First brew semi-explosion

[benjamincarm]

About 3 am I got up to hit the head, walked by the brew closet and heard “too much hissing” and when I opened the valve was overflowing and I have minimal spray on the wall. I cleaned some to get the smell out and moved to a run off (picture below).

A coupe beginner questions:

1. The yeast packet said to pitch the yeast at around 80-90, so that’s what I did. Should I have pitched at room temp?

2. The recipe (IPA) said to ferment in 70-80, my closet was about 72. Is that too high?

3. In the opposite direction, due to the amount of pressure, I moved it (very carefully) to an interior closet that sits around 60. Is that too cold?

4. Assuming I don’t mess anything else up, what can I expect from the lessons learned, taste wise?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Lefou]

I wouldn't worry about an ambient room temperature around 60F. Your fermentation seems to taking off quite well.
The temperature inside the bucket will be slightly higher, and if you're using an ale yeast, 60F should be just fine. A lower temp near 60F will stress the yeast less and reduce the chance of fusels or off-flavors.

 

[beernutz]

What brand/type of ale yeast were you using whose instructions said to pitch at 80-90 degrees? Was that possibly the instruction for rehydrating dry yeast?

 

[benjamincarm]

Beernutz - it was Nottingham, I think the exact temp was 86-92 in 4oz of water

 

[benjamincarm]

I wouldn't worry about an ambient room temperature around 60F. Your fermentation seems to taking off quite well.
The temperature inside the bucket will be slightly higher, and if you're using an ale yeast, 60F should be just fine. A lower temp near 60F will stress the yeast less and reduce the chance of fusels or off-flavors.

Thanks, I thought the fermentation was a dud and then it went crazy in just a few hours. First brew jitters I’m sure.

 

[Lefou]

What brand/type of ale yeast were you using whose instructions said to pitch at 80-90 degrees? Was that possibly the instruction for rehydrating dry yeast?

LOL That's exactly what I was thinking. Those are the rehydration instructions.

The beer is an IPA, so I'm pretty sure 60-68F would indicate an ale yeast, so he'd be OK.

 

[benjamincarm]

You know what, you’re 100% right, it rehydration. I honestly don’t know the difference and the instructions for the beer store didn’t really tell me how to pitch the yeast, just to pitch the yeast.

I’m the future I assume I should pitch if at room temp.?

 

[Lefou]

Nottingham is rated for 50-72F .... So as long as you really don't exceed that, you should be OK.

There are some yeasts that will thrive at higher temp ranges, like the Belgian saison yeasts and Nordic kveik. The Nordic strains can be effective in 80-90F temp ranges.
Don't worry.

 

[benjamincarm]

Thanks - the only temps on the package were storage and rehydration. It was only 4oz of water so it cooled pretty quickly I’m sure after I put the yeast in...or at least I hope.

 

[Bamos6928]

I'm a fairly new brewer myself but I believe the taste of your beer should be OK. I made a similar mistake by pitching my yeast a little too hot (84 F) on my first brew. On bottling day I had a bit of a fusel alcohol taste but after two weeks conditioning in the bottle it wasn't bad at all.

 

[brew703]

Your beer temp was 80-90*? if so, that yeast may throw off some weird flavors, depending how long it stayed at those temps. If you re-hydrated in 4 oz of water at 80-90 and your beer temp was in the 60's then your good.

 

[benjamincarm]

@brew703, I chilled the beer down before the pitching the yeast. It was down to room temp when I pitched it, probably 60-65. The 72 was in reference to the closet I was using to ferment. It was in there about 24 hours before I moved it to a cooler closet.

 

[65C]

I usually pitch (all yeasts) about 25C, then put in to an old fridge at 17C for a week, then move to room temp for 3 weeks

Before I did the 17C part I was having problems with temp causing too fast fermentation and off flavours - the 17C stage has really helped