Very vigorous fermentation & Off flavors/odors?

[DocBob]

I know there's no way for any of you to know exactly what I'm smelling so I'm really just asking for thoughts here.

I brewed an extract red ale using safale - 04 yeast. I always make a sarter and it was going well when added it to the primary. Well the fermentation temp was at the high end of the recommended range and it went gangbusters...1.048 OG to 1.009 FG in two days!!! Bubbled about a half cup out the airlock into my pan! The airlock had stopped for the most part and I racked to my secondary tonight. I always do a taste test when racking (well actually I do taste test whenever I touch my beer for any reason but that's topic for another post!!!) anyway, I noticed a strange, very light odor/taste that I have never noticed before with any beers I've made (and I have used Safale - 04 numerous times). It is similar to an early odor I had in a cyser I made which also went gangbusters for the first few days. That particular "brew" used K1-V1116 yeast, and I'm told it is known to produce a high level of esters. Could this be what I'm smelling? Is this a potential problem with too vigorous fermentations? And will it dissipate with time if this is in fact what I'm smelling (it did in my cyser)?

Thanks in advance

 

[HeaterAllen]

If you fermented at the high end of the temperature range, you probably have some esters in your beer. Out of curiosity, how did you know what the temperature was? Do you have a temperature probe or a fermometer on your fermenter?, or was the room temp at the high end of the range? The reason I ask is because if the room temp was at the high end of the range, then the heat of fermentation would push the temp outside the range.

 

[DocBob]

You might be right, I don't have a probe in my fermenter, but I have a digital thermometer with a probe that is on a wire which I put against the carboy. So it probably is measuring somewhere between room temp and fermentation temp...I hadn't put that much thought into it, but that is a good point.
Perhaps I'll start sanitizing my probe and putting it in the carboy...interesting idea. Hmmmm or maybe I'll just insulate the probe from the room temp against the side if the glass. Hmmmm
Just out of curiosity, how much heat does five gallons of fermenting wort produce...i.e. how many degrees above room temp?

 

[gauthierk]

I have had a couple of beers that fired off like a rocket and got some "off" flavors in the initial sample... Some of that will go away with time and ageing. I read an article awhile back that even said that haveing fermentation at a fast pace could require more time to condition... I would wait a couple weeks and use a thief and check the flavor then....

 

[Hopfan]

You might be right, I don't have a probe in my fermenter, but I have a digital thermometer with a probe that is on a wire which I put against the carboy. So it probably is measuring somewhere between room temp and fermentation temp...I hadn't put that much thought into it, but that is a good point.
Perhaps I'll start sanitizing my probe and putting it in the carboy...interesting idea. Hmmmm or maybe I'll just insulate the probe from the room temp against the side if the glass. Hmmmm
Just out of curiosity, how much heat does five gallons of fermenting wort produce...i.e. how many degrees above room temp?

Depending on your probe and its' configuration, you may or may not be reading room temp into it. The best way is to check using a few different data sources to check it. I have a waterproof digital, the cheap stick-ons, and an infrared touchless. I used all of them on my first few brews and I found that the touchless was spot on to the digital that was in the fermenter so I usethat for spot checks. As far as heat output, there are too many variables (whether the fermenter is on the floor, on a shelf, on the ceiling , what type of circulation is in the room, how big the room is, etc.) Best thing to do is track it and see where your setup comes out.

 

[Beer Weevel]

I've found that if you let your beer age for an extended time it will more often then not loose these off flavors. I would say 6 to 8 weeks? It has worked for me many times.

 

[sacks13]

I've found that if you let your beer age for an extended time it will more often then not loose these off flavors. I would say 6 to 8 weeks? It has worked for me many times.

In the bottle or leave it in the fermenter? Or either?