Hot Days=Bad Beer?

[bobby1212]

I live in Oregon and it has been unusually hot here the last week or so and very hard to keep the temperature down in the house.

I have 1 batch in primary just waiting to be racked and 1 batch in secondary waiting to clear up and bottle. Will this high heat have any effect on the taste or any other aspect of my beer? It has been getting up over 80 in the house at night.

 

[zoebisch01]

Heat is the enemy of good beer. There are less strains that can handle any higher than normal (mid to high 60's) temps without producing some foul flavors. That being said, the majority of early damage occurs early on in the primary ferment once the yeast have gotten going iirc. If you have basically gotten through and your beer was finished out, then you'll probably be ok for a short amount of time. Extended periods at that temperature are going to rapidly degrade your beer, some styles are worse than others in this respect.

 

[homebrewer_99]

High fermenting temps result in fruity tasting brew. That's why we recommend the water/ice bath in the tub.

I have a dozen or so water bottles that I refill and freeze. I switch them out every 12 hours or so to keep the temps below 70F.

(Almost) everyone here knows that I keep my carboys in milk crates. An added benefit of using milk crates in a water bath allows the water to flow inside the crate and drain when I remove them from the bath. Also, when the carboy is centered (in the crate) I can place a frozen water bottle in each corner of the crate.

 

[southern brewer]

its also important to remember to keep the carboy covered once you pitch your yeast. yeast doesn't like sunlight.

 

[djhead]

Here in Texas, it is regularly 90+, I have had to rig a funnel type hose to run the A/C directly onto my beers, because I cant justify to the wife getting colder than 75. I havent popped anything too bad out yet, though I am a bit worried about this bockbier.

Heat is bad, but in my limited experience, you can fudge it a little with lighter ales.

 

[FlyingHorse]

Here in Texas, it is regularly 90+, I have had to rig a funnel type hose to run the A/C directly onto my beers, because I cant justify to the wife getting colder than 75. I havent popped anything too bad out yet, though I am a bit worried about this bockbier.

Heat is bad, but in my limited experience, you can fudge it a little with lighter ales.

Bock fermented at 75F ? What yeast are you using?

 

[FlyingHorse]

its also important to remember to keep the carboy covered once you pitch your yeast. yeast doesn't like sunlight.

Also Direct sunlight will skunk the beer by reacting with hop bittering compounds. It will also warm the beer, which the yeast may or may not like (depending on the ambient temp). But I don't think the light itself is harmful to the yeast, is it?

 

[malkore]

if you have central air, and vents in the floor, here's a cheap way to help keep things cool.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com//showthread.php?t=32651

 

[Nealie]

High fermenting temps result in fruity tasting brew. That's why we recommend the water/ice bath in the tub.

I have a dozen or so water bottles that I refill and freeze. I switch them out every 12 hours or so to keep the temps below 70F.

(Almost) everyone here knows that I keep my carboys in milk crates. An added benefit of using milk crates in a water bath allows the water to flow inside the crate and drain when I remove them from the bath. Also, when the carboy is centered (in the crate) I can place a frozen water bottle in each corner of the crate.

Doing a little evap cooling works fine for me down in Tucson. I've got my A/C at 85degF (I'm trying not to break my student budget) and i wrap my fermenters and carboys with a wet towel. The evaporation will keep it about ten degrees cooler than ambient and just needs to be soaked every day and a half or so. It's a lot easier than trying to rig up a new set of pseudo-ducts for my A/C(apologies to djhead).