Is fermenting too warm really that bad?

[cheezydemon3]

So how long do you have to worry about temp?

Depends on fermentation, but the first day or 2 are CRITICAL. Initial cooling is far more important than any steps beyond that.

If you only chill to 75 and pitch, nothing will bring it down far enough before fermentation begins and takes the temp up.

 

[Bleedsblue]

The reason I ask is that I am planning a blackberry and orange hef. We leave for vacation for a week, but if I get it brewed friday it will have 13 days in before we leave, but only 3 days with black berryberries being added in at 10 days. So not sure what to do.

 

[cheezydemon3]

The reason I ask is that I am planning a blackberry and orange hef. We leave for vacation for a week, but if I get it brewed friday it will have 13 days in before we leave, but only 3 days with black berryberries being added in at 10 days. So not sure what to do.

the berries will probably start a small fermentation, but that shouldn't be a problem.

As long as it doesn't hit 75 or higher after fermentation it should be
ok.

 

[naga77777]

Depends on fermentation, but the first day or 2 are CRITICAL. Initial cooling is far more important than any steps beyond that.

If you only chill to 75 and pitch, nothing will bring it down far enough before fermentation begins and takes the temp up.

Disagree with the 2nd half of the above. If cheezy is referring to swamp coolers only, I have misconstrued the post.

However, I routinely pitch around 77 degrees, and it's down to mid/low 60's within a couple hours using a freezer and STC-1000. (Probe taped to outside of bucket, so maybe a bit of stratification-- but good enough for me)

 

[unionrdr]

Pitching high & making the temp drop to low 60's in only a couple hours,it's a wonder it doesn't go dormant. It's better for the yeast to pitch low & let it rise slowly,or hold it low than the other way around.

 

[naga77777]

Pitching high & making the temp drop to low 60's in only a couple hours,it's a wonder it doesn't go dormant. It's better for the yeast to pitch low & let it rise slowly,or hold it low than the other way around.

Gotcha. I get impatient with my chill time, and just pitch when the kettle feels cool to the touch.

There's lots of things I don't do 100% by the book with brewing, because it's a hobby and the extra effort would take some of the fun out of it. 99% of the time I'm the only one drinking my beer, and I'm happy with the final product so I don't expend any more effort than necessary.

I didn't mean to come off like pitching high and cooling was "the right way to do it", only that I do it on a regular basis and know it can be done.

 

[BigFloyd]

Gotcha. I get impatient with my chill time, and just pitch when the kettle feels cool to the touch.

There's lots of things I don't do 100% by the book with brewing, because it's a hobby and the extra effort would take some of the fun out of it. 99% of the time I'm the only one drinking my beer, and I'm happy with the final product so I don't expend any more effort than necessary.

I didn't mean to come off like pitching high and cooling was "the right way to do it", only that I do it on a regular basis and know it can be done.

What can be done and what's a good home brewing practice may be very different. IMO, being nonchalant about temps (pitching or fermenting) when you have the tools (like a thermometer and a nice STC-1000 fermenter chamber) to do it right is like doing woodwork without bothering to use a measuring tape and a square.

Temperatures are what I pay the most careful attention to. It doesn't take extraordinary effort and it pays off big dividends. For me, part of the enjoyment of the brewing hobby is crafting something that compares favorably to good store-bought craft beer and which I'm happy to share with friends/fellow brewers.

 

[Stauffbier]

Warm = Bad

Cool = Good

Period!

Jokes aside, I like to ferment on the low end of the yeasts range. I chill down to 1-2 degrees below my fermentation temp with my IC then aerate and pitch. I then stick the fermenter in my ferm chamber and never touch it again until I package. I've played around with gradually rising the temp toward the tail end of primary, but I don't notice any real gain from that. In my experience if you aerate good, pitch enough yeast, and don't ferment too cold the yeast will finish the job just fine.

 

[cheezydemon3]

Disagree with the 2nd half of the above. If cheezy is referring to swamp coolers only, I have misconstrued the post.

However, I routinely pitch around 77 degrees, and it's down to mid/low 60's within a couple hours using a freezer and STC-1000. (Probe taped to outside of bucket, so maybe a bit of stratification-- but good enough for me)

What are you pitching? My yeast starter or even hydrated yeast takes off quick.

Active yeast in 77F wort, stuck in my chest freezer set at 5F got down to 75 and stayed there for several hours and absolutely after fermentation had started.
5 degrees Farenheit....... Effing freezing. Unless you fill the thing with glycol, it aint gonna work like that.

Methinks your thermometer taped to the side isn't getting the true story.

 

[naga77777]

What are you pitching? My yeast starter or even hydrated yeast takes off quick.

Active yeast in 77F wort, stuck in my chest freezer set at 5F got down to 75 and stayed there for several hours and absolutely after fermentation had started.
5 degrees Farenheit....... Effing freezing. Unless you fill the thing with glycol, it aint gonna work like that.

Methinks your thermometer taped to the side isn't getting the true story.

Pitching Notty, usually trub from mason jars in the fridge.

I have theorized that the outer wort will get colder, quicker, and the middle of the wort will be a bit warmer. But since active fermentation stirs everything around pretty good, it equalizes quickly enough for me.

What can be done and what's a good home brewing practice may be very different. IMO, being nonchalant about temps (pitching or fermenting) when you have the tools (like a thermometer and a nice STC-1000 fermenter chamber) to do it right is like doing woodwork without bothering to use a measuring tape and a square.

Temperatures are what I pay the most careful attention to. It doesn't take extraordinary effort and it pays off big dividends. For me, part of the enjoyment of the brewing hobby is crafting something that compares favorably to good store-bought craft beer and which I'm happy to share with friends/fellow brewers.

Good analogy, but I Dont see it that way. Woodworking without measuring would certainly result in an inferior product, noticeably different from its intended dimensions/shape.

My nonchalant attitude towards variance of a few degrees in pitching temps, and yeast for that matter (never make starters, just approximate amount of trub for the gravity) has no noticeable ill effects on the finished product according to its number one consumer -- Me . The two-hearted clone keg that just kicked could a fooled me, but I'll admit I have an unsophisticated palate.

The analogy that comes to mind with my practices is this:

Sure, its better to purchase full-synthetic oil, and a $30 dollar filter to put on my car, but it's not a Mercedes and good 'ol Dino oil with a $7 Bosch works just as well.


Please, nobody take what I do as "the proper way", as stated in the earlier post. If y'all are going at it 110%, and brew stuff that rivals any commercial craft brew, Good on ya! I'd love to try one sometime.

For me though, I'm happy with what I'm producing and see no need to fix what ain't broken

 

[Yooper]

P

My nonchalant attitude towards temps, and yeast for that matter (never make starters, just approximate amount of trub for the gravity) has no ill effects on the finished product according to its number one consumer -- Me . I've noticed no off flavors or lacking qualities in my beer.

And that's the key- if you're happy with the finished beer that is all that really matters.

For my taste, nottingham over 70 degrees tastes foul, so I use other yeast strains if I have to pitch warmer than 66 degrees. But that's for MY taste. I normally pitch at 62-64 degrees and then let the beer rise naturally to 66 degrees for fermentation.

Some people have much different perceptions of taste than I do, so we all need to make beer that we love.

 

[Gameface]

I too am firmly in the pitch low and let rise camp.

Yeast are quickly going to get overactive in hot wort and start producing even more heat than normal. If you do manage to force the temp lower while the yeast are in full swing you'll probably cause them to go dormant for a bit. Now you're in this yo-yo game of yeast activity. I'm not sure if starting and stopping fermentation has negative effects on the flavor or not but it seems a lot less controlled and consistent.

If you pitch low the yeast already weren't active (unless your starter still had krausen) so the gradual warming will gently wake them up and they will smoothly transition right into activity in an environment that was never too hot, so the temp increase will be pretty linear and then level off right where you want it. Easy to repeat if done correctly.

If I didn't manage to cool my wort enough before transferring to the fermentor I don't sweat it a bit. I let the chest freezer bring it down over the next few hours and I pitch when it's where I want it. I use pure O2 and I don't aerate until it's at temp.

 

[Klemente]

What about Belgian or Bavarian yeast? I'm about to make a hefe with a Bavarian strain, and really like the banana flavor over the clove flavor that some of these exhibit. I've heard higher temps contribute to more banana than clove- what temp should I target for a mid to high banana and low clove taste?

 

[chickypad]

My nonchalant attitude towards variance of a few degrees in pitching temps, and yeast for that matter (never make starters, just approximate amount of trub for the gravity) has no noticeable ill effects on the finished product according to its number one consumer -- Me . The two-hearted clone keg that just kicked could a fooled me, but I'll admit I have an unsophisticated palate.

And that's the key- if you're happy with the finished beer that is all that really matters.

For my taste, nottingham over 70 degrees tastes foul, so I use other yeast strains if I have to pitch warmer than 66 degrees. But that's for MY taste. I normally pitch at 62-64 degrees and then let the beer rise naturally to 66 degrees for fermentation.

Some people have much different perceptions of taste than I do, so we all need to make beer that we love.

Exactly. It's all about brewing what's good for you. And for me a few degrees can make a big difference. The first couple years I was brewing I made a lot of pale ales and IPA's with WL001 and I just couldn't seem to get it right - there was always this character to the beer that I couldn't place but didn't like, even though my friends thought the beers were great. I was fermenting around 71* as that's in the middle of the White Labs published range. Then I read a quote from Vinny Cilurzo on chico yeast fermenting over 68* spitting out diacetyl, I realized that is exactly what I was tasting. Now I always ferment mid to low 60's and the beers taste so much better to me.