intro and possible yeast problem

[nath-b]

hey all, just getting back into brewing after a few years off. ive just started using fresh wort kits for my keg sytem.
after my last batch wich was sitting directly on my heater pad, and due to odd working hours i had a little bit of temp fluctuation so ive decided to put my fermenter into an old fridge with the heater in there so theres no direct contact.
on thursday afternoon i put down a 5malts amber ale and pitched rehydrated s-04 and a nutrient pack at 18-20, later thursday night it was at 20-22 but seeing as the fridge is out in the garage and its been so cold i left the heater going in there over night, friday morning it was sitting 22-24-26, is this to hot? did i cook it? since then ive dropped it and its been steady at 20-24, nearly 48hours and only just stating to get some airlock activity can this be normal? any suggestions thanks.

 

[razz]

Welcome Nath. Even though 26 might be getting to high for some of us hopefully it wasn't too high for too long. Only a few hours by the sounds of it. I haven't used that yeast at those temps so not sure how much it will impact the flavour, you could have produced more esters that you want but your palate will know when you drink it. You used rehydrated yeast, how much? Just the standard packet I'm guessing.

 

[manticle]

You have an insulated chamber, a source of heating and, presuming the fridge is working, a source of cooling too.
Now all you need is a thermostat to switch between the two. Look up stc1000 for a cheap well functioning unit. It needs to be wired by someone who knows what they are doing.

 

[nath-b]

yeah it was still at 22 at around 2am and then i checked it around 10am and started to try to cool it off, buy that i mean i just took it out and sat it on the cold concrete floor with a windshield visor loosly around it to stop the small amount of filtered light in the room. and yeah it was just the 11.5g pack into 150ml of water and just the small pack of yeast nutrient. just have to wait and see how it tastes im intrested to see how the amarillo hops into this amber turns out, ill probably recrate it again next batch and try to get a steady temp to see if there is any majour flavour diferences.

 

[nath-b]

great thanks ill check that out.