Dark ale fermenting temps

[ebsuarez]

New to homebrewing. Bought the Complete Joy of Home Brewing book by Charlie Papazian, so I'm trying to follow that. Did an all malt extract brew kit- Coopers Dark Ale. It was really difficult to get the temp down to room temp after mixing and a brief boil of the wort. I had to let it sit overnight to get temp down I pitched the yeast about 8 hrs later at a temp around 78-80F. I didnt want the wort to sit much longer and risk any contamination. It began to ferment very well about 12 hours later at a temp between 76-78F. My question is should I expect some off flavors for fermenting in that temp range? It is currently around 76F and is on day 3 of fermentation. The fermentation has slowed down quite a bit. Should I get it colder to finish out fermenting? Thanks for any suggestions. I realize there is a learning curve to making good beer, so I appreciate the feedback.

 

[RM-MN]

The critical period for forming off flavors is the first 2 to 3 days as the yeast are really working fast. Their activity will raise the temperature even higher than the area they are in and at those temps they create fusel alcohol (hot alcohol taste), esters (banana and fruity flavors) and phenols (clove like flavors). You can keep the fermenter cooler by putting it in a tub of water and dropping blocks of ice into the tub. Some people even like to wrap the top part of the fermenter with an old t-shirt to add evaporative cooling too.

 

[wiescins]

the critical period for forming off flavors is the first 2 to 3 days as the yeast are really working fast. Their activity will raise the temperature even higher than the area they are in and at those temps they create fusel alcohol (hot alcohol taste), esters (banana and fruity flavors) and phenols (clove like flavors). You can keep the fermenter cooler by putting it in a tub of water and dropping blocks of ice into the tub. Some people even like to wrap the top part of the fermenter with an old t-shirt to add evaporative cooling too.

+1

 

[unionrdr]

Ferment temps of 64-68F are better for the cooper's ale yeat from my experiments. The high temps you emcountered will def produce some off flavors. Since initial fermentation is about over,temps won't be as critical as fermentation slows down. But I try to keep temps down the whole time anyway.can't hurt to give it every chance to get better,I say.
When it reaches FG,give it another 3-7 days to clean these up & settle out clear or slightly misty. Then rack to bottling bucket & prime. Give the dark ale 4 weeks in the bottles around 70F. Then it can need as much as 2 weeks fridge time to get good head & longer lasting carbonation. Dark beers have been to me like high gravity ones. They need more time to condition & carbonate all total.

 

[dneubeck85]

Another thing is an ice bath. Use this to cool your wort. Or invest in a wort chiller. You want to cool the wort as fast as possible so there is as little contact with the air as possible. Letting it sit out and cool for eight hours is wayyyyyy too long! You may even experience an off flavor from anything that could have dropped in from the air.

 

[ebsuarez]

I kept the lid on the fermenter while it cooled. I was really concerned about leaving it to cool, but read on the forum that as long as sanitizing was done properly, it would be ok. It was getting late in the night and I had to get some sleep before work the next day. I was too anxious to get it started, when I should have waited til the next day to brew it up. I will definitely plan better on the next brew. I will go ahead and try to cool down the fermenter for the rest of the fermentation process and see if it will help. Thanks for all of the advice.

 

[menerdari]

I kept the lid on the fermenter while it cooled. I was really concerned about leaving it to cool, but read on the forum that as long as sanitizing was done properly, it would be ok. It was getting late in the night and I had to get some sleep before work the next day. I was too anxious to get it started, when I should have waited til the next day to brew it up. I will definitely plan better on the next brew. I will go ahead and try to cool down the fermenter for the rest of the fermentation process and see if it will help. Thanks for all of the advice.

You pored hot wort into your fermenter? how hot was it and what type of fermenter?

 

[ebsuarez]

It was an all malt extract kit- i poured the mix/wort(1.5 gal) into 3 gallons of cold water as instructed. I used a plastic fermenting bucket.