Pitched yeast at 32C - effect on beer?

[Andy Hall]

Hi,

I made my first batch of beer last night, using a Coopers Kit. It was the Australian Pale Ale. In addition to the LME, I added 500g DME and 500g dextrose. My initial gravity reading was 1040, so I was going to pitch my yeast, but the temperature was about 34C.

I stuck it in the sink with some ice, and it came down to about 31-32C which is when I pitched the yeast (the Coopers instructions say to pitch the yeast is more important than waiting for the perfect temperature). I knew it should be lower.

Anyway, about an hour later the temp was still about 30C so I stuck a wet towel on the fermenter and blew a fan on it for an hour. When I returned the temp was 24C. This was 11pm.

This morning the temperature was 22C (about the standard average temp of my flat) and the air lock was bubbling away every three seconds or so.

I guess I didn't kill the yeast, but I am concerned about the 2 hours or so when it was in the wort at 24-32C. I have heard this can produce fusel alcohols and diacetyls that can give the beer a buttery taste. Does anyone think this is likely with my batch?

Thanks
Andy

 

[jamesb]

Relax, don't worry and have a homebrew.

It's not ideal but it'll be fine. The yeast would be in it's reproductive phase rather than actively fermenting the wort so fusel alcohols are unlikely in such a short space of time.

 

[tangledbrain]

hi
reckon you should be ok, Gervin actually recommend pitching at 30 - 35c., which in my cellars mean temperature of about 22c means my yeasts get a large variation of temp and are fine.
Such fears are gods way of telling us that our stocks too high!

cheers!

graham

 

[Andy Hall]

Thanks to you both for the replies - made me feel better. When I finally taste it, I'll let you know how it turned out.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Andy Hall]

I said I'd post an update - so here goes.

I bottled the beer after 10 days of fermentation, using about 1g of dextrose per bottle for a light carbonation (this is a pale ale). The initial colour was golden and hazy, there was a slightly sweet aroma (perhaps cidery) and a hint of hops/bitterness (but not much). I did taste it at this point, and it was quite sweet, but I could taste the beer underneath it.

There were no banana-type smells, or butterscotch taste, so I was pleased that the initial high temperature didn't affect the brew. Additionally there was no cider taste, even though it smelled slightly like that.

Anyway, after 6 days of being in the bottle (too soon, I know) I tried one. The beer had cleared completely and had a white sediment in the bottle. It tasted sweet again, but not so sweet as before, with a light taste of hops and bitterness, though little malt taste was present. The carbonation wasn't great, with large bubbles that faded quickly.

I think I will leave this to ferment some more to remove some more of the sugar and get more carbonation. But all in all, I would class this as a success. Thanks to all who put my mind at rest!

 

[GazOC]

Andy,

I've made about half a dozen Coopers Australian Pale Ale kits over the last year (love the stuff!!) and have found I have to use as much priming sugar as I do with a lager kit to get the required level of carbonation in the bottles, even allowing that its "just" a Pale Ale and shouldn't be carbonated to lager levels.

I think its just in the nature of that kit that it isn't as fizzy as the lager kits even with the same levels of priming sugar.

Glad your brew turned out fine. :

Gaz

 

[Andy Hall]

Thanks for the tip Gaz - I'll make this one again for sure and I'll stick a bit more priming sugar in next time.

Cheers
Andy