Brewing in the UK in June

[Cheyne_brewer]

Summer brewing means being able to handle the results as well as controlling fermentation temperature . I prefer ale from the barrel rather than bottled - too much co2 gives me digestive reflux. My garage stays a little cooler than ambient so hopefully I won’t need to resort to wet sacking to keep the keg temp under control. I will be bottling some batches of lager though. One day I may invest in some cooling, but I’ve got Yorkshiremans disease - short arms, deep pockets!

 

[foxy]

Hey Foxy - this unit looks great but I can’t find any info on it... can you tell us when it will be available or send a link to a review?

The CEO of KK can tell you more about it, its a great little unit and it isn't that far off from being released, that photo was in the shop on a 30 C day and it was holding at 17 C.
Here is a video where Danny shows the Thermenter King towards the close of the video.

 

[Slid]

You could try using a Saison or a Wheat Beer yest. They're fine with higher temps but will also impart their flavour to your finished beer.

US05 will give a clean flavour and is happy fermenting in June - August, unless it is really warm, even in a centrally heated, overly warm house (like the one I live in).

Saison is an acquired taste, shall we say. Wheat Beer yeast can be used for some Belgian styles as well as the obvious wheat beers.

 

[Goldthirst]

After saving the pennies, I got myself a 53l / 14US gal SS Brewmaster Chronical fermenter that has a coil in it. I connect that up to the python (which pumps water around) on a pub chiller. I can use an Inkbird ITC-308 to control the pub chiller if required.

I did originally try placing a fermenting bin in a squishy bucket of tap water but it was a bit of a Heath Robinson set up and in the way. A squishy bucket is our name for those flexible plastic builder's trugs. It did work to an extent though.

 

[obscure]

Depending on what you're brewing, I suppose, if I was making a Landlord clone how would Kveik compare to a West Yorkshire yeast?


Sorry, don't know what you mean by "no chill" it...

Thanks,
John.

I used Omega Hothead last year for a couple, of batches of Landlord it did have a bit of a citrus taste to it but was quite pleasant. The temperature at the moment I suppose,is a bit border line for a lot of yeast but I still opted for S-04 for my most recent batch.

Summer brewing means being able to handle the results as well as controlling fermentation temperature . I prefer ale from the barrel rather than bottled - too much co2 gives me digestive reflux. My garage stays a little cooler than ambient so hopefully I won’t need to resort to wet sacking to keep the keg temp under control. I will be bottling some batches of lager though. One day I may invest in some cooling, but I’ve got Yorkshiremans disease - short arms, deep pockets!

I would second this, I use a couple of 9.5L Cornelius kegs in the which work well for bitter or mild, as room temperature in my utility room is about right for ale. In summer I switch to bottles and stainless steel mini kegs which zI can fit in the fridge.

 

[Zephyr259]

I have a fridge for temp control but as of last year I stopped brewing from June to Sept/Oct for a few reasons. First was it's too hot to brew inside and I don't have a way to brew outside easily, this could be countered with lots of open windows etc but then there's flies and wasps to contend with and the brew day becomes more stress than it's worth, as I have a proper phobia of wasps and (fruit) flies just get everywhere. 23L of hoppy amber and a Pilsner next week should top up the stocks enough to see me through. Last year my 4.7% wheat beer came out at 6.1% and we ran out of < 6% beers by august. :-)

 

[An Ankoù]

I have had to give up late June to end of September as it's just too hot for fermentation even with Saflager W34/70 which will tolerate a fermentation temperature in the mid 20s. This year, however, I'm looking forward to trying out my sachets of Lallemand Voss kveik, which is good up to the low 40s C. I've also got some Opshaug kveik which I saved from an ill-considered brew of Simmonds Bitter made last November. The fermentation went on for weeks, I thought it would never end, but the beer's nice enough. I think I should have waited for warmer weather so now's nearly the time to try Opshaug again, too. I don't really do temperature control, nowadays. My fridge had been taken over with hops and yeast cultures so i tend to brew according to the weather.
Just a word of warning. When we arrived in France, in July 2016, I couldn't wait to get a brew on. Using Safale S-04 was a bit of a disaster since, at too warm temperatures, the yeast doesn't die, on the contrary it goes crazy and creates a "boiling" fermentation which, when it's all over, leaves the beer pretty much undrinkable.

 

[obscure]

I have had to give up late June to end of September as it's just too hot for fermentation even with Saflager W34/70 which will tolerate a fermentation temperature in the mid 20s. This year, however, I'm looking forward to trying out my sachets of Lallemand Voss kveik, which is good up to the low 40s C. I've also got some Opshaug kveik which I saved from an ill-considered brew of Simmonds Bitter made last November. The fermentation went on for weeks, I thought it would never end, but the beer's nice enough. I think I should have waited for warmer weather so now's nearly the time to try Opshaug again, too. I don't really do temperature control, nowadays. My fridge had been taken over with hops and yeast cultures so i tend to brew according to the weather.
Just a word of warning. When we arrived in France, in July 2016, I couldn't wait to get a brew on. Using Safale S-04 was a bit of a disaster since, at too warm temperatures, the yeast doesn't die, on the contrary it goes crazy and creates a "boiling" fermentation which, when it's all over, leaves the beer pretty much undrinkable.

I’m rather worried this is what has happened with my most recent batch pitched Saturday morning, and was down to 1.005 this morning. Plan is to bottle it and hope for the best.

 

[An Ankoù]

Fingers crossed. What yeast did you use?

 

[obscure]

Fingers crossed. What yeast did you use?

S-04 I’m afraid it's a dark beer so am hoping it will be okay as temperature was really on the cusp of the stated maximum tolerance (peaked at 25 going by my Tilt). I have some dried Voss from Crossmyloof which I will use for my next batch although knowing my luck we will get a cold snap just after I pitch.

 

[Andrew Elliott]

Voss is good stuff, I underpitched on Sunday afternoon and on an OG of 1052 we're currently at 1019, should be pretty close to final gravity tomorrow morning. Temp currently sitting at 31.5c. Brew smelled and tasted great from the sample when I checked earlier.

 

[Scrattajack]

Thanks for all your suggestions. While moving to Scotland is very tempting it's a bit impractical for the short term...

What I'll do, is go "no chill" and put the hot wort into the cube I've just ordered. This is doubly attractive as it'll shorten my brew day, my immersion cooler is not very efficient. Then it'll be fermented with a different yeast than the planned S-04, either Nottingham or Kveik, haven't totally decided yet. The latter is tempting as the fermentation is over quicker.

Regarding handling the results, luckily we have a cellar which stays fairly cool and doesn't attract bugs in summer. I'll see if I can work out a way of getting the finished brew down there and get it bottled.

Cheers,
John.

 

[An Ankoù]

Thanks for all your suggestions. While moving to Scotland is very tempting it's a bit impractical for the short term...

What I'll do, is go "no chill" and put the hot wort into the cube I've just ordered. This is doubly attractive as it'll shorten my brew day, my immersion cooler is not very efficient. Then it'll be fermented with a different yeast than the planned S-04, either Nottingham or Kveiss, haven't totally decided yet. The latter is tempting as the fermentation is over quicker.

Regarding handling the results, luckily we have a cellar which stays fairly cool and doesn't attract bugs in summer. I'll see if I can work out a way of getting the finished brew down there and get it bottled.

Cheers,
John.

I know MyQul swears by the stuff, but I find Nottingham very similar to S-04. If you're buying, get some saflager W34-70 to tide you over June and then some Voss kveik for when it gets really hot.
I don't know how others do "no chill", but when I do it, I use my immersion chiller to bring the temperature down quickly to 70-75C and then let it chill overnight. That way, more of the aromatic hop compounds stay in the beer instead of evaporating away.

 

[Scrattajack]

get some saflager W34-70 to tide you over June

Doesn't that want a cool temperature, 15C or something?

 

[An Ankoù]

Doesn't that want a cool temperature, 15C or something?

I know. It makes great lager when fermented cold, but it will also do a clean fermentation at up to 28C. Have a look at this:
https://brulosophy.com/2016/04/18/f...ager-yeast-saflager-3470-exbeeriment-results/I've done it and it's fine. It doesn't give ale yeast esters, it's more like US-05. No complaints.

 

[obscure]

I know. It makes great lager when fermented cold, but it will also do a clean fermentation at up to 28C. Have a look at this:
https://brulosophy.com/2016/04/18/f...ager-yeast-saflager-3470-exbeeriment-results/I've done it and it's fine. It doesn't give ale yeast esters, it's more like US-05. No complaints.

Think I’ll give it a go, as a clean yeast at 25-28C would be ideal. While I rather like kveik, I find that Voss the last time I used it had a lot of citrus like flavour great for a hoppy pale ale, but not so sure about it in the stout I’m planning on brewing next.

 

[An Ankoù]

Think I’ll give it a go, as a clean yeast at 25-28C would be ideal. While I rather like kveik, I find that Voss the last time I used it had a lot of citrus like flavour great for a hoppy pale ale, but not so sure about it in the stout I’m planning on brewing next.

Can't wait to try it for myself.
Remember that the fermentation process is exothermic so you'll need a maximum ambient of, say, 25C and some wet towels thrown over the fermenter.

 

[Scrattajack]

Interesting article, thanks. I'm quite tempted to give that a try too...

 

[An Ankoù]

Interesting article, thanks. I'm quite tempted to give that a try too...

This yeast can pong a bit, but cleans up perfectly.

 

[Zephyr259]

Think I’ll give it a go, as a clean yeast at 25-28C would be ideal. While I rather like kveik, I find that Voss the last time I used it had a lot of citrus like flavour great for a hoppy pale ale, but not so sure about it in the stout I’m planning on brewing next.

Voss makes a great stout, @BeerCat has made several in the past, I've made a stout and a dark mild with it, and another stout with Saure.