question about ferment temp

[c72]

Using a Brewer's Best EPA extact kit w/ Muntons dry yeast. My 2nd batch.

Pitched the yeast into the fermenter Monday night. Airlock going like crazy early Tuesday morning when I checked before work and still going when I got home.

Watched it for 5 minutes this morning, nothing. So 36 hours in the airlock seems pretty quiet.

The ambient temp in the basement was around 76-8 degrees, tried to chill the fermenter in a tub of H2O + ice but only knocked a couple of degrees off, according to the thermometer stuck to the pail.

Was the fermentation so active and brief due to the temp?

What flavors can I expect from fermenting @ 3-5 degrees too warm?

Thanks.

 

[c72]

also, I won't have time to bottle this for at least a week, okay to let it sit so long in the fermenter after active fermentation seems to have ceased?

 

[BigKahuna]

Yes...in fact, just cause the fermentation is finished...or at least the air lock has quit bubbling, does not mean that the yeast is finished with what it is going to do. I'd leave it for an extra week if you have the will power. The yeast will clean up pretty well after themselves.

You should expect pretty good beer, and be glad that winter is fast on it's way, you'll be better able to brew good beer with temps closer to the 68 - 70 degree range.

 

[c72]

Reading up on munton's yeast here it seems it has some problems with complex sugars and attenuation.

Would it be a no no to pitch more yeast into the fermenter at this point, 2 days in?

 

[SteveStLoo]

im having a similar problem. i pitched on a friday about 2 and a half weeks ago, in a room of about 78-80degrees, had no airlock activity but still managed to have some fermentation. now it appears stuck, but i also discovered the kit i used was about a year old, so im thinking i need a repitch anyway. I got some advice not to repitch so soon though.. :fro:

 

[Yooper]

You shouldn't even consider repitching until you've taken some SG readings and know where you're at. If there's been NO fermentation at all, it's good to repitch after about three days. If there has been fermentation, it's best to wait at least a week to ensure that the SG is not dropping further. What I mean by that is take an SG after a week. Wait two days and take another. If they match, and are still too high, you may want to consider adding a more attenuative (and fresh) yeast.

By the way, you mentioned that you're fermenting about 3-5 degrees too warm. Remember that you're not measuring the ambient air temperature, but the temperature of the beer in the fermenter. I use a stick on thermometer (like an aquarium themometer) for that. If your air temperature was 78 degrees, the fermenting beer could have been 85 degrees or more. That's about 20 degrees too high, not three degrees too high!

At 78 degrees, you probably had an explosive fermentation and fermentation is simply done. Let it sit at least another 10 days to clean up any off-flavors you may have. Some off-flavors like fusel alcohols and phenols due to the high temperature won't clean up, but there may be some extra fruitiness in there that might be good in an EPA.

 

[bull8042]

YooperBrew is right on the money with her post, as always I might add. I brewed a Fat Tire and a German Hefe that both fermented around the 76°F mark and they both pretty much sucked for a while. 6 extra weeks in the bottle helped a lot, so all is not lost. Just keep the wet t-shirt trick in memory for the next brew or until you have another way to control temps.

 

[c72]

Thanks for the replies all.

I was measuring the temp of the fermenter using one of those aquarium stick on thermometers as well, so I don't think it was over 80 degrees. It topped out around 77-8 before I put it in a water bath w/ ice and knocked it down a bit.

I was concerned the yeast might have just been not up to the whole job but I'll just let it sit for a spell and then see, as suggested.

 

[c72]

I let the batch sit for about 16 days in the primary, took a gravity reading and it's inline with the recipe.

Took a nice drink of the leftover beer in the bottling bucket and the taste was pretty green but I think it'll do

 

[BigKahuna]

Funny how a little time cures all!

Thanks for posting back.