Am I screwed -- Too Hot

[skb]

I have two beers in the fermenter .. one using US-05 and the other Nottingham .

The US-05 has been fermenting for 8 days at 14c and Nottingham for 5 days at 14c.

However I have let both heat up to 26c.. progressively over To cut a long story short I accidentally let them both get to 26c over 20 hours (so day 9 and day 6 for each brew) ... I have relocated to the cool room and they are going back to 14c but that will be very slow, probably another 12 hours.

Have I ruined the beer, or at least done a lot of damage through Fusel Alcohol ? Is there anything I can do to recover.

 

[mckenry]

Nope, nothing drastic. Those first 5 and 8 days are the important ones anyway.

 

[skb]

great thanks ! So just do what I am doing and cool it down and let it run another 14 days or so (I tend to ferment at the cooler temps for 21 days just seems to work for me)

 

[dicko]

I would only cool them now to the recommended yeast fermentation temp which is probably around 19 deg, and I would cool them slowly rather than panic and crash chill them.
You wont want the yeast to drop out of suspension.

 

[TidalPete]

The Yeast book (Page 97) recommends (progressively) raising ale temps 2-5 degrees above your planned fermentation temp when about two thirds/three quarters of fermentation is complete.
Trouble is you raised the temp at the wrong time & by too much.

I would drop the temp back in stages to 19 or 20 deg c as Dicko says & leave until the yeast has finished cleaning up, then cold crash.

 

[skb]

Thanks everyone, my only challenge is that I have a fermenting fridge ( doing another brew .. Yes went crazy with 3 full brews on run). So I only have one temp controlled other option which is 14c or the garage which is around 27-28

I have elected to put back in the cellar to 14c, which I am hoping is the lesser of two evils ( instead of leaving out and the hotter temp).

I probably need to find a yeast that has the flavour I love and a ferment target range around 14c... There is a challenge

Stephen

 

[TidalPete]

Probably too late & you're in bed asleep by now but the 14 deg cellar option coupled with a few blankets/camping mat or whatever wrapped around could well bring you up closer to 20 deg or so?

 

[manson81]

My 2c but how well does US05 go at 14 degrees?

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Most yeast will go under10*c. It just slows it down.

Try this. Put a longneck straight after bottling in the fridge and leave it for 3mnths.

Have been caught out many times with yeast starters kept in sealed bottles in the fridge.

The fridge wont stop them..

 

[brentice]

Nope, nothing drastic. Those first 5 and 8 days are the important ones anyway.

Plus like one and a little bit..... True story

 

[skb]

Kegged it today after a 48 hour cold crash ( 0c) forced carbonated it after 6 hours of settling had a taste of both .... Great ! Is the best summary so you were all correct no need to panic..

Scary thing is early days but may be my best beers to date... Do I have something to learn from this.


Stephen

 

[lael]

Most yeast will go under10*c. It just slows it down.

Try this. Put a longneck straight after bottling in the fridge and leave it for 3mnths.

Have been caught out many times with yeast starters kept in sealed bottles in the fridge.

The fridge wont stop them..

The first batch of top cropped yeast from my quad was in a v8 bottle. collected about a third of a bottle of yeast and wort. placed it in the beer/yeast fridge to use later. SG was prob around 1.070 or so - Every time I visited the fridge the metal cap would show signs of pressurisation that needed to be released... I was shocked, but it was definitely active even down to refridgeration temps. made me wonder if 3787 was originally a lager yeast. I thought that yeast was supposed to go into hibernation at low temps, but maybe 'it depends' is more accurate? Would love to know what the influencing factors are...