fermentation starting immediately?

[pelligrene.rasmus]

hello, first post so hi from melbourne..
so I'm on my second brew and tried the coopers "sunkissed weiss" from their recipe of the month kits, and while I didn't measure the temperature of the wort before pitching the yeast it was cool to the touch so I guess it was OK. anyway it's been only 4 hours or so and the water in the air lock appears to be bubbling as though fermentation is happening. the yeast is a munich wheat yeast which i read wheat yeasts are fairly aggressive? i rehydrated the yeast in cool water with a tiny bit of boiled wort (about a tablespoon) for about 20 minutes to ½ hour and there was a little gas pop when I took the lid off, so maybe it's just a strong yeast? I'm standing it in cool water now to try bring the temperature down as it's quite hot today. so my question is is this normal? also I'm going away for a week tomorrow so should I leave the fermenter in the water until I get back?

thanks

 

[TimT]

Fermentation after four hours.... sounds very early. Like, too early. The yeast normally takes longer to really get started, a day, maybe two days. (And of course it matters *which direction* the bubbles are moving through the airlock too - it could very well be hot, more active ar from outside pushing its way *in*). Maybe other brewers have more info about this though.

I say take it out of the water. Forecast for next week is mostly in the low 20s. Make sure it's in a cool well ventilated room away from direct sunlight and temps should be fine - after all, the *maximum* predicted temperatures are mostly 22, 24, etc - so for most of the days and during the nights, it will be much cooler, and the room temperature inside won't hit those peaks.

 

[lukiferj]

Fermentation temperature will be higher than ambient over the first few days so I would leave it in the water.

I've not used that particular yeast but it's not unheard of for yeasts to take off quickly. Particularly when reusing yeasts. If you are worried, draw some off and have a taste/smell. Don't take the lid off to check

 

[superstock]

I agree with Tim T, 4hrs is pretty quick. Have you any method of measuring the wort temp? Fermentation is exothermic(makes heat) and what you may be seeing is the expanded air in the headroom exiting.
I disagree over the water bath, I'd leave it in the water bath as the mass of water will provide a buffer during temp changes.

 

[TimT]

Yeah you have to be pretty careful checking without a thermometer.... since our body temp is around 37 degrees celsius, anything a few degrees below that might seem 'cool'.... and yeast typically likes temps of about 16 to 20 degrees celsius. Sure, brewers in the past did this - but then again, they also were working with specific heirloom yeasts, brewed particular types of beer at a particular type of the year, and generally had rules like 'leave wort overnight to cool'. I think it's a good skill to develop, being able to guess like that - but we can also trick ourselves about the temp pretty easily too.

That said if the temp was a bit hot for the yeast I don't think it would kill it. Might knock it about a bit, make it a bit developmentally backwards, but it should come good over the week.

 

[pelligrene.rasmus]

hi,
i don't have a thermometer, and the stick on one on the side of the fermenter ranges from 18-32, so is basically useless
i did smell it through the air-lock hole in the lid and it smells like beer,
i'll have a taste tomorrow and see

thanks,

 

[warra48]

Most ale yeast will work well at 16 to 20ºC, but is happiest at a warmer temperature and will work much quicker in the higher temperature conditions.
The warmer temperatures are not ideal for producing the best beer, unfortunately.
You won't have killed your yeast. You need to be approaching or exceeding about 40ºC to do that.

It looks to me like you pitched a properly re-hydrated yeast, and it's taken off in double quick time because of the higher than preferred temperature of your wort.

Just follow the advice you've been given so far to try and keep your fermenter no higher than the low 20 or so degrees, and hope your beer turns out OK.

 

[Yeastfridge]

I'm with warra48. I was going to suggest that maybe it's cooling down in there and sucking air in through the airlock, but if you can smell it coming out then it's coming out.

No doubt it'll still be drinkable, especially being your second brew!

 

[TimT]

Fowlers Vacola thermometers. Should be able to get them pretty cheap at a cooking store. That's what I use. I Recommend Them.

 

[Mickcr250]

I have had belle saison start in about five hours one and it turned out great. I pitch a bit warm I think it was 24 but brought it down within a couple of hours. Why not get a stick on thermometer from woolies I think they are about 2 bucks. And I would definitely keep it in the water bath and maybe even add ice

Sent from my HTC Velocity 4G using Tapatalk now Free

 

[indica86]

37° in Melbs ATM... bit hot?

Too much heat can and will kill the yeast AKA pastuerisation. There is a chance with the high ambient temp you may damage the yeast, cool it dowm soon.

 

[MartinOC]

Anything you try to ferment in current Melbourne temperatures is going to be very fruity. Try to keep it as cool as possible (water bath is good), 'though wheat yeasts actually like it warmer.

Don't worry about it right now (you can't change anything). Come back in a week & check it out. Bottle it as usual & then evaluate what you've got in light of what happened. It might be crap, or it might be sensational - only you can tell.

Two brews in, it's going to be difficult to know what you do/did, that influenced/changed what. Keep DETAILED notes as much as you can for every brew (they'll be your friend in years to come).

Welcome to the vortex!

Edit: PS - Don't get disheartened if it doesn't work out this time, it's a really screwy time to be fermenting in Melbourne. Have another go!

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Put a bit of nappi-san or some starsan in the water to help stop any thing growing in the water and thru your ferm tap.

 

[pelligrene.rasmus]

hi,
so i just tasted some and there doesn't seem anything untoward going on, it's been sitting in cold water all night and it doesn't seemed to have slowed down at all. i read on the danstar website that the yeast can ferment in 4 days so maybe it's just doing what it does.
thanks for the replies,

 

[pelligrene.rasmus]

hi, so an update not sure if anyone's interested,
so i guess it got infected? the taste was off, not green but sickening and sour. there were these solid little white blobs with dark centres forming on top and the smell was horrendous (like rotting vegetables and lemon peels, almost knocked my head off). the fv was sitting in starsan solution for a week and a half and the airlock was full so i guess something happened before i put the lid on? anyway i'll retrace my steps and try again,
cheers,

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Ditch it and try again

 

[superstock]

Take lots of care sanitising your fermenter, lid(remove the seal), tap & every thing else that has touched that brew

 

[robbo5253]

Now that you have had an infection make sure you clean it twice as well as normal, probably soak it with a bleach soloution, then rinse & wash with PBW (Napisan) & let soak again & then rinse with hot water a few times before starsan & then put your next brew in. Make sure in each of these steps you pull the tap off & possibly apart ( or buy a new tap) & remove all seals as has been said above.

Cheers

Robbo