Fermenting at 79 degrees: should i be worried?

[cherbhy]

Brewed my first all grain beer yesterday. It's John Palmer's brown ale in his "brewing your first ABG" chapter in How to Brew. The yeast I chose is WLP002: White Labs English Ale yeast. This strain attenuates best between 63-70 degrees. See info here.

I pitched at about 68-72 degrees. Fermentation didn't start after 8 hours, and this is a highly flocculent strain of yeast (plus i didn't use a starter), so I decided to agitate the fermentor a bit. Sure enough, I woke up the next morning and fermentation was in swing.

The temperature in my home is ~74 degrees, so I chose to leave the fermentor in the garage. I came home from work today and the ambient temp in the garage was 72, and my fermentor thermometer was reading almost 80 (~78.5).

I know that high ferm temps can create more esters in your beer, but being a novice brewer, not sure what that will mean for this english style brown. Any advice?

 

[WI_Wino]

Might be too late but get it into a swamp cooler. Big rubber tub with water and frozen pop bottles. Rotate out the bottles every 12 hours or so.

 

[cherbhy]

Thanks for getting back to me so fast. I took your advice. I then set the ice tub in front of a window because it's 53 degrees here. The fermentor temp has already dropped to 71.

I'm only 34 hrs into fermenting... do you think it will make a difference in the final product?

I'm trying not to worry, i swear

 

[adiochiro3]

I think you'll be okay. It may not be the very best you could make, but it will be tasty. Temperature control is one of the most important things when it comes to producing good beer. just think of this as part of your learning curve.

 

[LabRatBrewer]

The dangerous period is the first couple days, so whats done is done. It'll still be good, just know it can be better. I think you are fortunate that its a brown. IMHO, the flaws from a slightly warm fermentation are harder to detect in a brown. Don't be in a hurry to bottle or keg. Time is the brew"s friend.

 

[cherbhy]

@adiochiro3 Thanks you set mind at ease. I'm definitely going to try to be more vigilant about monitoring fermenting temps in future batches (I just have to research how to do it effectively).

@labratbrewer I actually read somewhere that esters could be favorable in brown ales... but took that with a grain of salt. I'll give it some extra time at the end. The recipe calls for 2 weeks in the primary or 1 week primary and 2 weeks secondary... so should i just give an extra week in the primary for a total of three weeks? thanks for the help.

 

[cherbhy]

Well, I let it sit overnight by the window and had the temp brought down a little below 65. Checked on it this morning and my bubbler is barely active at all, maybe 3-4 bubbles per minute. Yesterday I had a lot more activity (it was also much warmer, of course).

It's sitting at about 64 now. Should I bring it indoor to try and get the fermentation rolling again?

 

[flars]

Hold it a 64° for a few days. Large temperature swings are very detrimental to the activity of the yeast. After a few days you could let it gradually warm ing the garage, but keeping it below approx 68°. You have the time because three weeks in the primary is optimum.

 

[cherbhy]

Thanks flars, I'll do that. I've just gotta stop moving around. I'm leaving it the basement I think, on the floor. It's registering around 70 now, so I think that I'll try a water bath and hopefully that will help lower the temp a little bit.

 

[flars]

Thanks flars, I'll do that. I've just gotta stop moving around. I'm leaving it the basement I think, on the floor. It's registering around 70 now, so I think that I'll try a water bath and hopefully that will help lower the temp a little bit.

Wrap a cotton towel around it and add a fan. You'll have the perfect swamp cooler. The accelerated evaporatin will be able to hold the temperature at 64° to 65°. Leave your thermo strip uncovered and away from the fan or your cooler will lower the temp reading more than what the wort actually is.

 

[Cyclman]

It could be very fruity, or have solvent like fusel alcohols.

A keg bucket filled with water and using frozen 2l bottles is very effective at keeping ferm temps in the 60s. I've even ferm'd a lager doing such.

 

[fredthecat]

a ton of valid responses here but also, since you mentioned you're a novice brewer, the type of yeast you use will determine how generous you can be with the temperature.

i've found s-05, wlp001 to be massively forgiving with higher temperatures
belgians don't mind higher temperatures
unfortunately i've had two english yeasts go terribly because they reached the mid 70s (at least i think that was the problem).

read about the yeast you're using and find out what people say about it online

 

[tennesseean_87]

You definitely need to control ferm temps better. Esters can be good just like hops can be good, but you can have too much of a good thing. You'll get esters in the mid 60s. If you want to ferment at these temps, look into Belle Saison yeast and 3711.

 

[cherbhy]

All good advice that i will implement for my next batch. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Do you think I should take a gravity reading? Fermentation started about 60 hrs ago, and the bubbler is only popping about two or three times per minute. I suspect I might have to pitch more yeast..

 

[Hello]

All good advice that i will implement for my next batch. Thanks for taking the time to reply. Do you think I should take a gravity reading? Fermentation started about 60 hrs ago, and the bubbler is only popping about two or three times per minute. I suspect I might have to pitch more yeast..

No. Just let the yeast work for a few more days. Stop moving it around, don't open it, and keep it out I direct sunlight. Just relax a bit and let it grow up to be beer.

 

[tennesseean_87]

At those temps it will ferment faster, so it's likely near the end of fermentation. I'd not be in a hurry to bottle it, though. Let it sit at least a few weeks.