Strong finish to beer?

[jel1883]

I just sampled a raspberry porter that I brewed fir my wife. It has a harsh alcohol finish but my ABV is only 6%. Any ideas what could cause this? For a 5 gallon batch I added the fruit (fresh 1/2 lb.) at the last 10 minutes of the boil and was brewed with extract.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

how warm was your fermentation?

 

[Yooper]

how warm was your fermentation?

This was my question as well.

A too-warm fermentation is the usual and common cause of a "hot" finish to a beer.

"Too warm" means that the fermentation got above about 70-72 degrees for most yeast strains, but a couple of strains are ok up to about 74-75. (This is beer temperature, not room temperature).

 

[jel1883]

70 deg. White Labs english ale yeast with a 1 qt starter. Active fermentation for about 4 days then re-racked into plastic bucket.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

70 deg. White Labs english ale yeast with a 1 qt starter. Active fermentation for about 4 days then re-racked into plastic bucket.

I've found that most "English" strains tend to favor 62-66F ferm temp. most anything above will start giving off the hot flavor. this is probably your culprit. and don't be afraid to let that bad boy sit in primary for over a week. this can also help your yeast clean up after active fermentation.

 

[jel1883]

Its possible the beer temp was a little higher. Not real fond of the thermometers that stick on the side of the carboy but that is all I had available.

 

[Yooper]

70 deg. White Labs english ale yeast with a 1 qt starter. Active fermentation for about 4 days then re-racked into plastic bucket.

Well, if the beer never got above 70 degrees, then it isn't fermentation temperature. It might get "estery" or fruity, but generally not "hot". I'd definitely try my best to keep it at 65 degrees at the highest, though!

Unless that was room temperature?

Edit- BillyKlubb beat me!

 

[billl]

WL recommends a top temp of 68. It tends to run fast, so temps could easily spike well above ambient.

 

[jel1883]

Thanks for the advice. Second time i have had this happen. Both times during the summer. I tend to keep my spare fridge at lagering temps. Ant thoughts as to keeping ales at the right temps without a dedicated fridge?

 

[billl]

Search "swamp cooler" for some cheap temporary temp control.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

Its possible the beer temp was a little higher. Not real fond of the thermometers that stick on the side of the carboy but that is all I had available.

you talking about the "fermometer"? they are usually pretty accurate. trust it. lick it. give me a dollar.

seriously, you can let it age out and the hot flavor will diminish. it might not go away completely and the raspberry flavors will probably fade a bit as well.

 

[jel1883]

Will do. Thanks for the tips everyone!

 

[Billy-Klubb]

another thing you can do is cover your carboy in a tee shirt in a tub of water with a fan blowing on it.

 

[Yooper]

Its possible the beer temp was a little higher. Not real fond of the thermometers that stick on the side of the carboy but that is all I had available.

Oh, those "stick on" thermometers are actually pretty accurate.

If it never got above 70 degrees, then that points to a couple of other things (but still related to yeast health). One is that perhaps the yeast was underpitched, if you didn't make an appropriate sized starter. But it feels more like the yeast was pitched too hot at the beginning. That would point to active fermentation from the start, and a "hot" finish to the beer. Is that possible, that the yeast was added to the beer above 70 degrees? If it is, the easy fix is to make a yeast starter (consult mrmalty.com or yeastcalc.com for the correct amount), and cool the wort to under 65 degrees before adding the yeast.

An easy way to hold cooler temperatures is simply in a water bath with a frozen water bottle in it to keep the temperature in the low-mid 60s.