Speaking of fermentation temps...

[Sea]

Does anyone have any input as to what the high temp point is that you will start to get off flavor in your beer? In the summer I have a hard time preventing my carboys from reaching about 75 F. I'm using Standard ale yeasts mostly. Oh, and what about the taste difference when I age my beer at 40 F, compared with a little warmer?
Thanks!

 

[ajf]

Dress your carboy in a tea shirt, and plant it in a Rubbermaid container with enough water so that the bottom of the tea shirt is submerged. Then use a fan to blow air over the wet tea shirt, and the evaporation will cause considerable cooling. I like ot keep mine below 70 degrees, but when it gets warm, I ferment in the basement where it never reashes 70.

-a.

 

[DeathBrewer]

i do all my brews at 64-68. rarely do i go over 70, unless it gets extremely hot and i can't keep them down or the recipe strictly calls for it. I have a "Son of Fermentation Chiller" that can keep my brew steady at about 20 below ambient.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I have 2 primaries in a water bath with ice right now.

I came home and they were registering 80F.

 

[zoebisch01]

Dress your carboy in a tea shirt, and plant it in a Rubbermaid container with enough water so that the bottom of the tea shirt is submerged. Then use a fan to blow air over the wet tea shirt, and the evaporation will cause considerable cooling. I like ot keep mine below 70 degrees, but when it gets warm, I ferment in the basement where it never reashes 70.

-a.

Great use for evaporative cooling!

Fwiw, you desert guys would really benefit from this method!

 

[feedthebear]

I switch to using warmer ale yeasts in the middle of summer. My cold room usually stays at 70F in the summer. But if I get too many hot days, it can get up to 75F. I don't want to use the t-shirt evaporator in there because there is no air circulation in there and it will just end up an extremely humid room.

Belgain Wyeasts may be your best options. Here are some that might work for you. The temperature ranges are taken from The Brewmaster's Bible.

Belgain Abby II (Wyeast 1762) 65F - 75F
Belgain Strong Ale ((Wyeast 1388) 65F - 75F
Belgain Trappest (Wyeast 3787) 64F - 78F
Belgain Wheat (Wyeast 3942) 64F - 74F
Belgain White Beer (Wyeast 3944) 60F - 74F
Brittish Ale II (Wyeast 1335) 65F - 75F
German Wheat (Wyeast 3333) 63F - 75F
London Ale III (Wyeast 1318) 64F - 74F

 

[zoebisch01]

I switch to using warmer ale yeasts in the middle of summer. My cold room usually stays at 70F in the summer. But if I get too many hot days, it can get up to 75F. I don't want to use the t-shirt evaporator in there because there is no air circulation in there and it will just end up an extremely humid room.

Belgain Wyeasts may be your best options. Here are some that might work for you. The temperature ranges are taken from The Brewmaster's Bible.

Belgain Abby II (Wyeast 1762) 65F - 75F
Belgain Strong Ale ((Wyeast 1388) 65F - 75F
Belgain Trappest (Wyeast 3787) 64F - 78F
Belgain Wheat (Wyeast 3942) 64F - 74F
Belgain White Beer (Wyeast 3944) 60F - 74F
Brittish Ale II (Wyeast 1335) 65F - 75F
German Wheat (Wyeast 3333) 63F - 75F
London Ale III (Wyeast 1318) 64F - 74F

Not to contend with you on this issue, but I would like to interject a point. Although these are the 'accepted' ranges from the labs, when the Belgians pitch, the exothermic reaction from the yeast brings the temperature of the wort well up into the mid 80's. (heard it on a podcast from basicbrewingradio with Stan Hieronymous author of Brew Like A Monk).

The trick (as it were) seems to be that the fermentation runs away on it's own at the brewery because they are pitching MASSIVE amounts of yeast. You cannot get this in a homebrew situation, but what you can do to mimic it is start the wort off in a low to mid 60's place on day one, bring it up to the 70's by day 2 (assuming the yeast is healthy) and by day three you can bring it up to the 80's.

Of course there is room to experiment, but what seems to be the case is that high temperatures too early are the culprits of off flavors and fusels. But once you are passing the bulk of the primary ferment (like would naturally happen en masse) you can raise the temperatures with no ill effects. I did this with my one recipe (using 550) and it turned out fantastic imho.

 

[the_bird]

Fermenting too high with a Belgian yeast is still going to result in a lot of hot alcohols (fusels), it's just that a lot of people LIKE those hot alcohols in their Belgians (I ain't one of them).

 

[feedthebear]

Not to contend with you on this issue, but I would like to interject a point. Although these are the 'accepted' ranges from the labs, when the Belgians pitch, the exothermic reaction from the yeast brings the temperature of the wort well up into the mid 80's. (heard it on a podcast from basicbrewingradio with Stan Hieronymous author of Brew Like A Monk).

I don't think you are conflicting with me. In fact you make my point better. He could cool the wort into the 60s and pitch. The room at 75F and the initial take off of the fermentation will push the temperature up to the low 80s (mine held 81F for the first 24 hours). If he wants the fusel alcohols, he can put a brew belt or a blanket on it for a couple days to keep the temp up. If he doesn't want the fusel alcohols, he can let it drop back to 75F and be fine.

 

[malkore]

I have a cheap-o way of keeping cool if you have an A/C vent in a spot you can put your fermenter.

check out the DIY equipment sub-forum for my 'design'

 

[the teacher]

To address your original question about what temperature do off flavors appear, I had one get all sorts of bad flavor after spending a couple days at 75F. I'm sure every yeast is different, but the point is you should do everything in your power to stay within range. The wet t-shirt only works if the air is dry. Here in Oregon I didn't get a single degree of cooling from the evaporation method.

 

[Sea]

Thanks Teach, where from in Oregon? I'm down southern, Talent to be exact.

 

[SwillBilly]

To control my temps I bought a 70 qt Ice Cube Extreme. I cut a hole in the lid so that a 6.5 gal carboy neck and airlock fit through the hole. I rotate frozen 2L bottles of water. I've been able to keep the temps in the mid to low 60's pretty easily. If I add more frozen bottles I can get the ambient temp in the cooler to the 40's.