Did everything wrong, still seems to be working..?

[indigo]

My first ever batch of homebrewed beer, a stout, is quietly percolating in a bucket in my kitchen. I'm really happy with it so far, the process wasn't as involved or troublesome as I was afraid it would be. I'm worried, though, that I might have made a few mistakes that will make this a really bad batch.

First of all, it's been a wicked-hot week here in Portland, and the wort didn't cool down very quickly. I placed the boiler in my kitchen sink and ran cool water around it for a good twenty minutes, and it got down to about 100 degrees before I transferred it to the fermenter. I'd saved out the bag of grains and ran more hot water through that into the fermenter until it was at about 5 gallons. Then I pitched the yeast in and stirred it all up. The bucket has been hovering around 80 degrees since then, never getting down to the 65-70 degrees the recipe recommends. At first I was worried that I might have killed those poor little yeasties when I pitched them in there, but the next morning, as predicted, there was a nice messy layer of foam at the top of the bucket.

So, it's been a full day so far of fermenting, and the airlock is still bubbling away. The temperature is still around 80 degrees outside the fermenter. I'm wondering if this is something I should be worried about? Would cooling the fermenter at this point even help, or would it just impede the progress of the yeast? I recognized going into this that, as this is my first attempt at making beer, it's just as likely that I'll have to dump this first batch, but I'm still hoping to be able to get a few decent bottles of stout out of this in a few weeks time.

 

[agroff383]

Welcome to the obsession!

80 is wayy too warm. If you aren't aware, I know it is your first batch, yeast actually will produce heat while fermenting, and I bet it is fermenting pretty well at 80 ambient, it may be up to 82 or 83 in the fermenter! Cool that sucker down if you can. I know it would be hard to get it down to 65 but even 70 would be better than 80. Even a tub of water with a wet t shirt around the bucket will help cool it through evaporation.

And dont throw the beer away, you must drink it and tough it out even if it sucks. It is your first batch LOL. Just kidding, but really, dont dump it. But you must keep trying if you dont like how this one turns out, if you keep going you will have an "aha" moment and your life will go downhill in a torrent of malt, yeast, hops, brewing gear, and all of the jargon associated with it. Keep on this forum and you will learn much.

 

[JOHN51277]

Grab one of those big round plastic tubs from WalyWorld and put the fermentation chamber in there and rotate frozen water bottles, milk jugs to keep the temp down. Fermentation temp is by far one of the most important things besides sanitization.

Welcome to the world of homebrew!

 

[bull8042]

It of course depends on the ambient humidity where you are as to effectiveness, but I have found that a t-shirt works wonders. Just spray it with water a couple times a day and it will keep the temp way below where you are now. No need to worry about the bottles of ice.
The first 24 hours of fermentation are the most critical temperature-wise, but it is still advisable to get the temp down as quickly as possible. Any fusels already produced will mellow with time. 72°+ is usually not good for fermentation.

 

[indigo]

Thanks for all the advice, guys! It's nice to see this forum is so active!

I put the fermenter back in the tub, and filled the tub with cold water. Temp of the beer is now about 70, and I'll keep an eye on it all day. Wish there were an easier way to maintain temperature on a big tub like this. I'll probably move it back to the kitchen tomorrow. Unfortunately at the moment, the fermenting bucket is the biggest movable container I've got, so my options for putting it into something bigger means either the bathtub or the kitchen sink.

 

[bull8042]

I just picked up a 20g "bucket" from Lowe's last night for $8 that is big enough to put your carboy/bucket into. Put a few inches of water into it and drape a t-shirt over it so the bottom hangs in the water. The shirt will wick up the water and allow it to evaporate thereby constantly providing cooling. That will free up your tub and it is still small enough to store with your other brewing stuff.

 

[indigo]

Hey, that's a good idea! Are those tubs durable enough to carry a full carboy around as well?

 

[Bentpirate]

The tubs are strong enough, I don't trust the rope handles - I have had a few knots pull out. Luckily I was able to catch the tub before I had a big mess... Lift under the lip.

 

[ballzac]

The first third or so of the fermentation is the most crucial part temperature-wise, so your brew will mostly have the character of a high temp brew. However, as someone mentioned, fusels die down over time, so a long period of cold conditioning will improve the beer.

I'm surprised no-one has asked you what yeast you used. It makes a big difference. A saison yeast will be perfect at those temperatures. A hefeweizen yeast will be 'okay'. Most other ale yeasts will not be 'overly' problematic, but a lager yeast will produce significant off flavours.

I once had a hefeweizen that brewed at those sort of temps, and it was pretty hideous initially. Hefeweizens are meant to be drunk fresh, but this was disgusting when young, but after 18 months it had really mellowed and I really missed it after the last bottle was drunk.

If you used kit yeast, the chances are your brew would not be great regardless of temp, but will still be drinkable. My suggestion would be that if you can't get a lower fermentation temperature, you brew a saison for you next brew and use wyeast 3724 or possibly 3711.

Even if this current brew is not perfect, it will be drinkable, and will improve with age. Good luck with this, and subsequent brews.

 

[indigo]

I picked up one of those tubs at Lowe's today, and it's helped tremendously! I've had the ferm temperature down at around 70° most of the day. Fermentation seems to be slowing down quite a bit, not as much bubbling in the airlock as there was at 80.

It was a kit yeast (the ingredients list has it as 'S-04 Dry Yeast'). It smells really good so far, so I'm hoping that everything will work out okay. The recipe says to let it ferment for 2-4 weeks, is that necessary if it's showing no fermentation activity? Is the yeast still doing something even if I can't see it at all?

 

[indigo]

Actually, I also wanted to ask about secondary fermentation. What are the benefits of moving the beer to another vessel, and what is the best procedure for doing that? Do I need to make sure to get everything from the primary vessel moved over, or should I leave some of it behind? The recipe/instructions that came with the kit doesn't say anything about 2-stage fermentation, just to check the SG after 2-4 weeks and to bottle it at 1.020. The book that got me interested in homebrew likewise doesn't say anything about secondary fermentation, at least not for stout.

 

[ballzac]

It was a kit yeast (the ingredients list has it as 'S-04 Dry Yeast'). It smells really good so far, so I'm hoping that everything will work out okay. The recipe says to let it ferment for 2-4 weeks, is that necessary if it's showing no fermentation activity? Is the yeast still doing something even if I can't see it at all?

S-04 is a good, neutral(ish) ale yeast. My guess is that it will turn out fine even with the high initial temperature. I would leave it for a couple of weeks on the yeast cake to clean up any by-products that might have resulted from the high fermentation temperature. S-04 is generally considered a bit of a beast, and the active fermentation is probably pretty much done due to the high initial temperature.

I personally don't bother with a secondary unless it is for lagers. A lot of people do it, and the idea is to leave the yeast cake behind so that you can allow it to develop without acquiring any bad flavours due to yeast autolysis. Personally, I think if it's only on the cake for a few weeks, no off flavours will be produced and the large quantity of yeast gives it more chance of cleaning up properly.

 

[indigo]

Just to follow up, I just bottled the first half of this batch. The SG was a 1.018, which is only a tiny bit lower than the recipe's recommended max of 1.020, so I feel pretty good about that. Smelled excellent, and it's nice and clear (you know, for a stout). Of course, this being my first time, I underestimated the number of bottles I'd need for a batch, so I need to go get some more before I can finish.

BUT! I'm really excited about my first tasting of it in a couple weeks! Thanks to everyone for their tips and reassurances!