First Brew

[Tje]

Hey guys,

I started my first brew three days ago. It was a coopers heritage lager kit that came with my beginners kit. However, instead of using just dextrose I added a kilo of fermentables reccomended to me by my local home brew shop. I think it was mainly dextrose with some malt and maltodextrose or something. I also used my own yeast as recommended by a friend it was a Fermentis safale S-04 lagar yeast.

I live in brisbane and at the moment its pretty hot, I've placed my fermenter in the most temperature stable place I could find and it was sitting at a pretty constant temperature of about 23 degrees until yesterday when it spiked to 25.

There was alot of activity in the airlock after the first night of fermentation but now its stoppped. Could the high temperatures have killed the yeast or is this normal? because it's only been 3 days and fermentation couldn't have finished.

If it is normal then is my beer going to taste horrible because its been fermenting at 25 degrees?

Thanks for your help

 

[bum]

25 is not hot enough to have killed your yeast, so relax there.

Yeah, 25 is a bit too hot but you've had a few days at a cooler temp first so it will have less of an impact. Having said that 23 is a bit warm too so your brew won't be ideal but it should be drinkable. There are plenty of temp control methods regularly discussed on the board - have a search and see which one you think will work best for you. There are methods to suit every budget.

As you will find the more you read here - do not trust your airlock. No bubbles does not mean no fermentation. Bubbles don't always mean fermentation is still occurring either. If you want to see if it is done you need to take hydrometer readings - 3 consecutive identical readings (24 hrs apart) will usually show it is finished - assuming your yeasties haven't gone to sleep (which I doubt yours have at those temps).

Another thing (and this one is a plus for you), S04 is not a lager yeast. It is an ale yeast. If it were a lager yeast your brew would be pretty much stuffed at those temps. You'd need to be really stubborn to be able to drink it, IMO. Will using an ale yeast in a tin that says lager on it ruin it? Nah, not really. Very few tins come with a genuine larger yeast so you're fine there (although I think this kit is one that does have a genuine lager yeast in it but you couldn't use it at your temps anyway).

Welcome to the board and happy brewing!

 

[Pennywise]

Have a search on this site for temp controll methods, they can range from cheap and easy like a wet towel and a fan to more indepth like a fridge with a temp controller. I would guess you will get some unwanted flavours from fermenting this yeast that high (S-04 is actually an ale yeast).
Don't go by the airlock as a sign of fermentation, most airlocks don't have a complete seal where the gromit is, or the lid isn't completely air tight (which isn't a problem so don't worry). The only way to tell if the brew is finished is to have 3 consistent SG readings with your hydrometer, and they should be around where your target final gravity is.
personally I leave all my brews in the fermenter for 2 weeks regardless, this will, especially in your case, help clean up some of those unwanted flavours. Though I think you'll still get some from that temp, you should still end up with a drinkable brew.
A side note, the Coopers yeast is actually pretty tolerant of slightly higher temps, and a good yeast in it's own right, so IMO if you can't get your temps down to 18-20 then I'd just stick with the kit yeasts.

Edit: F**k man and I was typing fast that time

 

[Yob]

Hey guys,

I started my first brew three days ago. It was a coopers heritage lager kit that came with my beginners kit. However, instead of using just dextrose I added a kilo of fermentables reccomended to me by my local home brew shop. I think it was mainly dextrose with some malt and maltodextrose or something. I also used my own yeast as recommended by a friend it was a Fermentis safale S-04 lagar yeast.

I live in brisbane and at the moment its pretty hot, I've placed my fermenter in the most temperature stable place I could find and it was sitting at a pretty constant temperature of about 23 degrees until yesterday when it spiked to 25.

There was alot of activity in the airlock after the first night of fermentation but now its stoppped. Could the high temperatures have killed the yeast or is this normal? because it's only been 3 days and fermentation couldn't have finished.

If it is normal then is my beer going to taste horrible because its been fermenting at 25 degrees?

Thanks for your help

Firstly, welcome to the wonderful world of brewcraft, there is much to understand and it can be daunting at first.

You are using a lager yeast? Temps for larger yeasts are generally alot lower than Ale yeast, ale yeast generally good for 16-24 with 18 being the good middle ground, Lager yeast are significantly lower at about 12'c, the high temps could have made the yeasties produce a whole lot of esters and such that may (probably will) have a negative affect on taste. (25 is high even for Ales)

However.. you would not be the first person to make a mistake with their first brew..

What was your OG (original gravity) reading and have you checked the final gravity reading? if you havnt had any movement for a few days is the only way to know if fermentation has stoped, there are many many posts on this site relating to ferment temps. you also may want to read up on conditioning for your lagers.

Education is the only way you will be successful here my friend so any time you spend reading up will only make you more certain about your methods and techniques.

Hope this helps a little and good luck.

 

[theredone]

im also in bris and stuggle with temps.

i went from tiled floor in wardrobe(24 degrees) to tiled floor with wet towels and ic ontop so it drips down cooling towels(21ish) to putting in laundry sink half full of water, and putting coke bottles(filled with water and frozen) in periodically(15ish).

just waiting till the misus finds a nice fridge she like so i can have the old one and overide its thermostat with a brewing one. should all be golden from then

 

[mrmatt]

Tje,
I did a coopers Real Ale brew earlier in the year as my second brew, it was heat effected and you could taste it. It was suggested i dry hopped with a kinda teabag of hops, after the fermentation finished.
I few weeks on and I'm really enjoying that brew, so remember to wait a few weeks before writing it off completely you may still like it.

 

[zebba]

S-04 at those temps will throw some pretty strong flavours, and you'll probably get some headaches also if you decide to knock back a few. But it will be drinkable. I did a brew using S-04 yeast prior to me getting proper temp control and it did something similar, and it was a bit fruity, a bit dirty, and if I had more then 3 or 4 it gave me a cracking headache. Don't let the flavour of this first brew put you off homebrew though! Get those temps down and keep trying.

 

[Nick JD]

Using temperature control I brew S04 at 23C deliberately. It produces a great ale at this temperature.

Many commercial ales are also brewed at this temperature with a very similar yeast.

 

[bum]

Many commercial ales are also brewed at this temperature with a very similar yeast.

Can you give us some indication as to which ones? I've only ever brewed with this yeast at 20 or below and quite frankly I don't rate it at all. It'd be good to know if I've had some of these beers to see if I've written this yeast off prematurely.

 

[Nick JD]

Can you give us some indication as to which ones? I've only ever brewed with this yeast at 20 or below and quite frankly I don't rate it at all. It'd be good to know if I've had some of these beers to see if I've written this yeast off prematurely.

I was actually thinking about the recent discussion of Guinness's high ferment temps - not an English Ale. Apologies - although I'm sure I heard somewhere that Fullers ESB was done at 23C with 1968 yeast - though not exactly the same as S04.

EDIT: I wonder what S04 is most closely related to? It's got to have been pinched from somewhere...

 

[Tje]

Thanks for all your help. It's good to hear a number of different opinions I guess it might come down to trial and error in the end to find something that suits my taste.

As for the airlock I know I've read it in numerous places ignore ignore but I can't help it but as i said it's only the third day so I'll take a hydrometer reading in a few day.

Thanks again for your support I'll let you know how it ends up.