Fermenting too hot

[tlucarelli]

So I have a Firestone walker 805 clone I brewed once that was really tasty but definitely not a clone (attenuated higher and resulted in a drier beer). Based on the success I wanted to try it again. I've been brewing about 9 months now and noticed that my best beers came in the colder winter months where the beer fermented in my basement.

So typically when I finish the boil I use my wort chiller and can successfully get to about 80ish, then once I pour the wort into the fermentor and pitch my yeast I'm mid 70s or lower. I tried that this time and I think when I ultimately pitched my yeast I was actually 80-82 which scared me a bit. Then next morning I was down to 70 and it didn't drop any more.

The beer appears to have completed fermentation and my sample is clear but it's got an off smell to it. I can only assume it's because I pitched too hot. But now I've got a 5.5 gallon batch of beer with an off smell...is there anything I can do to salvage it? I was thinking of maybe freezing ~10 lbs of peaches and hoping that would help?

Any other ideas of what I can do? Outside of buying a chest freezer...

 

[govner1]

I'm surprised you only got an off smell. Have you tasted it as well ?
How long has it been in primary?
You may have gotten some fusel alcohol.
Have you tried using some type of pre-chiller w/ your IC so that you can get your wort down to the mid 60°'s before pitching ?

 

[snow16]

If you haven't already moved it out of primary, don't do it yet!

How long has it been in there? Give the yeast some time to clean up after itself. Rushing things is the biggest mistake you can make. You're not the first person to ferment too hot and get an off smell/flavor or two, but I guarantee you'll be surprised at what patience can do for your beer.

 

[tlucarelli]

It's only been in the primary about 9 days but last time I brewed this I kegged it after 10 days and it was fantastic. Clear and clean. Do you guys think I can get by leaving it in the primary another week or two?

 

[snow16]

Absolutely.

 

[tlucarelli]

I'm surprised you only got an off smell. Have you tasted it as well ?
How long has it been in primary?
You may have gotten some fusel alcohol.
Have you tried using some type of pre-chiller w/ your IC so that you can get your wort down to the mid 60°'s before pitching ?

I've never used a pre chiller before. What could I do to get it that low? I've struggled getting below 80 honestly, and I experimented with not using any cooling at all (just cover with sanitized tin foil) and that worked decent actually. It took a day or two but I saved a lot of water and got right to about 68-70 before pitching. If there's a better approach I could take, I would love to try something new!

 

[tlucarelli]

Ok @snow16. Will try...what seems odd to me is that it looks clean and attenuated and it tastes pretty similar to my last batch but I do think I've got some fusel alcohols in there or something strange. I know it sounds crazy to try to keg so soon (I usually wait at least 2-3 weeks), but this is a really basic blonde with not much complexity. And the fact that the beer looks really clear already made me think the yeast might be done already. If time can mellow that out though that would be amazing!

 

[j1n]

Why not get a chest freezer?

What yeast did you use?

what does the off flavor taste like?

Does it taste hot from the fussel?

btw 9 days is more than enough time for it to be done, esp for a blonde ale.

 

[tlucarelli]

Why not get a chest freezer?

What yeast did you use?

what does the off flavor taste like?

Does it taste hot from the fussel?

btw 9 days is more than enough time for it to be done, esp for a blonde ale.

My SWMBO has been against a chest freezer but I am pretty sure I'll land one after this. I've been trying to find how I can get a really good deal but they get scooped up pretty quick on Craigslist.

I used US05 so I wasn't expecting much off flavors. It does taste and smell like fusel. I even had the SWMBO take a whiff of my sample and she cringed.

I'll give it some more time to see if it mellows but I'm worried the yeast is done already. Also I'm back shopping for a chest freezer.

 

[Kharnynb]

if not a chest freezer, at least make a swampcooler.

 

[Bamsdealer]

Get one of those tubs with rope handles. Fill it w some ice water and put your fermenter in it to bring your 80 degree wort to the 60s. At that time pitch your yeast.

You can easily maintain temps in the 60s by swapping out a frozen bottle of water once of twice a day. It helps to keep an old blanket over the tub to help w insulation

 

[sfish]

As been said; the yeast need time to work and clean this up. I would shake softly to rouse the yeast a bit. By softly I mean no splashing the wort, no opening the top, if in a bucket you could hold the handle and spin a little.

 

[j1n]

My SWMBO has been against a chest freezer but I am pretty sure I'll land one after this. I've been trying to find how I can get a really good deal but they get scooped up pretty quick on Craigslist.

I used US05 so I wasn't expecting much off flavors. It does taste and smell like fusel. I even had the SWMBO take a whiff of my sample and she cringed.

I'll give it some more time to see if it mellows but I'm worried the yeast is done already. Also I'm back shopping for a chest freezer.

I would express how important fermentation temps are for brewing to her. Besides sanitation, ferm temps is the number 1 thing you need to control cause even if you did everything perfect up to that point, it wont matter at all if you ferment too high or low.

ive been there before with US05. i bet its got a a banana/clove type off flavor to it. and if there are fussel then its not gonna go away over time. you might drink a pint and then get a massive headache and want to dump the entire batch.

btw after my 2nd hot fermentation (which was my 2nd brew) i ended up buying a chest freezer.

Also as suggested, swamp cooler method can help until you get a chest freezer. its def better than nothing. still though its like hitting amoving target since the temp will fluctuate.

 

[brewcat]

It probably is ok. Another week or two wouldn't hurt. A little high on pitching temp, but the beer shouldn't be awful since fermentation was at 70 in the morning. The off smell could just be the amount of yeast and will dissipate after transfer. What's it taste like? Slight esters would give it more of an English beer taste.

 

[govner1]

I've never used a pre chiller before. What could I do to get it that low? I've struggled getting below 80 honestly, and I experimented with not using any cooling at all (just cover with sanitized tin foil) and that worked decent actually. It took a day or two but I saved a lot of water and got right to about 68-70 before pitching. If there's a better approach I could take, I would love to try something new!

You can rig up a small submersible pump (Harbor Freight) to pump water from a bucket w/ ice & water through your IC. You can even recirculate back to the bucket to save water.
I'd use ground water first to get a low as possible then go w/ the ice water.

 

[tlucarelli]

Thanks for all of the replies guys! This has been extremely helpful!

 

[worlddivides]

A swamp cooler is definitely a good idea.

My first brew had really, really bad timing to it. It was 70 degrees the day I brewed the beer, but the very next day, there was a heat spike and it was in the upper 80s and low 90s. Throughout the entire primary fermentation, the temperature of the room I fermented in was around 90 degrees. It ended up having MASSIVE amyl acetate (banana flavors), diacetyl (buttery flavor), and a decent degree of fusel alcohol (burning, headaches). When you ferment at those temperatures, no amount of time in the carboy will get rid of those awful off-flavors.

My first brew taught me the VERY, VERY important lesson that fermenting temperature is the #1 absolute most important aspect in making a good beer.

Before my second brew, I bought one of these:

http://www.morebeer.com/products/cool-brewing-insulated-fermentation-bag.html

And I have never had off-flavors in any beer, cider, mead, or whatever that I've made since.

A swamp cooler would be cheaper and would essentially get the same job done, but temperature control is essential.

It got up to 98 degrees here two days ago and got up 90 today, and I've been fermenting a wheat ale in a room with zero air conditioning all this time with the fermentation temperature steadily between 66 and 69 degrees thanks to my fermentation bag.

These things are worth their weight in gold. Whatever you use, you'll be really glad you put effort into keeping the temp down.

As a side note, I've tried multiple ways to get the wort down to pitching temperature really quickly. When a wort chiller can only get it down to 78 or 80 degrees, I oftentimes put some store-bought ice into the fermenter (to both increase the volume of the wort and to lower the temperature). That can bring the wort down to 66-70 pretty quickly. When I don't use ice and can't get the temperature to an optimal level with my wort chiller, I'll oftentimes put a stopper in the top of the carboy (or if it's a bucket, the lid on top), then put it in the Cool Brewing fermentation bag (or you could use a swamp cooler) and put bottles of ice in there. Usually within an hour, it'll be down to the optimal pitching temperature and you can pitch your yeast.