Power out - lager fermenting

[brewswithshoes]

Hi All,
I am extremely grateful to have survived the hurricane with very minimal damage here in Florida, and I know my beer concerns are so petty in the scheme of things, but I have no power, no TV, no internet (other than being on my smartphone) and am somewhat killing time.

I'm close to 2 days without power and have been running some things in the house off generator. (food fridge, etc). I had been fermenting a wit (it was on 8 days primary when storm hit) and had been fermenting at 71. Luckily I turned down fridge to 68 before power went out. Haven't opened that freezer at all and the inkbird read 73 when I plugged it into generator for a few minutes. I think that will be fine assuming we get power back in next day or so.

My question though is I made an octoberfest for a competition several weeks back, I had already racked to a keg and it had been lagering at 34 for about 2 weeks prior to power out. This was my first lager, and I only had a small, somewhat crappy freezer that could never reach real freezing temps so I used that as a lagering fridge. I haven't opened that fridge since power out either but I know the seals on that one suck as it's been fighting to keep cold temps with power.

Should I worry about the sudden spike in temp for lagering, or will it be fine once I'm able to get it back to 34 when power comes back. I have until 10/21 for the competition, but I've no idea what this short (I'm hoping) spike of temp rise will do.

Again, I know this is minimal in the grand scheme of things, but I'm wicked bored now with no power, TV, etc. So my mind is thinking about the beer.

Any help or thoughts are appreciated.

 

[jodell]

During fermentation the spike in temp could be a bad thing, however with lagering your beer will have minimal affect. Reason being is the flavor has set in during fermentation, lagering is really just away to clarify your beer (lagering does remove flavors, but it doesn't gain more flavors)

Worst case scenario is you will have to keep it cold a few extra days

 

[brewswithshoes]

Going into Day 4, no power. At what point should i get worried and try to find this keg of Octoberfest lager a new home?

 

[SevenOaks]

A fridge's compressor doesn't run all the time. Can you share time between your house fridge and fermenter fridge? That's how I got through Harvey with no power other than the generator for a week.

 

[passedpawn]

Hi All,
I am extremely grateful to have survived the hurricane with very minimal damage here in Florida, and I know my beer concerns are so petty in the scheme of things, but I have no power, no TV, no internet (other than being on my smartphone) and am somewhat killing time.

I'm close to 2 days without power and have been running some things in the house off generator. (food fridge, etc). I had been fermenting a wit (it was on 8 days primary when storm hit) and had been fermenting at 71. Luckily I turned down fridge to 68 before power went out. Haven't opened that freezer at all and the inkbird read 73 when I plugged it into generator for a few minutes. I think that will be fine assuming we get power back in next day or so.

My question though is I made an octoberfest for a competition several weeks back, I had already racked to a keg and it had been lagering at 34 for about 2 weeks prior to power out. This was my first lager, and I only had a small, somewhat crappy freezer that could never reach real freezing temps so I used that as a lagering fridge. I haven't opened that fridge since power out either but I know the seals on that one suck as it's been fighting to keep cold temps with power.

Should I worry about the sudden spike in temp for lagering, or will it be fine once I'm able to get it back to 34 when power comes back. I have until 10/21 for the competition, but I've no idea what this short (I'm hoping) spike of temp rise will do.

Again, I know this is minimal in the grand scheme of things, but I'm wicked bored now with no power, TV, etc. So my mind is thinking about the beer.

Any help or thoughts are appreciated.

You can swing by my house and put your fermentors in my 15cuft chest freezer. I'm in Clearwater. I just kegged these lagers on Sunday, just as the winds were kicking up So I've got room.

 

[stpug]

Going into Day 4, no power. At what point should i get worried and try to find this keg of Octoberfest lager a new home?

As long as you don't have any contaminants in the keg (i.e. you sanitized things good), then the typical timeline for flavor/aroma degradation can be applied here. That's anywhere from about 3 weeks to 3 months - depending on oxygen levels inside the keg. If the beer starts getting "hot" (e.g. >~75F) then degradation can happen a little quicker, otherwise you'll be fine with a lager sitting at room temps for several weeks without too much degradation. I wouldn't worry about the lager sitting warm for up to a few weeks, but you'll need to "make up" that missed lagering time when the power comes back on.

Also, the bulk of fermenation should have finished on your wit prior to power outage so it should be fine as well. No worries.

 

[brewswithshoes]

You can swing by my house and put your fermentors in my 15cuft chest freezer. I'm in Clearwater. I just kegged these lagers on Sunday, just as the winds were kicking up So I've got room.

Thanks - i may just take you up on that if we aren't back on by tomorrow. I worked too hard on my first lager to let it get ruined.

Glad to hear you have power too!!

 

[passedpawn]

Thanks - i may just take you up on that if we aren't back on by tomorrow. I worked too hard on my first lager to let it get ruined.

Glad to hear you have power too!!

I sent you a PM.

 

[Dcpcooks]

^^^^^^^^^^^ this^^^^^^^^^^^
Homebrew community

 

[madscientist451]

I dunno, seems like something not worth worrying about. If you have a generator, plug the freezer in and let it get cold, then plug the fermentation chamber in, then something else.
Just keep rotating everything.
I think your beer will be fine.

 

[Morrey]

I dunno, seems like something not worth worrying about. If you have a generator, plug the freezer in and let it get cold, then plug the fermentation chamber in, then something else.
Just keep rotating everything.
I think your beer will be fine.

Yep, last year in Hurricane Matthew I was w/o power 5 days. I have a 3k generator so I'd run a fridge for an hour, shift to a freezer, shift to my keezer.....and on. As long as the appliances have a bit of compressor time to keep things frozen or cold, all is typically under control.

I used a large marine ice chest for my in and out cooler so other appliances didn't get opened. We missed Irma by a hair this go-round, but I am thinking about y'all in the hard hit zone.