Last Minute Pressure Fermentation Decision - Did I do the right thing?!

[tondy79]

Hey all,

I brewed a batch of beer (Cascade SMaSH-ish) on a whim last week because I had an unexpected free afternoon, but as it was unplanned when I came to put it in my fermentation fridge I found it wasn't free

Its been about 22c indoors and I don't have a garage, so as I was using a Fermzilla I pitched the yeast at around 27-28c and brought the pressure straight up to 12psi and let it go.

It's stayed at that temp/pressure throughout a fairly rapid fermentation, and now that its more or less done the temp is dropping and we're down to about 23c. Yeast is Verdant IPA.

Beer tastes fine at this stage, but I've not brewed it before, or done a pressure fermentation before, so can't compare it but my questions for you are:

- Would you have done the same thing?

- Was there a better way to go?

- Would it have been better to let the pressure rise naturally (even at the higher temperature) rather than apply the pressure from the start?

Cheers!

 

[foxy]

- Would you have done the same thing?

- Was there a better way to go?

- Would it have been better to let the pressure rise naturally (even at the higher temperature) rather than apply the pressure from the start?

Cheers!

No, the problem with pitching yeast at a high temperature is the esters, making it an ester bomb.

You could have gone down the servo for a bag of ice, ice and water into a large bowl or bath and a towel for wicking the cold water around the fermenter. That would have dropped the temperature to a more reasonable pitching temperature.

I think it would have been better venting some CO2 for a day or so before applying pressure.
That is what I would have done and our temperatures are a bit higher than the UK.
But what you did seems to have had no side effects so that is fine.

 

[tondy79]

Ah okay, that makes sense, so I am understanding from this that the pitching temperature is most important to get within range, and then a higher temperature through the fermentation can be managed by applying pressure if needed. Thanks!

 

[Agentgonzo]

If you don't have fancy cooling, then soak an old t-shirt or towel then wing it out, clip it around the fermenter so it's got good contact between the t-shirt and the fermenter, then point a fan at it. You'll drop the temperature significantly in an hour or two.

 

[Sadfield]

I probably wouldn't have gone to 12 PSI, but there's nothing wrong there.

There's a lot of useful information in this video, for tweaking your process.



Cooling and pressure are two different routes to the same end point, keeping CO2 in solution. This inhibits growth, which inhibits esters.

 

[MashBag]

Verdant IPA was a good choice.

I have never fermented this under pressure. Logically I think it works. If its the recipe I think, it will take the extra esters well imo.

Quite excited for you, this could be a cracker

 

[tondy79]

Verdant IPA was a good choice.

I have never fermented this under pressure. Logically I think it works. If its the recipe I think, it will take the extra esters well imo.

Quite excited for you, this could be a cracker

Yes, a variation on a recipe you posted recently (I think recently... at least I read it recently )

 

[MashBag]

@tondy79
How's it going?

 

[tondy79]

I left it in the fermzilla another week, and then moved it to keg on Wednesday. I reckon it's going to be good beer! (Which is good news as we had a family gathering last weekend which cleaned out my stocks!)

It's in the fridge under pressure now and I'm hopeful that with a little conditioning time it'll be very drinkable; I'll let you know.

Happy to bottle you up a couple as we're local, and I've also attempted to collect the yeast if you wanted to give the verdant a go yourself

 

[MashBag]

Er let me think about that...er...Yes & yes please.

 

[tondy79]

So, after 10 days in the keg I've had a small sample. My thoughts:

- Suppression of the esters through the pressure fermentation may have been a little too effective. Aroma seems lacking. That being said, there was no dry hop for this brew and that would certainly have helped for aroma.
- Some good grapefruit and citrus flavour, but a little too bitter for my taste. This may be down to an unplanned decision to "No Chill" as I'd left my hoses at my cousin's house
- Another week or two might help it to mellow out a bit. I'll certainly give it another taste at various intervals