Windsor yeast and Temp shock

[JohnSmith]

Hey there,

After reading a few threads on here about Windsor used in Porter style beers and temperature shock I still have a specific question about this particular yeast and temperature shock repercussions.

I have read that temp shock can result in petite mutations resulting in Anaerobic actions as opposed to the yeast using oxygen properly and in turn giving off flavors due to DI-acetyl production. I am just curious what everyone else's take on this is and any experiences with mild to dire results.

I am planning to make a porter soon, I don't have a sweet tooth although the recent English style IPA I made tastes very good and is quite malt forward with a little sweetness. So I wouldn't mind a similar profile in a porter which can be achieved with Windsor so I've read.

It is summer here in Australia now and the lowest temp I can hope to get is 26 degrees Celsius. Even if I chill the wort its going to get up there to the mid 20's. What do you think of this fermentation temp with a yeast like Windsor or Nottingham?

I have been using US-05 and 04 with no problems at these temps so I am still pretty optimistic about future batches.

Cheers

 

[Subdivisions]

As far as your thoughts on Windsor and having a sweeter profile, yes, Windsor is a lower attenuating yeast and will provide more malt sweetness. It will also provide you with a beer that will take a long time to drop the yeast even at cold temperatures. I've used this on a brown ale and it took over a month cold in the keg and it still was a bit hazy. For a porter it's not as big of a deal though.

As far as fermenting at 26C, I wouldn't use any of the yeasts you mentioned at that temperature. Nottingham and S-04 especially get a tart flavor at that high of a temp. Look up 'Swamp cooler' in the search. It's basically a large vessel (rubbermaid container) filled with water that you place the fermenter in. You can freeze some water bottles and put them in the water a couple times a day to keep the temperature down. This will greatly improve your beer quality.