Mini heat wave coming - bottle now or wait?

[CraptainWirtz]

Hey folks, hoping to get some excellent advice from you.

I have a 5.25-gallon batch of pale ale that was at 1.011 four days ago (OG was 1.049). It's now 13 days after pitching yeast, so I expect this is finished fermenting; I'll take another gravity sample today to confirm. The problem is that the temperature's going to be in the 80s and 90s here next Tuesday through Friday, which means my apartment will be in the 80s. If I leave it in the carboy, this mini heat wave will hit on days 16-19 of fermentation. If I bottle it today or tomorrow, the heat wave would hit after 2-3 days in the bottle.

So what would be better for my beer - experiencing high temperatures in bulk (I suppose I could swamp-cool the carboy in this case), or high temperatures during bottle conditioning, when the yeast may be actively fermenting the priming sugar (worried about fusel alcohols)?

Thanks in advance!

 

[JonM]

I don't think it'll matter either way. The only time you need to be worried about too-high temps is during the active fermentation phase, which appears to be long over. If it was my batch, I'd leave it and bottle after 3-4 weeks in order to give the beer time to clear.

 

[boydster]

I don't think it'll matter either way. The only time you need to be worried about too-high temps is during the active fermentation phase, which appears to be long over. If it was my batch, I'd leave it and bottle after 3-4 weeks in order to give the beer time to clear.

Agree that it doesn't matter either way. I'd bottle it soon, though, for 2 reasons: the heat wave might help it carb a little quicker (probably not going to be a noticeable difference here, though), and I like my pale ales fresh and hoppy.

 

[seanybubbles]

What jinn says...


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[seanybubbles]

I meant jonM. Stupid auto correct.


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[Keith_O]

Ok, hold on... new guy here...
Want to clarify something here...
I Live in Central Texas, we are already in the 80's stays mid-upper 70's in house.
I have been keeping my fermenting buckets in a bathtub of cool water and changing out ice bottles.
Do you mean to tell me that I only need to do that the first 3-4 days?!?

 

[boydster]

Ok, hold on... new guy here...
Want to clarify something here...
I Live in Central Texas, we are already in the 80's stays mid-upper 70's in house.
I have been keeping my fermenting buckets in a bathtub of cool water and changing out ice bottles.
Do you mean to tell me that I only need to do that the first 3-4 days?!?

Take a look at this write up by Chris White about the life cycle of yeast. It should help put you at ease that once fermentation winds down, you can let the temp come up without worrying about off-flavors.

http://www.brewgeeks.com/the-life-cycle-of-yeast.html

Once the yeast flocs out to the bottom, it can't really generate any esters, phenols, or fusels to make your beer taste funny.

 

[RM-MN]

Ok, hold on... new guy here...
Want to clarify something here...
I Live in Central Texas, we are already in the 80's stays mid-upper 70's in house.
I have been keeping my fermenting buckets in a bathtub of cool water and changing out ice bottles.
Do you mean to tell me that I only need to do that the first 3-4 days?!?

Yes, when the initial fast part of the ferment is over, your flavors are set and letting your brew get warmer won't change it. I usually try to keep mine in the mid 60's for 5 to 7 days just because it'd easy for me to do that but then I bring my beers into the 70's to let them finish up and the yeast to settle out.

 

[seanybubbles]

Considering your situation with the fg you got I would say that beer is done. The first few days of active fermentation are most important but staying in the proper range for the yeast the whole time is ideal. Just do what you can.


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[Keith_O]

Thanks guys! Apologies for the hijack!

 

[CraptainWirtz]

No worries about the hijack, Keith. Awesome butt, by the way.

Thanks for your input, everyone else. My inclination was to bottle today or tomorrow, assuming FG hasn't changed since my last reading. I'm running low on homebrew - seven 12 oz bottles and maybe five or six bombers, so I gotta re-up ASAP!

Thanks again.