Brewing Myths - Fermentation Temp

[Weizguy]

In an ongoing investigative series, I want to see what people think about brewing too warm, and it's effect on producing hangovers.
Does anyone want to give me an example with a yeast they have used?
I have produced beer on several occasions which gives me a headache, and quite soon after consumption too, on some occasions. :angry:
I have heard that when Belgian beers are brewed too warm, there is a higher possibility of hangovers. I can only infer that this applies to all beer.
Recently, I made an APA which fermented at about 26 C. The beer fridge was doing lager duty, so wasn't available. After one stubbie of it and a stubbie of a weizen, I woke up with a filthy headache the next morning. The pain persisted for a few hours.
I used my Yeast Labs American Ale yeast for the offending (offensive) beer.
Have U heard of this phenomenon?

Seth :chug:

 

[redbeard]

i dont have a fermentation fridge (yet...), so have stuck to (mainly coopers) bitter & pale ale. all fermented around 24c (room temp). very hot days raised afternoon room temp to about 30 till i get home & turn the aircon on. i think this had only small effect on the 23l fermenting mass. followed by a week or 2 in the fridge at around 2c before being kegged. all the above used the coopers dry yeast.

perhaps were different people (undoubtably), but after a reasonable session, while not 100% the next day, it was only on a couple of occasions that i had a serious hangover.

i think homebrew has smaller hangover effects than commercial beer (less chemicals ?)

to have a headache after 2 stubbies sounds very strange. what did u have for dinner that night ?

cheers

 

[Batz]

I would be interested in Chillers answer here , perhaps not so much the hangover but the brewing tempertures.
Just a conversation I had with him while in Adelaide , maybe Chiller? maybe not.

Batz

 

[Gambrinus]

Any years I used by Coopers yeast. In Israel is very hot summer, but I brewed in 30C. And my summer fermentations were between 27-32 C. All time I can not hold my conditioner open, because 27 with and 32 without

Old Dark Ale, Pale Ale and Draught were good, but Bitter was with a taste of apple. I thing this was yeast.

 

[RobW]

I deliberately brewed a coopers kit many years ago at about 37C just to see what would happen. It finished within 48 hrs (not sure exactly) and although I expected all kinds of awful things it actually drank OK (for a kit). Don't remember any hangover issues but maybe I didn't drink enough in one go

 

[Snow]

The alcohol formed at those temps is called fusel alcohol. I'm not sure of the processes, but aparently it does bad things to your body, hence the headaches. However, quite a few Belgian Ales are fermented at high temps, with obviously wonderful results. I think Michael Jackson (or is it Pierre Rajotte) mentions that Chimay Blue is fermented at 30C in the primary. I don't know if it's the type of yeast, but I don't pick up any headaches from drinking a couple of stubbies of Chimay.

Cheers - Snow

 

[neonmeate]

apparently belgian yeasts are especially good at producing low levels of fusels with warm fermentations, i was reading an old BYO article yesterday about warm weather brewing that had some info from wyeast and whitelabs on this stuff.
i;ve done three brews this summer with WLP565 saison yeast that were all about 28-30 most of the time. in fact when i pitched one of them the temp was 46 outside! that yeast really needs to stay above 25 or it falls asleep before it finishes attenuating. anyway i wouldnt say that yeast gives a "clean" taste, but certainly it's not rough or alcoholic at high temps, and i drank a heap of one of my saisons one night and was really surprised by not getting a hangover - but then i always say:
you always get it when you least deserve it and you get away with it when you most deserve it.

 

[thehipone]

Back in the kit days I made a Canadian Blonde that ended up fermenting during that deathly hot week last summer in Brisbane (OK it's usually hot, but this was the week where they were running the trains slow because they were afraid the tracks would bend). I managed to keep it around 30, but it gave me a ******* of a headache almost from the first sip.

 

[Weizguy]

Not sure if it's relevant, but I get the occasional migraine. I know that migraines can be brought on by tyramine (an amino acid which may come from yeast autolysis). I did not taste anything odd though, so prob no autolysis.
It could be that I drank the beer too young, as it was only a few daze old. Hence I only had the one.
Seriously though, on one occasion, I had one (hard to believe I only drank one) stubbie and had a stabbing pain in the head after 1/2 hour.
I do not normally get migraines from my beer, and have been brewing for years. So, I have plenty of experience and plenty of examples of "no headache" in that time.
I would like to state here that my beer very rarely gives me a headache.
The reason I am concerned at this point in time, is that the beer that gave me the headache is going to be consumed in large quantities on Monday at a Superbowl party (Superbowl APA); say 18 litres amongst the group. And about 20 litres of extract Weizen, too (untested).
Ah well, I may have to experiment again this evening with another stubbie, of each.
Thanks for your input, and keep 'em coming.
Seth

 

[Snow]

Seth,

when they've finished the 18L of homebrew, give them a carton of VB. Then, when they're peeling their tongues off the carpet the next morning and calling the police for the hit-and-run, you can blame it on the VB!

Cheers - Snow.

 

[Weizguy]

Snow,
Seriously!
Do you think that they'll be able to stomach VB after an APA?

Otherwise, an excellent suggestion, and quite sneaky. And we all know that VB describes the hangover it gives U (Viciously Brutal).

My apologies to any VB drinkers out there. U must have arrived here by accident, and now U feel insulted.

Superbowl Seth

 

[Vlad the Pale Aler]

Its all about fusels. When making a wash to distill you pitch at 40c and ferment at 35c, this is to produce as much alcohol as you can, the nasty stuff ( called tails) is then fractioned out during the distillation process, to give a clean spirit and what is known as a clean hangover.
I have a barley wine at 9.1% that was fermented at 27c and it does have the charcteristic high alcohol taste, have'nt drunk enough in a sitting to report on hangover yet, but I am expecting it.
Have a look at this site for more info on higher alcohols.

 

[Weizguy]

...and the fusels are more masked in the APA due to hop flavours/ bitterness. So it's hard to tell, just by taste.
Makes sense to me.
Thanks for the link and info Vlad.

Seth

 

[Bobby]

at a Superbowl party

here is something you wont see on the superbowl broadcast...
http://www.collegehumor.com/?movie_id=111902

 

[Jez]

.......Superbowl!!....


yeah!!! ........Go Eagles!!!!!!!! finally made it......

.........oh..sorry, we're talkin' about beer........

just got too excited. sorry guys.

 

[Weizguy]

Jez,
I don't mind seeing people get excited about their team.
As long as ur not dis'ing someone elses team.
I remind myself that opinions are like arseholes; everyone has one. Some stink; but U must be tolerant.
This is not directed at U. I went off-topic again, I think.
Seth