My first post, so apologies in advance if I'm doing this wrong.
Backstory: Been brewing for a few years, all-grain for about 2 of them, and usually stick to medium-gravity stuff, ~5-7%. Some friends are big fans of Belgian tripels, so I brewed one with the hope of bottling half for friends. Probably the most ambitious beer I've attempted yet. Brew day and first 5 days of fermentation went beautifully using Wyeast 3787. OG 1.086, only a few points below my target.
Yeast went crazy first few days. I have a temp controller and the beer held beautifully at 68F, ramping up to 71F over 5 days. Took a gravity sample yesterday and was at 1.014. Even the sample tasted good, which never happens, and I start bragging to my friends about how much they're going to love this tripel. (Foreshadowing)
Last night for the first time I *wasn't* obsessively checking on the beer, and so it wasn't until this AM that I noticed I'd knocked the temp probe out of the thermowell when I took my gravity sample, and my controller decided that the beer was actually the temperature of the basement floor. Overnight it pushed it up to 87F. Wyeast gives 3787 a temp range of 64-78.
Swore a lot, cried a little, took another gravity sample and now it's about 1.010, well under my expected FG. I know the answer to the question "Is my beer ruined" is almost always "Probably not, but wait and see." I'm hoping this happened late enough in the process that not too much damage was done. But if someone with more knowledge/experience can describe what kind of mischief my yeasty pals might gotten up to during their excursion to the sauna, maybe it'll help me worry a little less, or at least be a little wiser. And is there anything to do here other than keep calm and carry on? My biggest worry is that additional drop in gravity. Is this beer - which was supposed to be for friends - going to be full of hangover-causing fusels?
Backstory: Been brewing for a few years, all-grain for about 2 of them, and usually stick to medium-gravity stuff, ~5-7%. Some friends are big fans of Belgian tripels, so I brewed one with the hope of bottling half for friends. Probably the most ambitious beer I've attempted yet. Brew day and first 5 days of fermentation went beautifully using Wyeast 3787. OG 1.086, only a few points below my target.
Yeast went crazy first few days. I have a temp controller and the beer held beautifully at 68F, ramping up to 71F over 5 days. Took a gravity sample yesterday and was at 1.014. Even the sample tasted good, which never happens, and I start bragging to my friends about how much they're going to love this tripel. (Foreshadowing)
Last night for the first time I *wasn't* obsessively checking on the beer, and so it wasn't until this AM that I noticed I'd knocked the temp probe out of the thermowell when I took my gravity sample, and my controller decided that the beer was actually the temperature of the basement floor. Overnight it pushed it up to 87F. Wyeast gives 3787 a temp range of 64-78.
Swore a lot, cried a little, took another gravity sample and now it's about 1.010, well under my expected FG. I know the answer to the question "Is my beer ruined" is almost always "Probably not, but wait and see." I'm hoping this happened late enough in the process that not too much damage was done. But if someone with more knowledge/experience can describe what kind of mischief my yeasty pals might gotten up to during their excursion to the sauna, maybe it'll help me worry a little less, or at least be a little wiser. And is there anything to do here other than keep calm and carry on? My biggest worry is that additional drop in gravity. Is this beer - which was supposed to be for friends - going to be full of hangover-causing fusels?