Fermentation Temperature too high?

[hstockdale]

I just brewed a Pale Ale using White Labs London Ale yeast. When I pitched the yeast, my temp was at 66 degrees. The yeast instructions said to start it at 70 to 75, so I used a heater to heat the room up a bit. A day and a half later, my temp was at 76 degrees. I then turned the heat down and it is holding at 70. Is my beer going to have bad fruity off flavors? Is there anything that I can do to salvage it? My recipe is below:

3.3 lbs Munton's light liquid extract
3 lbs Munton's light DME
.5 lbs crystal malt (steeped for 15 min. at 150)
1.5 oz Northern Brewer hops - 60 min.
1 oz US Golding hops - 5 min.
London Ale yeast from starter

I added the liquid extract at the beginning of the boil, which I now know is not the ideal thing to do.
Please let me know what you think.

Thanks!

 

[billpaustin]

When you say "my temp was at 66", do you mean the room air temp, or the fermenter temp? I've had room temps of 60 degrees, with the fermenter at 66.

 

[hstockdale]

Sorry, the fermentor temp was at 66, then it spiked up to 76.

 

[JayDubWill]

76 is not that big of a deal for the short duration you had it at. If it were at 86 I would be worried. You might have an increase in fusal alcohol taste or esters but they will condition out in probably 3-6 weeks. Again these are just possibilities, the beer is more than likely fine. Whatever you do don't dump it. It WILL improve with time if you don't initially like the taste.

 

[hstockdale]

Thanks! I brewed this on 3/31 and plan on racking to a secondary tomorrow and dry hopping for 7 days. Should I leave it in the primary longer?

 

[ratbastrd05]

I agree with the above post suggesting patience after bottling. My first batch got up to 75 on the stick on thermometer. Definitely had some very strong ester flavors when bottling, but has gotten better with time. Still can tell in the one I'm drinking now (mostly in aroma), but not a ruined beer. It did teach me the importance of temp control though!

 

[BigFloyd]

Should I leave it in the primary longer?

Yes. I'd go ten days if you want to secondary it (which isn't actually needed). 3 weeks or so if you simply leave it in the primary.

At the warm temps you've used, you're very likely to get off-flavors. Hopefully, they will be the sort that will fade out with extra time conditioning.

Optimum range for WLP013 is 66-71*F. Better to pitch/start at the low end of optimum, keep it there for 5-7 days and then let it come up mid-range (68-69*) to finish and clean up.

 

[tgmartin000]

Thanks! I brewed this on 3/31 and plan on racking to a secondary tomorrow and dry hopping for 7 days. Should I leave it in the primary longer?

Definitely do not rack it. It's only been 4 days. Leave it in the primary for 3 weeks, dry hop in the primary for a week, then bottle/keg.

 

[hstockdale]

Thanks for the advice!

 

[kh54s10]

Do not go by time. Take gravity readings to determine that fermentation is finished before transferring to secondary or bottling. Give the yeast time to do all the work. After active fermentation is finished the gravity will often continue to drop.