mrk305]

You are right about the recommended temp for that yeast. It likes the 50's. I think you caught it early enough to not make that big of a difference.

It looks really dark when you are looking at 5 gallons. It will look much lighter in color in your glass.

 

[mojo_wire]

RDWHAB

With only 12 hours of exposure to higher than ideal temps - before fermentation starts for part of it - the odds of anything happening that you would notice are pretty low, and probably 50/50 that the end product would be improved.

Since beer pre-fermentation has 5-8% more solids in suspension than it does post fermentation, logically light will pass through the beer less efficiently, making it appear darker (plus you are looking at it in a thick fermented vs. a relatively thin glass, etc.)

 

[CourtHouseBrewing]

Thanks for the feedback. It has been at 55F for a couple of days now and is still fermenting.
When should I do the 60F rest and how long?
Then do I try to crash cool it or send it to a secondary?
This is the third batch and first try at a lager.
Thanks for the help.

 

[Bithead]

Yooper talks about lagering schedule

 

[CourtHouseBrewing]

Yooper talks about lagering schedule

Yooper dos not talk about the temps he uses.
After I got the fermenting chamber on line and down to 55 the Temp strip was still reading about 57 so I just lowered the chamber to 50.
I figure the fermenting is creating heat so should I keep the chamber at 50 now and hope the beer goes to 52 or 53 or is it all too late to fix this. I am getting good activity and thick foam on the top. When I do rest how fast do I bring it back to 60? Then do I rack to the secondary and crash it to 32 after a day?
I'm so confused it all sounded so easy when I read about it but it seems like I'm messing it up. Too early in the morning to RDWHAB! But I will when I get home today at least the first IPA is great.
Thanks

 

[944play]

You'll probably have a few less-than-awesome lager brews before you dial in your process. By the time you brew a killer Pils, you won't need a "schedule" because you'll be able to grok what your yeasties are up to by sight and intuition. Steady temp, big pitch, and plenty of O2 are some of the things that really improved my lagers.

There's a good chance you'll have a buttery fruit salad with the kind of temp profile you're putting that beer through, but it'll still be beer.

 

[Bithead]

Maybe you need the wiki. The first section is how-to for first timeers.

 

[CourtHouseBrewing]

Maybe you need the wiki. The first section is how-to for first timeers.

This was very helpful. Thanks

 

[CourtHouseBrewing]

Can anyone tell me why this looks like this? Is the dark brown from the early warm fermenting? Or, is it all just normal.
I think the image is attached.
Thanks

 

[944play]

Totes normal.

 

[CourtHouseBrewing]

Ok, Thanks, I hate to be a newbie. There is just too much uncertainty. I'm glad you all are so willing to keep going over the basics. I do try to search and read the old threads for answers too. I know it is so second nature for a lot of you. I hope to get there soon. Thanks for everyone’s support and help.