• Please visit and share your knowledge at our sister communities:
  • If you have not, please join our official Homebrewing Facebook Group!

    Homebrewing Facebook Group

fermentation temp spike

Homebrew Talk

Help Support Homebrew Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

rob22

Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2011
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Location
riverside
hey everyone. i just brewed an octoberfest style ale on friday. everything was going well but i went away for the day and the temp got up to 78. i have it in an ice bath and a towel, and its back down around 64. there is also a rotten egg/sulfur smell coming from it now. i think it should be ok, but just want to make sure there isnt anything else i can do. thanks for any advice.

ps i was using white labs wlp011 european ale yeast.
 
It got to 78* after how many days? And for how long?

You should be fine, fermentation can be nasty as far as the odor goes.
 
i brewed friday morning and it got up there on sunday morning. it was only that hot for a couple hours, and then i got it back down.
 
I would say you should be fine. Maybe just give it a bit longer to make sure the yeast clean up after themselves. (Like 3 weeks in the primary). That amount of time shouldn't have been enough to create too many fusel alcohols or anything too noticeable.
 
couple month old post, but I figure others will stumble in here like me. I brewed a Peated Scottish ale and I'm fermenting it with wlp011 as well - first time I used it. made a starter because the yeast had sat for a month in the fridge (still fine though), and within 18 hours of pitching, my ferment is up to 73 degrees and it was moving. Thought I was getting some weird banana bread smell, which was a bit odd for a low-ester yeast. Moved the carboy to a cooler room with a slightly damp towel, and within another 24 hrs I was cruising at 67, right in the middle of the temp range. But at that point, the entire room had that rotten egg smell.

I stayed really clean throughout the process, so I'm hoping this is a weird byproduct of wlp011 and I'm not used to it on my first time pitching it. I'll give it a bit more time in primary - but the proof is in the grav sample.

curious if any wlp011 vets can speak to this. cheers!
 
couple month old post, but I figure others will stumble in here like me. I brewed a Peated Scottish ale and I'm fermenting it with wlp011 as well - first time I used it. made a starter because the yeast had sat for a month in the fridge (still fine though), and within 18 hours of pitching, my ferment is up to 73 degrees and it was moving. Thought I was getting some weird banana bread smell, which was a bit odd for a low-ester yeast. Moved the carboy to a cooler room with a slightly damp towel, and within another 24 hrs I was cruising at 67, right in the middle of the temp range. But at that point, the entire room had that rotten egg smell.

I stayed really clean throughout the process, so I'm hoping this is a weird byproduct of wlp011 and I'm not used to it on my first time pitching it. I'll give it a bit more time in primary - but the proof is in the grav sample.

curious if any wlp011 vets can speak to this. cheers!

fermentation can just plain stink. especially a warmer than recommended temp fermentation. also, british yeasts can kick a lot of bad smells and flavors when fermented too warm. i've used the Wyeast scottish ale before and found that it works best at the low end of the range, anything too warm and it was funky, noticeable diacetyl and some cidery flavors.
 
it's an older post but i thought i'd chime in. from what i can tell and from what 011 is typically prescribed for is that it fits in w/ the hybrid ale family....kind of like the black sheep w/ it's given ferm temp range; however, it's quite common that hybrid yeasts will produce sulfurous odors particularly when fermented low. these dissipate w/ time. just give it a good 2ndary and/or lager it.
 
Back
Top