Home of the BrewNosers

I pitched a US-05 batch 48 hours ago at 19C. It’s in an air conditioned room at 22C. Yesterday it was at 21C after 24 hours. Today when I got home from work it had shot up to 27C, 48 hours from pitching. Am I screwed again, or do you think it might be ok.


Thanks!

US-05 is pretty clean, just try to get it down if you can. At least you'll still make beer.

Thanks Rob,

I've been trying to figure out what is going on. This is a grain bill of 27.5lbs pilsner in 10 gal with 3 sachets of yeast. It will have an ABV of over 8% by this time tomorrow (3 days). Perhaps that’s why all the heat.

CartoonCod said yesterday a lot of people who make high ABV beers have trouble with fusel alcohol. Thankfully he didn’t detect in my beer, but I wonder if the heat produced from a big fermentation like that causes that problem. I think I need some sort of effective cooling rig for the first crucial 3 days.

You need a room probably 5 deg f cooler than you plan to ferment. And pitch cool with -05, down in the mid sixties is you can.

Have you tried a swamp cooler with frozen water bottles replaced every 3-4 hours or so?

I've had success using things like sprain compresses and cold towels on my plastic fermenters in a swamp cooler. I know you use a large kettle to ferment but perhaps something like a hard plastic kiddie pool might work for you instead of a bucket.

Swamp cooler should help you out.

Thanks!

Rustled around to see what I could find in the house after your encouragement. I came up with this. It has two bags of ice and some ice packs, in a sheet tied at the top and draped over the pot. I’m hoping as the ice melts it will keep the sheet moist as well and add evaporation cooling to the effect.

It’s a cool Tam o' Shanter…is what it is

It is down to 26C already

Throw that in you're garbage can contraption and see what happens

dexter wrote:Throw that in you're garbage can contraption and see what happens

Of course!!! ...done and done! thanks.

Anyone know what the other thing is below. Is it an actual spunding valve or just a part of one. OBK Patrick gave it to me, he had it in a drawer and threw it into my order. He thought it might help with the real ale.

Looks like it might be a spunding valve all right, but don't quote me on it

And I'll echo what X said about the lower temperatures.

Thanks, I think I might want to wind some kind of tube around the pot and run cool water through it next time like an external immersion chiller. It’s only maybe day 2 and day three I might need it. Unless there’s some other kind of cooling jacket.

I know this is probably what u are eventually aiming for but if u are on a tight budget u can usually find a used free or cheap freezer and add the stc-1000 temp controller. This can run u as little as $35 if u get the freezer for free.

Thanks for all the tips,

Jamie, That 16 gal pot with 12 gal in it is very heavy to move around. It takes my wife and I to lift it safely down from the stove top.

I still thinking this out. What about winding some kind of tube around the outside of the pot and running cool water through it next time like an external immersion chiller. It’s only maybe day 2 and day three I might need it. Unless there’s some other kind of cooling jacket.

Since I ferment in the kettle, a permanent coil around the pot would double as a wort chiller and a fermentor cooler.

Yeah, I find a fermentation fridge almost indispensable right now. It makes life so much easier.

Wait a sec. U are fermenting in the kettle? Sorry didn't read fully.

Why not just transfer it into buckets?

Perhaps a fermentation fridge is the thing then.

Nvm I'm reading more. Lol

Personally I would get a freezer or fridge. I've always found the best way to make good recipes is getting the temp properly controlled. From there u can always change the grain bill recipe but temp is critical IMO.

sleepyjamie wrote:Wait a sec. U are fermenting in the kettle? Sorry didn't read fully.

Why not just transfer it into buckets?

It’s a long story, everything is sanitized by the boil. No buckets to clean and fuss with. Only one transfer – kettle to keg. Only the tube and keg to sanitize.

Understood. But having good sanitation practises will reduce your risk of contamination. All the effort you are putting into rigging up special devices to keep your beer chilled could be spend understanding good sanitation practises.

Also u aren't using up a kettle so u could brew again.

sleepyjamie wrote:Understood. But having good sanitation practises will reduce your risk of contamination. All the effort you are putting into rigging up special devices to keep your beer chilled could be spend understanding good sanitation practises.

Also u aren't using up a kettle so u could brew again.

Boiling everything for 90 minutes shows a pretty good understanding of sanitation. A full understanding of that is part of my job also

Also with the real ale and secondary fermentation in the keg/keg conditioning, the pot is only tied up for a few days and it's ready for the next batch. I'm getting myself into deeper water here. I'd better be quiet now

Hehe touché.

Boiling for 60 vs 90 min isn't going to make much difference. And if u are doing flame out hopping or dry hopping theoretically this would increase the chances of contamination.

Curious. Are u resting the lid on or is sealed?

Why tie up a pot for a few days when you can have it ready immediatly with a little cleaning. Halving up the batch into 5 gallon batches also makes it easy to move, and cool and ferment cool in a fridge. It may also keep you from pouring all that hot wort over your wife or yourself

Tony L wrote:Why tie up a pot for a few days when you can have it ready immediatly with a little cleaning. Halving up the batch into 5 gallon batches also makes it easy to move, and cool and ferment cool in a fridge. It may also keep you from pouring all that hot wort over your wife or yourself

Tony, It stays on the counter these days and I walk it over to the spot beside the hob by myself. It’s always cooled before it is moved from the stove, whatever happens, and I have tubes for the immersion chiller that reach across to the sink. Also another reason is I’m bit of a stubborn bugger. But apart from that, you make some valid arguments.