Overheated stout on secondary fermentation

[pheno7]

Hi,
On the third day of the second fermentation of our first brew ever, it got out of control hitting 90 degrees f. It is a stout using WLP004 irish ale yeast. Before the transfer on the second fermenter, I got 1,010 on the hydrometer and the first week of fermentation was around recommended temperatures.

The culprid is a cider using a Lalvin EC-1118 combined with heating belts, we had no idea that yeast could get so hot. The fermenter was next to the stout one and the heat transfered to the beer.

Any idea if my batches are ruined and if I can think about laggering my beer in the basement before bottling it? It is clear now that there is no more fermentation going on in the beer. I just put it the basement where it's about 59 dregrees.

Any idea if we try to get back the cider under control, a day at 90 would be ok at the end?

 

[ColoHox]

Temperature control is less critical during secondary. The stout is probably fine.

Your cider on the other hand, might be an ester bomb of fruityness, which may not be a bad thing. Fusel alcohols are also a byproduct of high fermentation temps, and they result in a harsh taste and a nasty headache. Yeast, especially the high activity varieties, can easily push the temperatures in your fermenter ~10 degrees above ambient. I have never had use for a heating belt, I mostly struggle to keep things cool enough.

 

[smooth]

+1 on the Stout being okay. It is not too uncommon to raise the fermentation temperature after the main fermentation blitz is over.

Document the cider temperatures and timing, because after tasting it you may want to try duplicating it.

 

[pheno7]

Cheers, I'll do,
now the cider is back stable at lower temp, so one day might not be the end of the world, but what a surprise.

I'll post the details if things end up alright!

 

[pheno7]

Final update: The stout has a weird taste and both the beer and cider could cause a bit of headaches due to the type of alcohol produced at higher temperatures. The weird taste from the stout also came to the wheat powder used for bottling, which I will not use again from a subjective point of view.