Power Cut Beer

Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum

Help Support Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Nick JD

Blah Blah Blah
Joined
4/11/08
Messages
7,322
Reaction score
456
So the power went off here on Sunday late, and only came back on Wednesday 7pm.

On Monday morning I put this in the fermenter (kettle chilled, no choice):

Simple Summer Quaffer
19L
3.3kg Wey Pils
50g Saaz 60 min
US05 200ml trub (from last batch, just kegged)

There was still a couple of esky icepack things in the freezer so I put them in the ferm fridge. Brew was at 25-26C ... might have got down to 24C before the ice ran out ... then straight to ambient +.

That's in the low 30s. Was considering just tipping it out but I thought it might as well run.

It's actually really very drinkable! Estery as all hell, with a touch of Saaz spice in the background. Tastes like there's some stonefruit hops in there late, TBH. No banana, more tropical stuff. Saaz spice.

No fusels. This is the real clincher. It had a good pitch of active yeast, and OG was low.

Something I would have never done deliberately, but something none the less I didn't expect to be quite so tasty. It's cold crashing now.

I won't do this again, but it really does make ya wonder sometimes.
 
One of my earlier brews spent quite some time in the high 20s, and turned out really well. Probably could have been better had the temp been lower but still, I enjoyed it. I guess beer can be pretty forgiving sometimes.
 
All that money on fridges and temp controllers, wasted!
 
3 days without power have you moved to India? Imagine those fools with stand alone solar systems. I bet they are sorry their beer is cold.
 
booargy said:
3 days without power have you moved to India? Imagine those fools with stand alone solar systems. I bet they are sorry their beer is cold.
Haven't heard about the horrible weather in Queensland? Residing in a cave?
 
Mate, I don't even live in the same country and it's all over the news.
 
The brew I had cold crashing at the time of the power cut off has received what I would like to call a high end D rest for 45 hours. It has returned to cold crashing now. Should be interesting considering it is a best bitter brew fermented at 14 with german ale. Might even get around to kegging it tonight.
 
so i take it this was a 3 day ferment, and your tasting notes are of uncarbed/uncleared beer. i am interested in the final product tasting. what %alc?
might be another classic nickjd thread - 4 day beer..
 
1.040 OG

I think it was a 48 hour ferment.
 
You made estery beer you can drink at a high ferment temp?

Cool. What exactly is it that it makes you wonder?
 
I've knocked up quite a few high temp fermented beers and had a lot of really good results. Now moving to crash chilling and controlled temps on the ferments to see what all the fuss is about.
 
manticle said:
You made estery beer you can drink at a high ferment temp?

Cool. What exactly is it that it makes you wonder?
US05 at 32C doesn't produce fusels. TBH, US05 at 32C tastes like I used a UK yeast, rather than drinking diesel.
 
The minor pathways from which esters and fusels are formed are very closely related. Esters are formed when organic acids and an alcohol react, catalysed by enzymes. Pretty sure that there is a linear relationship between fusel amounts and ester amounts although the flavour contribution will not be as clear, simple or divided. Your beer still contains fusels (as do all beers) but some of the initial fusels have been transformed into esters and that contribution is distinct in this case.

I don't understand it fully and the texts I've read on it suggest that not everything about the formations and causes of either is fully known.

However I do know that formation of either has various causes, including but not limited to oxygenation of wort, temperature, wort composition including gravity and nitrogen levels, yeast strain and yeast health. A beer made at 32 with 05 might be estery - another beer with 05 at 32 might be fuselly and give you a headache.
 
Like using some lager strains warm, I think there's scope for unique flavours through pushing some yeasts well above their recommended range.

I once did an ambient dubbel and got caught out by a hot spell. IIRC it was well into the late 20s for the second half of the ferment in damn near GC winter, and it started smelling (through the gladwrap) like a saison. More pear/nectarine than bananas which is typical for 1214 at 18C.
 
I am under the impression also that the reactions are reversible - similar to aldehydes and alcohols (think of oxidation creating acetaldehyde from ethanol) so given the right conditions (and I'm unsure what they are -possibly also oxidation) your beer could develop lower levels of esters and higher levels of fusels.

In brew like a monk there is mention of equipment failure and a chimay batch pushing very high temps without the batch being destroyed and the 18-22 mantra for ale is really just a rule of thumb to prevent beginners making watery fruit and metho punch. However I'd bet my bench capper that beers made this way will age/oxidise differently to their lower temp counterparts.
 
three days no power?...how about 6 days? Beer was either already fermented or CCing. Will see how they went in a day or two. Letting them get cold again. 135 liters caught in process. Hope they work. But then I still have a house, so losing the beer is no big deal really. We do have a generator, but more important things to keep cool....like food and stuff.
 
Back
Top