Fermentation temp took off...

[brewmadness]

So I brewed a Bavarian hef sunday morning. Not the most perfect brew day, but all in all not terrible. I pitched wyeast #3068 and stuck the fermentor in a closet where temps in the winter hover around 60 degrees in the winter. After 28 hours I had a vigorous fermentation going and noticed the ambient temp had raised to 66.5 and the fermentor was obviously warmer than that just by touching it. I moved the fermentor to the basement to a room holding at 59-60 degrees. 12 hours later fermentation has calmed down some and certainly cooled the beer down a little. I'm not sure how warm the fermentor got in those first 24 hours, but I was getting some rotten egg smell when it was really going. I've never used this yeast before so I'm not sure if that is just a characteristic of the yeast or if due to those temps it was really throwing some bad esthers. Anyone have any experience with this one, or know what I might expect out of this!?

 

[Pappers_]

German weissens can usually handle temps that are a little warmer - accentuates the esters and phenols that are a part of the style, perhaps.

The rotten egg aroma might also be described as sulfur, which is a common characteristic of many yeasts, and dissipates pretty quickly.

Let us know how it turns out!

 

[brewmadness]

Thanks, that's encouraging. So having moved it to a cooler ambient temp of 59-60 may have calmed fermentation down some. should I leave it a few days and then move it back to an ambient temp closer to 68? Or just leave it where its at in the cooler temp. I'm assuming the yeast will have chewed through what it is going to in those first couple days as strong as the ferment was. It was only 1.049 to start.....

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

60 room temp seems to cold. Its going to wind down soon and cool down. Youll slow the fermentation from finishing up. I'd rather have a vigorous fermentation. Do you have a hand held thermometer? Stick it in and see where your at. Spritz it with some star san if you have some.

 

[Jag75]

I used a different yeast , it was WL hefeweizen yeast . I got a slight egg smell for a day and that was it . It went away and all was good . Maybe it's normal for that style of yeast to have a sulfur small for a hot second .

 

[brewmadness]

So 5 days after pitching, gravity is down to 1.011 after moving it to ambient temp of 59-60. I tasted the sample and it still has a slight sulfur smell, but it tastes excellent. I moved it back to a 65-68 degree closet and will leave it for another week before bottling.......unless my keg blows before then. I would almost like to keg this as I have had trouble getting bottles to reach a high enough carbonation sometimes.....for my taste anyway.

 

[thehaze]

Sulfur produced during fermentation will dissipate given enough time in the fermenter, but usually takes a few days. I've had happen with Hefe yeast, Belgian and some Kolsch yeast, but never ended up in the final product. Weihenstephaner ( 3068 ) is an expressive yeast and lower fermentation temps will probably let the phenolic part of the yeast profile be more proeminent, but you will still have some banana esters in there. I personally like the banana and fruity esters in a Hefe, rather than a very clovey and phenolic one.

I bottle condition and never had issues with carbonating Hefes. My latest one got 6.8 oz sugar for 6.3 gal, which resulted in 2.85 vol CO2. Next time, I will be using more to reach 3 vol CO2. It was fine, but I felt it could use more. But kegging will probably give you peace of mind, adjusting the carbonation every day.

Cheers!