Lager Fermentation Fail - What Should I Do?

[jmelgin]

I brewed an Octoberfest and began fermentation about 2-1/2 weeks ago. OG was high at 1.069. Pitched yeast at 62 deg F, held there for a day and then ramped down to 50 deg F.

Everything was looking great until today. Went to get a gravity reading and found the beer at almost 90 deg F!!! Am using BrewPi controller on my fridge. Everything was still recording good temps and demonstrating great control about 4 days ago, then it stopped recording. I had not looked at it in several days since it seemed like it was on autopilot.

Anyway, I rebooted the controller and everything is starting to work again. My gravity reading was 1.020, so clearly not fully fermented out yet.

My question is, what do I do from here? Is my lager yeast toast (using Yeast 2206)? Will it continue to work as I cool things back down? Anything I should do?

Appreciate any advice.

 

[madscientist451]

IMy gravity reading was 1.020, so clearly not fully fermented out yet.

It might be finished, I'd give it a few days and see if the gravity has changed, and if hasn't, its probably done, so give it a taste.
If you think its done, go ahead and cold crash it and either drink it now if it tastes OK, or let it cold condition a while and see if you like it better.

 

[Comfort_Zone]

Give it a few days, check it, cold crash it if necessary, and as with all things homebrew; let your taste buds be the final judge.

 

[Dcpcooks]

Taste it. You'll be able to tell pretty quickly if you developed off flavors.

Do you know when the temp started ramping up? If it was right at the beginning you created a bunch of fruity and Fusel alcohol flavors. If it was after the first week you may have a chance of escaping it. I would slowly lower the temps a few degrees a day and see what you've got. A slower rate of cooling will help prevent the yeast cells from going through a shock which could cause them to release some content from within the cellular walls. That would compound the problem in my opinion.

I'm pretty sure it's fermented out at this point. Your yeast isn't dead. Yeast actually prefer warmer temps but we brewers like to keep them cooler to limit off flavors. The warm temps really boosted the metabolism so I'm sure they worked quickly. The key now is to keep the cells from experiencing any more shock at this point.

I normally never advocate racking beer to secondary but you may want to consider it at this point. But start with a taste before you commit time to racking it and lagering