Hefe f-up... temps! ARGH!

[torque2k]

First wheat ale. I took the recipe from Jamil's book, using the fruit beer one near the end. I'm going to be adding red raspberries (four smaller cans of Oregon, but draining half the "heavy" syrup) in secondary glass.

So, made a 3000ml starter and built up a two-month old vial of WLP320 American Hefe. Active for 36+ hours, but not like the WLP001 starters I've made. Just good krausen activity. Added to the wort in an 8-gallon bucket, but it was a big batch (yeah, I dumped the whole 3l of the starter in... oh, well), so not a ton of headroom. Three-piece airlock in place, bubbling after four hours.

I've started working on my temp control lately. I'm using a big Rubbermaid bucket with water filled to the level of the beer in the fermentation vessel. I then drop in a small aquarium heater to keep the temps up, as my basement is pretty cool (right now it's around 62F in the air, probably cooler on the concrete floor). My last batch, I kept my IPA in twin glass 5-gallon carboys at 65F for four days, then ramped up to 68-69F over a two-day period. One heater was all that was needed.

I woke up on day two to a plugged/blown airlock. Cleaned and sanitized a second one, dropped in, still bubbling. Didn't think to check temps.

Day three, still bubbling, but only about 10 bubbles every 40 seconds. Checked temps (floating thermometer in bath), and ****! 76F!!!

Dropped the temp on the heater to lowest setting, checked a day later, ****! 77F!!!

OK, so I brewed on Saturday, and it's Tuesday now. I pulled the plug on the heater to let the temp come down slowly to ambient, should be about 64-66F now because my damn AC unit won't kick on (getting repaired tomorrow) and it's 82F here in Michigan right now.

UPDATE: A/C guy coming this morning, but... water temp in tub is sitting at 70F, way too warm.

Sorry for going on about the steps, but that's how my brain works, and I want others to benefit from a complete story.

The big question: I still need to move the wort to secondary on the fruit. Is it going to play nicely with all the sugar, or did I kill a good amount of the yeasties in the heat? I know some yeasts can handle 80+F, but I'm unsure if a hefe yeast strain is one of those "tough bastards".

The slightly less-important question: How long should I keep the beer on the fruit, and at what temp should that be at? I'm taking over six gallons out of the primary bucket, and racking to twin five gallon carboys. I was thinking of just keeping the temp at ambient, which should be 63-64F after the AC gets working. I want to transfer tonight if I get the time, as the bubbles are still about ten per minute.

Thanks for listening!

EDIT: This post gave me the name for the brew: Red Hefe F-UP Ale!

 

[torque2k]

No takers, eh? Oh, well. While waiting for the A/C guy to come fix my system, I racked to dual 5-gallon carboys, two 15oz cans of Oregon Red Raspberries in each. When I opened the bucket, the lid was thick with yeast gook (sp?) and there was still a fairly thick slimy head on the beer.

I shrugged my shoulders and racked it over onto the berries, making sure I tapped the syphon on the bottom of the primary to get some sediment. Bunged and airlocked, the carboys were moved to the basement which is now at 64F. Within an hour, I started getting some activity in the airlocks (beyond the first ten minutes, which was probably CO2 forced from suspension), so I'm happy. I'll visit the batch again in four hours; hopefully I won't have the tops blown off the carboys!

 

[mojotele]

Your yeast is probably fine. The beer may be really estery (which may not be bad for a Hefe) or it may have some fusel alcohols (which could be).

In my experience, the fermentation of the Oregon Red Raspberry puree is very mild. I doubt you'll have a blow out.

 

[chriswilkes33]

I would expect to drink a bananaweissen when it finishes.

 

[torque2k]

Heck, banana-raspberry wheat ale sounds like a great dessert brew! Might actually be decent...

Thanks, all. That's kind of what I thought might happen. As long as it doesn't go vegetative on me, I'm OK with that.

 

[JSomps6]

You should probably drive the batch over to Comstock Park and drop it off at my house. I'll take it off your hands! Higher temps = more banana. I tried to ferment my last hefe warm, unsuccessfully (without temp control) as I wanted more banana. Let us know how it turns out!

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

You could always do secondary fermentation in the lower 60s and try to pick up more clove flavors to balance against the bananas from the higher 70s.

 

[torque2k]

That's what I was going to do anyway, but I didn't think about the clove-ish finish it'll get from that cooler secondary. Hmm. Well, RDWHAHB, right?

 

[torque2k]

Update: Bottled ten days ago, so it spent awhile in the secondaries. I tried one out of curiosity after only seven days... really good! Recipe started out at 1.058, ended at 1.014, perfect there.

I detect no ester overtones. Aroma is really fruity, and the taste is about right (though it does have a sweet aftertaste; we'll see how it smooths out in the bottle after a couple of weeks), similar to the cherry flavor level in Sam Adams Cherry Wheat. Very cloudy, as I'd expect of a hefe.

Definitely liked by the ladies, but I personally wouldn't drink more than one at a sitting; there's just a bit too much fruit flavor for my taste. Gotta follow it up with a double IPA... Next time, I'll probably cut the amount of fruit puree down from four 15oz cans to three.

 

[PVH]

Did you name it? If not, I suggest "Hef'd Up Raspberry Wheat," based on the title of your post.

 

[motobrewer]

add chocolate.

 

[torque2k]

Did you name it? If not, I suggest "Hef'd Up Raspberry Wheat," based on the title of your post.

Ah, that's it! I was trying to make it sound funny, that fits perfectly. Thanks much!