Ferment temperature went crazy… ruined?

[Jzrp]

I had a similar temp issue. I had a free Saturday morning last weekend so knocked up a partial extract brown ale with what i had laying around. I pitched S-04 and it was the hottest day NI has ever experienced! Ferm temp peaked at 25C and never dropped below 21C, despite ice packs strapped to it, and finished fermenting in about a day and a half. Don't know what this one will be like tbh.

good luck, fingers crossed it turns out ok.

I took a sample of mine for hydrometer last night and it’s at final gravity and doesn’t taste like paint stripper or anything despite being 7% so I’m hopeful. Dry hopping today finally

 

[RoomWithABrew]

good luck, fingers crossed it turns out ok.

I took a sample of mine for hydrometer last night and it’s at final gravity and doesn’t taste like paint stripper or anything despite being 7% so I’m hopeful. Dry hopping today finally

So, hopeful that your first pressure ferment has saved your beer from an ester bomb.

 

[Jzrp]

So, hopeful that your first pressure ferment has saved your beer from an ester bomb.

the dry hops didn’t circulate as well as I hoped though that’s the next problem! In the fermzilla vids I watched the got shot up into the main section like a ratup a drain pipe when then valve lever was pulled, so I probably did something slightly wrong /sub optimum there

 

[RoomWithABrew]

the dry hops didn’t circulate as well as I hoped though that’s the next problem! In the fermzilla vids I watched the got shot up into the main section like a ratup a drain pipe when then valve lever was pulled, so I probably did something slightly wrong /sub optimum there

Wouldn't bother with the pot to put the hops in. Use it for taking yeast and trub out. Put the hops in a bag with magnets then you can pull them into the beer and also take them out when needed. It's far easier.


Also how did you ensure no oxygen got in when you added the hops?
You can get the trub out nearly oxygen free but hops in I'm not so sure.

My method for trub remove with limited oxygen, spray the collector with starsan. Close valve ( beer is fermenting under pressure ).
Remove pot ( slowly so you don't get a shower and wrap a tea towel around thread with a tub below to catch the liquid ) and wash sanitise the pot, plus good spray of where the pot came off so no debris left to interfere.
Then use your sanitised party tap to fill the pot to the brim, doesn't matter if foam and resrcrew it on, beer isn't oxygenated too much and foam is mostly CO2. Then open valve and it will bubble up and stir up the ferment but soon settle again.
You can also use the party tap method for a gravity reading if no Ispindel or other device.

Bags of hops on magnets can be dragged below the surface , hops often want to float, and you can swish them around.

 

[Jzrp]

Wouldn't bother with the pot to put the hops in. Use it for taking yeast and trub out. Put the hops in a bag with magnets then you can pull them into the beer and also take them out when needed. It's far easier.
View attachment 51372

Also how did you ensure no oxygen got in when you added the hops?
You can get the trub out nearly oxygen free but hops in I'm not so sure.

My method for trub remove with limited oxygen, spray the collector with starsan. Close valve ( beer is fermenting under pressure ).
Remove pot ( slowly so you don't get a shower and wrap a tea towel around thread with a tub below to catch the liquid ) and wash sanitise the pot, plus good spray of where the pot came off so no debris left to interfere.
Then use your sanitised party tap to fill the pot to the brim, doesn't matter if foam and resrcrew it on, beer isn't oxygenated too much and foam is mostly CO2. Then open valve and it will bubble up and stir up the ferment but soon settle again.
You can also use the party tap method for a gravity reading if no Ispindel or other device.

Bags of hops on magnets can be dragged below the surface , hops often want to float, and you can swish them around.

I did consider the bag with magnets method but in the end decided to upgrade to fermzilla in part to do pressure fermentation and dry hop using the collection jar. When I was talking through with my mate who brews commercially he felt that the hops would degrade a fair bit sitting in the fermentor during high krasuen etc so just fermzilla seemed the ideal route

I have a carb cap on one side of the jar and cokecap on the other so pretty easy to purge. Same steps in terms of removing trub, then put hops in collection jar screw on, put gas on one side of collection jar and pressurise, slightly unscrew coke cap a few times to let oxygen out and keep refilling with gas. Then just open the valve and let the beer in.

I had a lot of hops in there and they stuck but I assumed they would gradually mix in, nearly a day later there was a big hop cake in the collection jar. So I pressurised the whole fermzilla, closed the BF valve, then depressurised the main chamber and opened the BF valve again. This nudged a few up but not the whole lot. I did a couple more times really slow progress.

Eventually just started doing the same thing but turned the fermzilla upside down in the stand to release the collection jar pressure and the combination of gravity and pressure meant they caved into the beer eventually. So 250g of dry hops all mixed in now

It’s one of those things where the next time I do a dry hop I will have learned my lesson and it will be easy. Just gotta get the pressures right etc

EDIT - But also meant to say, I do have a couple of stir bar magnets and next time will put in collection jar with dry hops so that if I do get a bit stuck I can just spin it round in there to dig them out

 

[RoomWithABrew]

I did consider the bag with magnets method but in the end decided to upgrade to fermzilla in part to do pressure fermentation and dry hop using the collection jar. When I was talking through with my mate who brews commercially he felt that the hops would degrade a fair bit sitting in the fermentor during high krasuen etc so just fermzilla seemed the ideal route

I have a carb cap on one side of the jar and cokecap on the other so pretty easy to purge. Same steps in terms of removing trub, then put hops in collection jar screw on, put gas on one side of collection jar and pressurise, slightly unscrew coke cap a few times to let oxygen out and keep refilling with gas. Then just open the valve and let the beer in.

I had a lot of hops in there and they stuck but I assumed they would gradually mix in, nearly a day later there was a big hop cake in the collection jar. So I pressurised the whole fermzilla, closed the BF valve, then depressurised the main chamber and opened the BF valve again. This nudged a few up but not the whole lot. I did a couple more times really slow progress.

Eventually just started doing the same thing but turned the fermzilla upside down in the stand to release the collection jar pressure and the combination of gravity and pressure meant they caved into the beer eventually. So 250g of dry hops all mixed in now

It’s one of those things where the next time I do a dry hop I will have learned my lesson and it will be easy. Just gotta get the pressures right etc

EDIT - But also meant to say, I do have a couple of stir bar magnets and next time will put in collection jar with dry hops so that if I do get a bit stuck I can just spin it round in there to dig them out

Not a bad idea about the stir bars.
Not sure the hops will deteriorate, closed vessel under pressure and only a few days. NEIPA I made with kveik was full of flavour.

I'd give it a go at some stage. Trouble with hops you want them to sink they float and vice versa. Could try really high pressure CO2 in the bottle with the hops after purging and then open up might make them more buoyant. From my readings about fermzilla the dry hopping not been that successful from the south.
Seems most work best from the north end of fermenter which is what you found when you inverted.

 

[Jzrp]

Not a bad idea about the stir bars.
Not sure the hops will deteriorate, closed vessel under pressure and only a few days. NEIPA I made with kveik was full of flavour.

I'd give it a go at some stage. Trouble with hops you want them to sink they float and vice versa. Could try really high pressure CO2 in the bottle with the hops after purging and then open up might make them more buoyant. From my readings about fermzilla the dry hopping not been that successful from the south.
Seems most work best from the north end of fermenter which is what you found when you inverted.

Yeah altho I’ve seen videos where they fly up like they’ve been shot out of a cannon so I think it was more n00b user error on my part this time, but if I had put a stir bar in there would have had zero probs.

Check this video at 7.50, for example.

It’s like a hop bomb when he pulls the lever. I should have had more pressure in the jar like him ~30psi to get that reaction.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Yes I watched that a while ago it's impressive.

Another advantage of the bags is you can lift them out and they drain, so you'll get a bit less loss in the fermenter.

If you can get it to work reliably though go for it.

 

[Jzrp]

Yes I watched that a while ago it's impressive.

Another advantage of the bags is you can lift them out and they drain, so you'll get a bit less loss in the fermenter.

If you can get it to work reliably though go for it.

Yeah I will probably experiment if the collection jar method proves too tricky but I like that can add the hops fresh from fridge and purge them at any time. 100% will put stir bar magnet in the jar next time at least tho

 

[Jzrp]

Thr other conundrum is dry hop then cold crash or cold crash then dry hop and been reading all the different views on that. I’m planning to cold crash after the hops have been in 1/2 days so today at some point to try and get best of both worlds

 

[Jzrp]

To those who have had a batch ruined from high temperatures in the past, at what point do you notice the off taste?

I kegged and connected to the line last night and whilst might be a touch green I’m not detecting any petrol/ ethanol like vibes… YET, but not sure if that comes after aging? I don’t want to assume I’m out of the woods yet

Came out a touch darker but still a nice shade and couldn’t fit FV in keezer so cold crashing now in keg, not sure if the colour will change with coldcrashing or not.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

To those who have had a batch ruined from high temperatures in the past, at what point do you notice the off taste?

I kegged and connected to the line last night and whilst might be a touch green I’m not detecting any petrol/ ethanol like vibes… YET, but not sure if that comes after aging? I don’t want to assume I’m out of the woods yet

Came out a touch darker but still a nice shade and couldn’t fit FV in keezer so cold crashing now in keg, not sure if the colour will change with coldcrashing or not.

Probably will do as some of the hop residue and yeast falls out of suspension.

 

[Jzrp]

Probably will do as some of the hop residue and yeast falls out of suspension.

Yeah will see I guess, happy with the colour but defo a touch darker than what was gunning for.

More concerned that I dodge any fumey off flavours!

When the lightning hit earlier I turned off all the leccy except the keezer and pulled a glass off to see how it was now it was cooled and it’s got a bit of natural from fermentation but needs a bit more for that refreshing bite for my taste too so hopefully after a week it will be banging.

 

[Jzrp]

So I still honestly am not 100% sure I dodged a bullet. I think it tastes boozy in a not good way but it’s really subtle and more at the end of the glass. Need to get someone else to taste it but starting to brew it’s replacement hopefully later today

 

[Alan_Reginato]

IMHO, today there's 3 major HB styles.

NEIPA and APA stuff, that's supposed to be drunk as soon as possible, just hopped as hell.

Light ales and lagers, these ones means to have subtle and clean flavours, and don't need an extended maturation.

And the others creatures hanging around. The interesting part of HB. A myriad of flavours, yeasts, malts, grains, additives and everything that contains alcohol and has been fermented.

You probably are tasting esters in your beer.
Nothing wrong with that. Generally, higher temps lead to an increase in esters production.

Even if the package says that the temp should be within a range, it's only because outside that, the results would be different than expected. Low temps could stall the fermentation. High temps means more esters and fusels.

I brewd 2 Brown Ales that hits 29-32 C, with s-33. Just got more fruity esters. I mean, the smell resembled bubblegum. But after 2 months of maturation, it went down and came out very well.

So, don't worry too much about style, just enjoy your beer.

Cheers!

 

[Jzrp]

IMHO, today there's 3 major HB styles.

NEIPA and APA stuff, that's supposed to be drunk as soon as possible, just hopped as hell.

Light ales and lagers, these ones means to have subtle and clean flavours, and don't need an extended maturation.

And the others creatures hanging around. The interesting part of HB. A myriad of flavours, yeasts, malts, grains, additives and everything that contains alcohol and has been fermented.

You probably are tasting esters in your beer.
Nothing wrong with that. Generally, higher temps lead to an increase in esters production.

Even if the package says that the temp should be within a range, it's only because outside that, the results would be different than expected. Low temps could stall the fermentation. High temps means more esters and fusels.

I brewd 2 Brown Ales that hits 29-32 C, with s-33. Just got more fruity esters. I mean, the smell resembled bubblegum. But after 2 months of maturation, it went down and came out very well.

So, don't worry too much about style, just enjoy your beer.

Cheers!

Yeah thanks for that. I think the problem is the slight fusel hint might be preventing me enjoying the hop aroma that I have saturated it with will only Chuck it if it’s not enjoyable to drink. Interesting that your temperatures went that high though!

 

[Jzrp]

Just reporting back so if anyone searches this for the same problem… the NEIPA settled down after a couple of weeks and the flavours I was unsure about originally disappeared. Very drinkable and others don’t notice anything untoward.

Moral of the story, don’t chuck it out especially if it was done under pressure! At least give it a couple of weeks to see how it turns out.

 

[Jzrp]

I'm in similar situation, I accidentally turned off my fridge and let my lager temp rise to 18c (temp range 8-14) i'm hoping it's going to be ok!

Any joy?

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Any joy?

Yes, had one last weekend, it was fine, no off flavours!

 

[Jzrp]

Excellent! Looks like we both got away with brewing over the two weeks of summer we got this year

Yes, had one last weekend, it was fine, no off flavours!