Disaster

[Mavroz]

Made a brew up earlier today, put it in the brew fridge .... 4 hours later, 27 degrees.
Looks like the fridge has packed up. Compressor is running, light comes on but it just isn't getting cold.
Was working fine up until Wednesday.
Picking a replacement up tomorrow so have left the fridge door open to the cool garage air.
Using CML Midland Ale Yeast so this brew may be going down the drain, sods law.

 

[Galena]

27 is not going to kill the yeast, don't bin it

 

[kelper]

Picking a replacement up tomorrow so have left the fridge door open to the cool garage air.

it will only make the garage warmer! Any fridge produces more heat from its back than it removes from its interior.

 

[Baz Chaz]

A few weeks ago when the weather was rather hot, had a brew day, but thought it was a bit warm, 26 to 28 degrees in 'the den' FV was spitting liquid out of the airlock, the Nottingham yeasties were having a real party! 4 or 5 days later all done, drinking it now and very nice indeed.....never give up on a brew!

 

[Slid]

Made a brew up earlier today, put it in the brew fridge .... 4 hours later, 27 degrees.
Looks like the fridge has packed up. Compressor is running, light comes on but it just isn't getting cold.
Was working fine up until Wednesday.
Picking a replacement up tomorrow so have left the fridge door open to the cool garage air.
Using CML Midland Ale Yeast so this brew may be going down the drain, sods law.

Agree with Galena, just leave it. There may be some side products from higher temps but if you leave it 14 days, the yeast itself will start to reduce these down towards CO2 plus ethanol and less of the rest. The longer it gets in contact with even the residual yeast, the fewer of the by-products of high temperature will be present after some storage time. This is sort of the philosophy of some of the world's best (Belgian Trappist in particular) beers, seem to follow.

 

[Mavroz]

Thanks for the support guys.
Been in the garage this morning and due to a cold night, the brew is 24 degrees, which is a little better.
Pick the new fridge up at 10 so hopefully not too much damage done.
Accidentally left a crate of bottles to carbonate near a radiator and they must have got up to 40 degrees. These tasted foul, just hope this doesn't go the same way.

Forgot to say, last night the liquid in the FV looked like it was churning, and bubbling away very vigorously. Now it seems to be calming down a bit.

 

[An Ankoù]

Forgot to say, last night the liquid in the FV looked like it was churning, and bubbling away very vigorously. Now it seems to be calming down a bit.

Don't like the sound of that. I've had it happen twice in my career. The whole body of beer looks as though it's on a high, rolling boil. The beer tastes awful afterwards with an acrid taste, which I understand is called "yeast bite". Even so, I wouldn't chuck it at this stage as it may well depend on the yeast strain.

 

[Mavroz]

Yeah, I will get it down to 19 degrees and let it ferment out. Will taste before bottling and if it has an off taste, will get rid.
I have made this brew many times before so will know straight away if anything is amiss. Thanks again.

 

[Mavroz]

Ok, new brew fridge is in place.
Everything is ok now it has been adapted. Had to move thermostat and light unit out of the way for now but we are back in business.
Temp is down to 20.6 degrees now, fermentation temp is set at 19.
Hoping all will be ok but doubting it very much.

 

[Jim Brewster]

My first all grain went well into the 20s and looked like a rolling boil as you describe, and the krausen dropped within 48 hours. Wasnt sure what to expect but it turned out fairly well, a slight dry taste but then it was quite high abv so may have just been from that. Just ride it out, fingers crossed it will be ok

 

[dannythemanny]

I'll be keen to hear how this turns out. I've fermented at 25-ish before and made perfectly drinkable beer, if a little estery. I reckon you might know that it was a little on the warm side, but I highly doubt it'll need chucked out.

 

[MyQul]

If as many suspect Midland yeast is notty, then you'll be fine. Notty has a massive temp tolerance. I've had it up to 27C no problems during the summer months

 

[valdid_shaw]

As long as everything is sanitised post boil, I always take the view that anything else not going to plan won’t necessarily make a bad beer, just a different beer.

Don’t ditch the beer - you never know, you might hit the jackpot and end up with something sensational.

 

[Mavroz]

Ok, it was bottling day for this brew today.
Noticeably no off smells when removing the FV lid.
Sample tasted a little on the sweet side which was a little unexpected but definitely no off flavours or tangs that I would maybe have expected.
Will leave this to carb up and condition for a few weeks and see where it is at then.
They 36 hours at the high 20's at start of fermentation certainly don't appear to have done any damage.
One thing to note was a seemingly much greater trub than I usually see.

 

[valdid_shaw]

It’ll be fine. Let us know!

 

[thesteve]

Made a brew up earlier today, put it in the brew fridge .... 4 hours later, 27 degrees.
Looks like the fridge has packed up. Compressor is running, light comes on but it just isn't getting cold.
Was working fine up until Wednesday.
Picking a replacement up tomorrow so have left the fridge door open to the cool garage air.
Using CML Midland Ale Yeast so this brew may be going down the drain, sods law.

Sorry if this is a really dumb thing to ask, but why do people ferment in a fridge unless they live somewhere ridiculously hot? I put my FV in a cupboard in the house and it generally stays somewhere between about 19-23 degrees whatever time of year it is. I can understand if room is a problem for some people but at the same time a small bucket in the house takes up less room than cluttering up the garage with a whole fridge? Or is there something more scientific about it?

 

[kelper]

They use a fridge modified with a heater so they can keep the optimum temperature for fermenting and then conditioning and finally for serving. We don't all live in cold, wet countries!

 

[thesteve]

Cheers Kelper. So there are some advantages to our shyte scottish summers!

 

[An Ankoù]

Sorry if this is a really dumb thing to ask, but why do people ferment in a fridge unless they live somewhere ridiculously hot? I put my FV in a cupboard in the house and it generally stays somewhere between about 19-23 degrees whatever time of year it is. I can understand if room is a problem for some people but at the same time a small bucket in the house takes up less room than cluttering up the garage with a whole fridge? Or is there something more scientific about it?

Good question, thesteve, I've never brewed in a fridge and I live in the South of Brittany, where it sometimes gets warm. I brew according to the seasons: lager in the winter, ales in spring and autumn. I used to take a break in the summer but now we have kveik....! I sometimes cold crash in a spare fridge, but relatively rarely.
You can also do a lot by choosing your yeast according to the weather; Saflager 34/70 is amazing and will ferment cleanly even in the high 20s.

 

[Mavroz]

I use a fridge to keep a constant 19 degree temperature when brewing all year round.
Keeps consistency throughout winter and summer. A must for me!

This way, I can brew exactly what I want, when I want.