High temp, what happens?

bmantzey · Mar 3, 2011

I'm using the Wyeast Irish Ale 1084, which has a temperature tolerance of 62° to 72°. The temp on my primary is reading about 74°, so I've taken measures to bring it down. It's climbed to 74° within the last few hours.

What can happen to my brew, if anything, due to the higher temperature? Thanks.

theredben · Mar 3, 2011

You will develop some "off flavours", but with 1084 that is not a bad thing. Think more fruity. Don't worry about it if you cannot bring it down. Have you tried moving it to a colder room (basement). You can place the bucket in a tub of water with a towel/t-shirt over top to evaporate the water. That will cool it down a bit

bmantzey · Mar 3, 2011

I've actually got a fridge dedicated to the task of keeping my brew cool. What actually happened is, I over-warmed it. It hasn't been warmer than 60 here in SW KS, so a fridge won't help me. I put my fermenter into a small room with a heater, but it's hard to keep the temp at around the 70° mark. Without the heater, that room gets close to the outdoor temperature, which is around 40° right now. I think it gets down to about 20° at night.

I guess it'll be okay, since it's only been at that temp for a little while. Thanks for the reply.

GuldTuborg · Mar 4, 2011

Depending upon where in the fermentation it is, it may or may not cause much of a detectable difference. I wouldn't sweat it. Just hold it there if you can. At this point, you're probably going to do more harm if you panic and cool it down to 65 or whatever than if you just let it ride at 74.

bmantzey · Mar 4, 2011

I'm going to get it back to about 70° and hopefully hold it there. No panic, no rush. It gets cold in that little room.

KYB · Mar 4, 2011

In my experience Irish Ale fermented warm, above 70, created a lot of fruitiness. I would keep it on the low side if possible.

CABeerMaker · Mar 4, 2011

On a side note, to help keep temps up during fermentation in cold rooms you may want to use a bucket with water and add a fish tank heater to help hold your temp. But as the others have already pointed out, a higher temp with an irish ale isn't a bad thing.