Never leave the carboy unattended

[Jaeger48]

So I brewed up BeerMuncher's Blue Moon Clone but I had to use WLP Hefe yeast because the LBHS was out of the Belgian strain and then because I got married I left the carboy unattended while on the honeymoon.

I pulled the water bin/ wet t-shirt trick with running fan only to come home to have the bin completely evaporated and a resting temp of 74 degrees. I pulled the stopper to take a sniff and it smells like hot piss beer. I'm sure if the water got that low that the temperature probably hit 78 with the weather we've had recently.

So, the question is do I dump the batch or possibly hope that it's salvageable? I'm going to build the insulated foam box for my next batch to avoid this in the future.

 

[david_42]

How long has it been in the fermenter? And how long was it left alone? Hefes can smell strange for a few weeks.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Don't dump it. Let it go through its paces and sample it.

If it tastes good just let it age a bit.

If it doesn't then you can always blend it with another brew. Sometimes 2 wrongs can make a right.

 

[Yooper]

Don't dump it! The fan/water trick probably kept it cool for the majority of fermentation.

Either bottle it now, or rack it to a clearing tank when you're ready. Try to keep the temperature under 70 degrees if you can. I think you'll find that chilled and carbonated, it'll be fine!

And with a good excuse like get married, no one will give you too much **** about leaving your carboy unattended!

 

[Jaeger48]

Well, once it ran out of water I've left it dry. Pitched 2 weeks ago, it's been around 74 for the past week. Fermentation probably finished up while there was still water in the container. I can bottle it and see what becomes of it. I plan on brewing another batch but this time with the correct yeast and a better temp control so we'll see what the differences are in a month.

 

[gpogo]

Sounds like a disaster, you need to be careful how you rid yourself of it.

You can always send it my way for proper disposal.

(RDWHAHB bottle it and I'm sure it will be fine)

 

[avidhomebrewer]

Let it go and bottle/keg. Belgian strains can go with a higher temp, but you may have more fusel alcohols present.

 

[dlauver]

As said before, RDWHAHB!

Check out this article from BYO on hot fermentations. Pay special attention to sidebar three at the bottom of the page.

Belgian and wheat yeast strains tolerate high temps better and don't generate as much fusel alcohol.

 

[Desert_Sky]

I had to use WLP Hefe


temperature probably hit 78

hope you like bananas

 

[Couevas]

hope you like bananas

+1.
You will be fine. Here are the reasons why:

1. As mentioned above, the yeast completes the vast majority of it's work in the first 3 days or so and this is when it contributes flavors to the brew---be it off flavors or not. I am sure your temps were far better than 78 during these first few days.

2. Even if it did get high enough to get the yeast to start producing some off esters, that yeast strain will only give you Banana and Clove flavors in that range.

3. It is often somewhat desirable to detect some of these esters in a Hefe. Many of the classic Bavarian Hefe's are loaded with banana and cloves.

RDWHAHB! Your beer will be delicious.
And congrats on the marriage.

 

[Chimney]

I just bottled my first brew a week ago. As with all (or most) noobs i'm learning as i go. I didn't know the importance of fermentation temps. After about 12 days in primary I racked to secondary. A few days later I gave it a whiff after learning about fermentation temps and knowing my temp was about 76-78. It smelled like banannas! I was devistated and seriously considered dumping it, but figuring I should learn from every stage of the experience I bottled after almost two weeks in secondary. I tryed one after a week of bottle conditioning (just to get a feel for the transformation from 1 to 3 weeks). Much to my delight NO BANANNA flavor at all. Tasted quite good actually and from what I keep reading, will get much better after at least 3 weeks.

The lesson I learned...Don't Dump!!

 

[Jaeger48]

Yeah, I pulled a sample to test my FG and hot damn, dead on 1.010 where it should be. I tasted the sample and it's very fruity but I actually think I'll like it. I had an APA ferment around 64 but up to 68 and it has quite a few fusol alcohols so I was very worried.

 

[Shawn Hargreaves]

I find it easy to get way too hung up on the subtle distinction between "doing X may cause bad thing Y", versus "doing X will certainly cause Y and ruin your beer".

There are actually remarkably few things that are certain to ruin beer!

There are very many things that introduce some risk of damaging it, and it makes sense to avoid these things if possible, but in practice it is impossible to avoid them all. At some point you just have to quit worrying, accept that you've mitigated as much as is in your power to mitigate, cross your fingers, and hope for the best...

9 times out of 10, it'll come out just fine.

 

[FSBrewer]

I think this batch may be a symbol of your marriage. You should ride it out and see how it develops with age.

 

[Jaeger48]

And just like a Hefe it starts out hazy

 

[FSBrewer]

...explosive and exciting at first, then slowing down over time

 

[Jaeger48]

not too sweet but definitely not bitter.

 

[Jaeger48]

OK, this beer is now in it's bottles and I took some time to taste what it's become. It's actually a bit tart, some sweetness as well as some sour comes through at the beginning and finishes with subtle bitterness and dryness.

The recipe I used was BierMuncher's Blue Moon clone without the bitter orange, steeped the flaked wheat @ 155 for 1/2 hour, and used WLP American hefe yeast. To be honest while it was fermenting I didn't give as much care to drawing samples as I normally do (the window was open and a fan nearby was going possibly causing contaminates to swirl past the open carboy).

My OG was 1.046 and FG is 1.010

Taking that into account the hot temperatures it fermented at (70-78) and the possibility that there was some airborne contamination is it more likely that sour tartness is from the yeast or from something else?

Regardless I like the flavor and I'm looking forward to tasting it carbonated and cold but I'm also curious where my brewing process can be improved to make great beer.

 

[Steel-Reserve]

hello. i just bottled my first batch, it was red devil ale or something. i cant remember the name right now. but i was wondering is it okay to condition the beer in the fridge after 1 week of them being in the garage? will that be fine? or should i wait another 2 weeks before i put them in the fridge? will it halt the yeast in the beer? i primed them with 1/2 tspn of mexican raw sugar for a 12oz bottles. lemme know. thanks. sorry for the noob q's.

 

[Steel-Reserve]

btw, the sugar is like the sugar from starbucks.. like the square looking sugar

 

[Jaeger48]

have they finished carbonating? fyi- a few people have posted it around here before but tastybrew http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html has a real carbonation guide for you. It's always easiest to boil your priming sugar with a pint of water and then add it to the bottling bucket before you rack.

best thing to do refrigerate one and then crack it open. How long was it in the primary?

 

[Steel-Reserve]

it was primary for about 3 weeks. then i bottled them. ok thanks. i'll try one tonite and let u know