Heat Affected Fermentation?

[Chilled]

Hi,
I have brewed my second brew (read total novice), a Brewcraft Munich Larger with Brewcraft blend #40 and supplied yeast.
I put the brew down on the 16th Dec. After reading about conditioning thought I would give that a go. I racked it off to a glass carboy I had lying around on the 22nd Dec. to let it 'rest' for a couple of weeks.
During this time the temp. here on the mid north coast of NSW were up pretty high so I was continually putting wet towels over it with a fan going 24/7 i.e. not allowed to put it in the fridge. Over this period nothing seembed to happen as I expected but the beer didn't clear either.
Now with the temperatures a little cooler it apprears to have started fermenting again??? (White foam has appeard on the surface again for past 3/4days). During the hot period the brew smelled like beer but now it smells like apple cider and despite adding a clearing agent from the brew shop it is still cloudy.
OG 1.030 SG now 1.010! As the beer tastes ok I am assuming everything is alright but what should I do now wait or bottle? Should the beer be clear by now...do I wait for it to clear?
Any thought/criticism would be appreciated.

Chilled

 

[vlbaby]

Hi,
I have brewed my second brew (read total novice), a Brewcraft Munich Larger with Brewcraft blend #40 and supplied yeast.
I put the brew down on the 16th Dec. After reading about conditioning thought I would give that a go. I racked it off to a glass carboy I had lying around on the 22nd Dec. to let it 'rest' for a couple of weeks.
During this time the temp. here on the mid north coast of NSW were up pretty high so I was continually putting wet towels over it with a fan going 24/7 i.e. not allowed to put it in the fridge. Over this period nothing seembed to happen as I expected but the beer didn't clear either.
Now with the temperatures a little cooler it apprears to have started fermenting again??? (White foam has appeard on the surface again for past 3/4days). During the hot period the brew smelled like beer but now it smells like apple cider and despite adding a clearing agent from the brew shop it is still cloudy.
OG 1.030 SG now 1.010! As the beer tastes ok I am assuming everything is alright but what should I do now wait or bottle? Should the beer be clear by now...do I wait for it to clear?
Any thought/criticism would be appreciated.

Chilled

[post="101494"][/post]​

chilled,
did you take any hydrometer readings between the 16 dec and the dec 22 that might say that fermentation had actually began? It could be possible that your yeast didnt work initially ( for whatever reason), you've then racked to secondary and when you've had a few days of hot weather, the fermentation has taken of at full steam.
The apple cidar you are smelling is most probably because of the hot ferment. Especially if this kit is supplied with a true lager yeast which should ferment at around 10 deg C. Its quite normal for a hot ferment to produce excessive esters in a brew, ie apple cidar etc
I notice you have taken an OG of 1.030, which seems very low even for a kit beer. Are you certain that you mixed the contents of the kit properly and in the correct proportions? If the kit hadnt been mixed properly to begin with this might explain why fermentation didnt take off immediately.
Check the SG readings and if they hold stable for the next 2-3 days then it is ok to bottle. Probably your beer will be fine, maybe just a little fruity. Just put this one done to experience if it is.

vlbaby.

 

[Screwtop]

If SG is same on two consec readings 2 days apart, bottle it! No stress lots of kits finish above FG1010. BREW MORE BEER!

 

[mika]

I concour... as long as the temp's OK.
I had two consecutive hydrometer readings back in the winter and the beer went ape in the bottles... BOOM !!

Think the yeast must have gone to sleep and didn't wake up till a couple of warmer days in spring.

 

[Chilled]

Thanks for the info guys.

vlbaby you are correct after looking at my records the OG was in fact 1037 not 1030 as stated.
Screwtop and mika_lika I will take a few more SG's to make sure that it has in fact stopped fermenting. It has however hovered around 1010 for some time now, even with the white foam on top.

It seembed strange that the fermentation stopped when it got warmer and then started again as the temperature went down again.

It is still very cloudy should I try another finings method other than the gelatin I got from the brew shop e.g. irish moss, isinglass, polyclar, egg whites?

Chilled :huh:

 

[pint of lager]

New brewers, please follow the KIS method for your brewing. Concentrate on sanitation and fermentation temperature control.

As your skills increase, then move onto racking, better ingredients etc.

Just about all kit beers I have seen have been brilliantly clear after time in the bottle. If you have fined it with gelatine and it still is not clear, hopefully it will clear in the bottle, no gaurantees though.

Trust your hydrometer reading, has it been the same for 2-3 days? If it has been over 20 degrees since you pitched on 16/12/05 and the hydrometer reading is stable, time to get this baby into bottles and move onto the next one.

Next brew, do not put finings in too early, if the beer is still fermenting, adding finings will strip the yeast from the beer.

An excellent strategy is to leave the beer in primary for 14 days, over the last few days check the sg is stable, if so, then around day 14 add finings if you wish and bottle 24 hours later.

 

[Chilled]

pint of larger thanks for the good advice. You know how it is though, you read all the books and just want to get in there and try it all out. I'll go back to the basics and build up from there...

Chilled :super:

 

[Screwtop]

Slipped up there - Like Mika Lika says, if the temp has been constant (I use a ferm fridge) and you have given the yeast a swirl to ensure it is finished and is in hibernation.

 

[pint of lager]

I understand Chilled, there is so much good information out there (and bad info too), it is easy for a new brewer to be overwhelmed and miss the important bits which is sanitation and ferment temperature.

It doesn't matter what level of brewing you are doing, be it your first batch of homebrew, or a 10,000 litre commercial brew, you have to get sanitation and ferment temperature under control. Without these two skills, it will not matter how good your ingredients are, how much you spend on brewgear, liquid yeasts and keg systems, your beer will at best taste mediocre, at worst it will be sour and undrinkable.

Keep reading the forums, there is alot of good info tucked away. If you are struggling with the search function, use google and include aussiehomebrewer is the search.

After you nail sanitation and ferment temp, get the best ingredients you can, work with recipes that the brewshop recommends or from the board here, look to racking, steeping of grains, culturing coopers yeast from a bottle and get ready to drink your very finest homebrew.

And lucky you to just have a glass carbouy lying around ready to use as a secondary. Make sure you read up on cleaning these delicate bits of gear. Hot water is a no no.