Will I Be Able To Brew Without Any Problem?

[biertschi]

Hello,

I brewed a Muntons lager kit today. You know, it comes with an ale yeast and between 18-24 C is ok for it. But the problem is that it's too hot here right now and my temperature was around 30 C at the begining. I put my bucket in cold water and I am using a towel. I managed to decrease the temperature to 27 C but it's still too hot for ale yeast. My ice boxes are ready and I'll manage to decrease the temperature to 24 C soon but I see that airlock is already bubbling. Apparently the yeast is working. Do you think it will be ok when I cool it off or is it already too late? Because I had to go outside after brewing and almost 4-5 hours already passed. Is there anything that I can do now? Any idea?

Thanks in advance.

 

[j1n]

You're gonna have a ton of fussel alcohol and off flavors at those temps. Next time cool the wort to the right temp before adding any yeast.

 

[locolorenzo22]

You MIGHT get some off flavor and fusel tastes at those temps. Very important to chill the wort below 70F (sry not sure of C) before pitching yeast to improve taste. I also have been using a water bath for temp control at 62-64 degrees to try and help the yeasties stay in a good temp. Chilling is one of those steps that tremendously helps taste.

 

[biertschi]

You MIGHT get some off flavor and fusel tastes at those temps. Very important to chill the wort below 70F (sry not sure of C) before pitching yeast to improve taste. I also have been using a water bath for temp control at 62-64 degrees to try and help the yeasties stay in a good temp. Chilling is one of those steps that tremendously helps taste.

I might or I am gonna? I managed to cool the worth to 75 F (24 C). It will be around 70 F soon. I hope it works.

 

[Rhumbline]

I hope the OP will come back and update us on his results. I'm always interested in hearing if things are as sensitive as they are played up to be.

 

[biertschi]

I hope the OP will come back and update us on his results. I'm always interested in hearing if things are as sensitive as they are played up to be.

I will for sure

 

[flars]

Cool your beer to 18° to 20°C as fast as possible. Ice cubes. May shock the yeast and cause a slow down in the fermentation and some ester production, but it is better than developing fusel alcohols.

Try to keep the beer at 18° to 20°. Don't even bother taking a SG reading for two weeks. Longer time in the fermentor can only help the beer.

 

[biertschi]

Cool your beer to 18° to 20°C as fast as possible. Ice cubes. May shock the yeast and cause a slow down in the fermentation and some ester production, but it is better than developing fusel alcohols.

Try to keep the beer at 18° to 20°. Don't even bother taking a SG reading for two weeks. Longer time in the fermentor can only help the beer.

Thanks for your advices. I tried everything last night and managed to cool it to 22 C. I couldn't cool it more although I tried everything. We'll see the outcome. If I ruin it, I'll still call it experience. Thanks again

 

[kombat]

You MIGHT get some off flavor and fusel tastes at those temps. Very important to chill the wort below 70F (sry not sure of C)

I might or I am gonna? I managed to cool the worth to 75 F (24 C). It will be around 70 F soon. I hope it works.

Definitely will.

27° C is 80° F. That is way, way too hot for an ale yeast. Moreover, the first 3-5 days of fermentation are the most critical in terms of yeast development/performance and flavour profile. I'm afraid at this point, the damage is done. It's going to taste like banana-flavoured nail polish remover.

But the good news is, you're about to learn just how important temperature control is. I ferment my ales at 17.5° C for a nice, clean flavour profile.

Oh, and one more thing: At such high temperatures, you're likely going to get a very vigorous fermentation, so be ready with a blowoff tube for when your airlock gets plugged with yeast.

 

[biertschi]

Definitely will.

27° C is 80° F. That is way, way too hot for an ale yeast. Moreover, the first 3-5 days of fermentation are the most critical in terms of yeast development/performance and flavour profile. I'm afraid at this point, the damage is done. It's going to taste like banana-flavoured nail polish remover.

But the good news is, you're about to learn just how important temperature control is. I ferment my ales at 17.5° C for a nice, clean flavour profile.

Oh, and one more thing: At such high temperatures, you're likely going to get a very vigorous fermentation, so be ready with a blowoff tube for when your airlock gets plugged with yeast.

I see, thanks. So, do you recommend not to keep the worth in the bucket anymore? If the damage is already done, no need to waste the time for it, right? Should I give up and start brewing again?

 

[flars]

I see, thanks. So, do you recommend not to keep the worth in the bucket anymore? If the damage is already done, no need to waste the time for it, right? Should I give up and start brewing again?

Never dump unless the damage is so bad everyone agrees it will be undrinkable. Keep the temperature under control and buy another bucket to start a second beer.

This beer may not be perfect after bottle conditioning, but it may still be okay to drink.

 

[unionrdr]

Try giving it a week after final gravity is reached to clean up off-flavors a bit. It'll clean up some more in the bottles, but I don't know if it'll clean up really strong off flavors. That'll depend on how bad they are to start with. I still do partial boils, even though I'm doing partial mash brew in a bag these days. I chill the hot wort down to 75F or so in an ice bath. Strain into fermenter & top odd with chilled spring water to recipe volume. This usually gets the wort down to 65F or so. Good start temp for initial fermentation.

 

[kombat]

I see, thanks. So, do you recommend not to keep the worth in the bucket anymore? If the damage is already done, no need to waste the time for it, right? Should I give up and start brewing again?

It's "wort," not "worth," and I only mention it because you did it twice. I assume it's just the auto-correct on your phone or something.

I'd absolutely see it through! It will still be beer, and will be a valuable lesson in the importance of fermentation temperature control. At this point, the hard and expensive parts are behind you. Now it's just waiting, and a little effort at bottling. Might as well play it out and see how it ends up.

Start another batch - get that pipeline going!

 

[hanuswalrus]

If it's difficult for you to keep the temp down in the proper range for ales during these warmer months, maybe try brewing a saison?? Saison yeast likes it up in the 80s. WY3724 can ferment properly as high as 95F. I live in a 3rd story walk up with no central air so it gets hot up there. All summer long I have been brewing Saisons and had good results.

 

[m00ps]

agreed at those temps saisons are like your only bet. Lagers need to be fermented in like the mid 50sF. 30C is ridiculously high to ferment anything other than a saison. Im nto sure what itll taste like but it will be very fusel-y

 

[J-Drew]

You'll definitely have off flavors, but I would see it through. I had a similar situation when I brewed on a really hot day and had some unexpected problems when it came time to chill the wort. In short, I thought the chiller was hooked up and it wasn't (a fitting came loose). By the time I realized it, I was out of ice. In about an hour and a half, I could only get it down to 77F, and it probably took another 6-8 to get it down below 70F in my fermentation chamber. I entered the beer in a competition and the judges were pretty rough on it for dark fruity esters and vegetal flavors. Those aren't exactly in the style guidelines for an American amber, but at least I know exactly why those flaws were there. With that said, I still find the beer drinkable enough that I'm not about to dump it.

 

[biertschi]

It's "wort," not "worth," and I only mention it because you did it twice. I assume it's just the auto-correct on your phone or something.

I'd absolutely see it through! It will still be beer, and will be a valuable lesson in the importance of fermentation temperature control. At this point, the hard and expensive parts are behind you. Now it's just waiting, and a little effort at bottling. Might as well play it out and see how it ends up.

Start another batch - get that pipeline going!

Thanks for the correction I am sure you already noticed that English is not my native language and I am not "perfect" at it. And you know, I use worth much more than wort in daily language. So, it wasn't auto-correct, it was a mistake I made

The temperature is still around 24 and I can't cool it more. Well, there's nothing else I can do anymore. I'll wait and see Thanks for your advices.

 

[biertschi]

If it's difficult for you to keep the temp down in the proper range for ales during these warmer months, maybe try brewing a saison?? Saison yeast likes it up in the 80s. WY3724 can ferment properly as high as 95F. I live in a 3rd story walk up with no central air so it gets hot up there. All summer long I have been brewing Saisons and had good results.

agreed at those temps saisons are like your only bet. Lagers need to be fermented in like the mid 50sF. 30C is ridiculously high to ferment anything other than a saison. Im nto sure what itll taste like but it will be very fusel-y

Next Summer, saisons will be my favourite then I am quite new at brewing and still learning. So, this was a good lesson to me.

 

[biertschi]

You'll definitely have off flavors, but I would see it through. I had a similar situation when I brewed on a really hot day and had some unexpected problems when it came time to chill the wort. In short, I thought the chiller was hooked up and it wasn't (a fitting came loose). By the time I realized it, I was out of ice. In about an hour and a half, I could only get it down to 77F, and it probably took another 6-8 to get it down below 70F in my fermentation chamber. I entered the beer in a competition and the judges were pretty rough on it for dark fruity esters and vegetal flavors. Those aren't exactly in the style guidelines for an American amber, but at least I know exactly why those flaws were there. With that said, I still find the beer drinkable enough that I'm not about to dump it.

If it's drinkable, it will make me more than happy for sure. Because I am not expecting anything good, to be honest. We'll see

 

[kh54s10]

Why can't you get the wort cooler. Take some plastic bottles if you haven't already, fill them with water and freeze them. Add a couple to the water the fermenter is in and rotate as necessary to control your temperature. Even if it is 37c outside you should still be able to keep the wort cool. It is too late for this one but find a way to control the wort temperatures. Look up "swamp cooler" on this site.

I would not dump this one. It will have off flavors and might not be drinkable, but then again, you might have something that is not too bad.

 

[biertschi]

Why can't you get the wort cooler. Take some plastic bottles if you haven't already, fill them with water and freeze them. Add a couple to the water the fermenter is in and rotate as necessary to control your temperature. Even if it is 37c outside you should still be able to keep the wort cool. It is too late for this one but find a way to control the wort temperatures. Look up "swamp cooler" on this site.

I would not dump this one. It will have off flavors and might not be drinkable, but then again, you might have something that is not too bad.

It's between 30-33c in daytime and 27-29c at night outside. And believe me, my bucket is in a basin which is full of water. I keep changing water and adding cold water in it. Plus I use frozen bottles which are filled with water and keep changing them as well. And plus I use a big towel. And you know what? When it's too hot, I even use a fan But still, the lowest degree I've seen was 23c on the bucket. Maybe there's something wrong with my sticker thermometer but actually I have 2 on my bucket and they both show the same degree. So, I really don't know

 

[Rhumbline]

As someone who lives in swampland, let me tell you that an evaporative cooler doesn't work all that well in 97% humidity

 

[biertschi]

As someone who lives in swampland, let me tell you that an evaporative cooler doesn't work all that well in 97% humidity

You're right, that's the problem most probably. Humidity is way too high here too. I'm sure I'll have a setup to control the temperature next summer.

 

[biertschi]

I hope the OP will come back and update us on his results. I'm always interested in hearing if things are as sensitive as they are played up to be.

I just wanted to tell about the result. I kept my beer in the fermentation bucket for 3 weeks and then in the bottles for one month. The result is completely ok. Well, it's not the best beer of course but drinkable for sure. Actually I am quite enjoying it because my expectation was much lower than this.

So, I want to thank everyone who helped me here. Cheers!

 

[Rhumbline]

Thanks, it kind of reinforces my belief that it might not be what you were expecting, but it's probably going to be drinkable.