Brewed a Belgian Patersbier the other day with an OG of 1.052. Build a starter with Wyeast 3787 the week before on a stirplate---crashed for 4-5 days and decanted on brew day.
Pitched the yeast in 68 degree wort and placed fermenter in my chamber, lid off. But I forgot to turn the fridge on like a dum dum. My plan was to hold it at 68 for a couple days before letting it free rise. I didn't realize my mistake until the next day when I noticed the krausen about to spill over the top of my fermenter. The temp at that point reached 82 degrees---about 20 hours in. By 24 hours in, it was at 84.
I skimmed the krausen a few times as it got close to spilling over. I roused it once. The last time I actually harvested the yeast, just in case. At 48 hours, the beer was still between 83-84. But I noticed that the krausen was dropping a bit based on the volume markings in the fermenter. So I capped it. The airlock was bubbling once every 9 seconds.
At hour 60, it was 78. At hour 84, it's still 78. Regardless, I imagine, with this yeast, a six degree drop in temp, means the yeast probably crashed.
I haven't pulled a sample yet, because it's still early. I won't know if it stalled til then, but if it does, I imagine I'll have to pitch fresh yeast. With the unfortunate schedule the beer and yeast took, was there any redeeming factor in this batch being open fermentation? Too hot too fast scared me, but I want to know if this is salvageable?
Is the yeast I harvested in bad shape? Not only did I brew this beer because it's delicious, I also wanted to use the harvested yeast for a dark strong. Should I be concerned in reusing this yeast after it had gotten that hot so fast?
Pitched the yeast in 68 degree wort and placed fermenter in my chamber, lid off. But I forgot to turn the fridge on like a dum dum. My plan was to hold it at 68 for a couple days before letting it free rise. I didn't realize my mistake until the next day when I noticed the krausen about to spill over the top of my fermenter. The temp at that point reached 82 degrees---about 20 hours in. By 24 hours in, it was at 84.
I skimmed the krausen a few times as it got close to spilling over. I roused it once. The last time I actually harvested the yeast, just in case. At 48 hours, the beer was still between 83-84. But I noticed that the krausen was dropping a bit based on the volume markings in the fermenter. So I capped it. The airlock was bubbling once every 9 seconds.
At hour 60, it was 78. At hour 84, it's still 78. Regardless, I imagine, with this yeast, a six degree drop in temp, means the yeast probably crashed.
I haven't pulled a sample yet, because it's still early. I won't know if it stalled til then, but if it does, I imagine I'll have to pitch fresh yeast. With the unfortunate schedule the beer and yeast took, was there any redeeming factor in this batch being open fermentation? Too hot too fast scared me, but I want to know if this is salvageable?
Is the yeast I harvested in bad shape? Not only did I brew this beer because it's delicious, I also wanted to use the harvested yeast for a dark strong. Should I be concerned in reusing this yeast after it had gotten that hot so fast?