Fermentation Temp?

[VladTheImpaler]

Okay so, I just recently brewed my Caribou Slobber from NB this past Sunday. After putting it in the carboy to ferment and pitching the yeast, I set it in a dark closet of an unused bedroom. For the first 10 hours or so the temp was sitting at 74 - 76 F and after that it settled down to 69 - 70 for the remainder of the fermentation.

It wasn't until AFTER doing all this that I read up on controlling your fermentation temp... I have no idea how I didn't come across it with the reading that I did.

Anywho, the TL ; DR of all this is: Will the fermentation at my higher temps (74 - 76F first 10 hours, 69-70F since) cause all kinds of funky tastes in the beer, or should I be okay?

 

[govner1]

Potentially yes. The first part of the fermentation is the most important re temp control. 66-68°F would be ideal.
You'll just have to wait & see.
BTW- do you have a copy of Palmer?

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

You could be OK if it cooled down within a few hours. That, of course, also depends on the yeast. High 60's is OK for some yeasts and too high for others. What was the yeast?

 

[GrogNerd]

Anywho, the TL ; DR of all this is: Will the fermentation at my higher temps (74 - 76F first 10 hours, 69-70F since) cause all kinds of funky tastes in the beer, or should I be okay?

yes to both questions

it's above the recommended optimum temp: 64°-70° F and will probably cause some funky tastes. and you should be OK

it won't taste like Moose Drool, but it might turn out really good. hard to say

recommend you do look into fermentation control. I have an extra fridge (actually 2 extra, both donated; one's for storing and chilling beer, the other for fermentation) and it's controlled by a BrewPi.

LOVE IT!

has really improved my beers tremendously. they were OK to good before, they're great now.

 

[VladTheImpaler]

Potentially yes. The first part of the fermentation is the most important re temp control. 66-68°F would be ideal.
You'll just have to wait & see.
BTW- do you have a copy of Palmer?

Gotcha. I still don't know how I never read about it, or maybe I missed it. Who knows, I'm trying to shove as much of this information in my noggin as I can.

And my copy of Palmer's How to Brew is actually being delivered to my house today. Can't wait to start reading that one.

You could be OK if it cooled down within a few hours. That, of course, also depends on the yeast. High 60's is OK for some yeasts and too high for others. What was the yeast?

The yeast was Danstar Windsor.

And so let's assume worst case scenario, am I looking at terrible, undrinkable beer? Or just the possibility of some hot alcohol fusel taste, etc.?

 

[VladTheImpaler]

yes to both questions

it's above the recommended optimum temp: 64°-70° F and will probably cause some funky tastes. and you should be OK

it won't taste like Moose Drool, but it might turn out really good. hard to say

recommend you do look into fermentation control. I have an extra fridge (actually 2 extra, both donated; one's for storing and chilling beer, the other for fermentation) and it's controlled by a BrewPi.

LOVE IT!

has really improved my beers tremendously. they were OK to good before, they're great now.

I'm starting to look into a solution for temp control now... I live in Georgia, so the temperature is very rarely consistent. Especially this time of year, could be sunny and 80 today, rainy and 55 tomorrow...

 

[GrogNerd]

I'm starting to look into a solution for temp control now... I live in Georgia, so the temperature is very rarely consistent. Especially this time of year, could be sunny and 80 today, rainy and 55 tomorrow...

lived in Atlanta a few years, so I know how the weather is

first winter I lived there got like 2 inches of snow over 3 or 4 days and it shut the city down. not just the snow, but ice. would melt during the day and freeze overnight. MARTA buses at the bottom of big hills. no one knew how to drive in it.

except me, who took my new friends out bumper skiing.

but back OT... can't recommend temp control enough

 

[VladTheImpaler]

lived in Atlanta a few years, so I know how the weather is

first winter I lived there got like 2 inches of snow over 3 or 4 days and it shut the city down. not just the snow, but ice. would melt during the day and freeze overnight. MARTA buses at the bottom of big hills. no one knew how to drive in it.

except me, who took my new friends out bumper skiing.

but back OT... can't recommend temp control enough

I remember that... there was mass panic that made the national news. Hahaha. I'm also one of the people that went out driving on the ice.

But I actually just remembered my parents have an old GE freezer/fridge combo sitting in their basement that works. I'm gonna snag that up, get an InkBird hooked up to it with a small PC fan and call it a day.

 

[WrQth]

Also note that the fermentation temperature is the temperature of the wort during fermentation not the ambient temperature. The fermenting wort liquid temperature can be as high as 10F above ambient.

 

[VladTheImpaler]

Also note that the fermentation temperature is the temperature of the wort during fermentation not the ambient temperature. The fermenting wort liquid temperature can be as high as 10F above ambient.

All the stated temps were being read off of the Fermometer on the side of the carboy, they were not ambient temps.

 

[GrogNerd]

comparison I did between Fermometer and temp probe in the middle of the beer, temps were pretty close.

close enough for me, at least

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

The yeast was Danstar Windsor.

And so let's assume worst case scenario, am I looking at terrible, undrinkable beer? Or just the possibility of some hot alcohol fusel taste, etc.?

Windsor's temp range is 64F-72F so you're probably good. Some folks actually make a habit of pitching warm and bringing the temp down. They feel it gets fermentation going quicker. As long as you got down into the high 60s within 12 hours or so you should be good. You might get some fruity esters but nothing too serious and probably not much in the way of fusels.

And, yes, it would be worthwhile to invest in fridge/freezer and temp controller. I got my freezer off CL for $50. It's worth it just for peace of mind if nothing else.

 

[VladTheImpaler]

Windsor's temp range is 64F-72F so you're probably good. Some folks actually make a habit of pitching warm and bringing the temp down. They feel it gets fermentation going quicker. As long as you got down into the high 60s within 12 hours or so you should be good. You might get some fruity esters but nothing too serious and probably not much in the way of fusels.

And, yes, it would be worthwhile to invest in fridge/freezer and temp controller. I got my freezer off CL for $50. It's worth it just for peace of mind if nothing else.

I think I should be okay, as it's still slightly fermenting 7 days later. Or so it appears anyway, there's still airlock activity every 3-4 minutes I get a gurgle from it lol.