10
It's a combination of human perception and physical science. Volatile compounds are less volatile at cold temperatures (physical chemistry), and the human nervous system is dulled or numbed slightly at colder temperatures (human).
This is the same reason why the Brits like to drink their beer "warm" (not ice cold = more flavor), and why the mega brewers ...
9
No way. You will kill everything in your beer at this temperature. The pasteurization process actually uses lower temps, probably with less exposure time, and kills them all.
And its ok to use any beer yeast to carbonation, you don't need the same strain.
9
The first temperature is of the water you are adding while the second is the expected temperature of the mash after it has been added.
So by adding 12.81 qt of water at 163.7 F to the grain (presumably at room temp) the mixture should land around 152 F. Mashing out is an optional (though common) step that is meant to bring the mash above the temperature ...
8
Short answer - it's not that bad, per se.
Long answer:
The biggest 'problem' is consistency/isolation of variables.
Particularly when all-grain brewing there are a lot of things to keep track of throughout the process. As you keep brewing, you'll want to aim to improve parts of your process, and you'll probably develop a few favorite recipes. In a ...
6
Warmer temperatures will allow the yeast to continue its work, cleaning up the beer. Colder temperatures will promote yeast flocculation which helps to clear the beer. It'd suggest leaving the beer in the fermentation temperature range for a week or two after the final gravity has been reached, and then moving it to the cooler basement to help it clear.
6
According to this calculator, adding 1.4oz of sugar to 2gal at 35°F is equivalent to adding 5.4oz at 68°F.
At 35°F the disolved CO2 is around 1.61vol whereas at 68°F it is 0.86vol.
In your case the CO2 level should be around 2.9vol after carbonation at 68°F, it is very fizzy for a regular Ale (see carbonation guidelines ), but it should be fine and not ...
5
You can reuse the yeast - the temperature range top of 73°F (23°C) is for the recommended fermentation profile.
In the lab, researchers shock the yeast by raising the temperature from 25°C/77°F to 37°C/98°F and holding it there for several hours.
Your brief venture into 85°F (29.5°C) was short - 1.5 hours - so if any shock has occurred, it ...
5
Yes, there is a potential risk of bottle bombs, as with any incomplete ferment. The residual fermentables can be fermented by the remaining yeast in the bottle along with the priming sugar and produce more CO2 than intended. Ideally you should cold crash only after you are sure primary is complete. Many brewers simply leave the beer in primary for at least 2 ...
5
I'm going to assume you're basically doing "batch sparging" (adding the sparge liquor in batches due to capacity), not that you're "step mashing" (using hot water infusions to move the whole mash through a set of different temperature "steps").
Once the enzymes are denatured, they are … denatured. :) They will not return or restart their ability to convert ...
5
It would help in a couple ways if you gently stirred the wort with a sanitized spoon as it cools. First, it will make it cool faster. Second, you'll get homogenous wort so you'll get an accurate temp reading no matter where you check it.
5
There are kits with call themselves "lager" kits, but if you make them with the yeast provided and at the temperatures suggested, they will not produce a true lager beer. The beer they produce might taste quite similar to a light lager, but they will be ales. They would probably fit into one of these (2015) BJCP categories:
1C Cream Ale
18A Blonde Ale
I'...
5
It's fairly safe to say that bottle conditioning at -5°c will not yield good results.
Even high ABV beers stored below freezing will form ice crystals and force a separation of the water and ethanol. (Eisbock)
While many yeasts can survive freezing temperatures the become dormant or have their metabolism slowed down so much they no longer perform useful ...
5
Specifically when using S-04 (or most other English Ale yeasts) they are very sensitive to temperature drops. Other strains might tolerate starting so high, but the cooling wort is likely to send an English strain into hibernation early.
While pitching S-04 at 80F may or may not effect viability; as the wort cools the yeast might go dormant. Most English ...
4
As you reduce the temperature you need to compensate with more yeast, just as you do when brewing a lager. E.g. for a 1.050 ale fermented at 60°F a 2 liter starter would be the minimum.
Alternatively, if pitching from a smaller starter, increase the temperature slowly after primary fermentation is almost complete - e.g. 3 days or when you hit 75% of ...
4
Positive temperature swings have been discussed - fusels and esters are the main problems. If the temperature fluctuating then you'll also have negative swings.
Negative temperature swings can cause the yeast to drop out. This is particularly true with the Belgian strains, such as WLP530 and WLP570 - even with constant ambient temperature, removing the heat ...
4
The aquarium heaters are not heating all of the water, but only the water around each heater.
This will form convection currents around each heater - the heated water only moves upwards, and rises up to the surface, at the same time water at the surface cools and sinks. The convection currents are probably only a few inches around each heater, depending ...
4
I believe with all homebrewing that there is never a wasted batch, even the worst of the worst is an opportunity to learn something, so don't throw it out yet.
You were lucky it was so late in the fermentation. The yeast won't die at the high temperature, and at this stage you may find you increased attenuation slightly. If a gravity reading indicates ...
4
The main point of raising the temp is simple. As the sugars become limiting the yeast begin to enter a dormancy phase. As yeast slow down the temp of your fermentation begins to lower too. That lowering temp is also a signal to yeast to go dormant. This causes a cyclical effect of potential having the yeast drop out sooner than you want and you do not ...
4
In general, yeast will die at temps exceeding 115F.
4
Most of the heat is usually lost through the lid in coolers. Cooler lids are not well insulated. The bodies are. This is because they are meant to keep things cold not hot. Heat rises and a cooler lid isn't designed to actually handle it. Some coolers are better than others. I have used several and found wide differences.
I found that if I covered the ...
4
It has been said that for every 10C of temperature increase the oxidation rate roughly doubles. So yes temperature does increase oxidation rate.
In general increases in heat increase all chemical reactions.
4
They sure have, at least in terms of the temperature/ABV% relationship. The table provided is for pure ethanol/water solutions so the freezing points provided will be slightly higher than for actual beer. Accounting for the effects of residual sugar, proteins and other things in solution seems incredibly complex; this is touched upon in some detail later in ...
4
All yeast are quite similar, really. It's surprising how different instructions manufacturers print for basically the same organism.
From my experience, it is best to start with 30°C water. Then let it cool to about 20° before adding to wort. Unless I have an opportunity to actually speak with the one who wrote instructions, I simply ignore them if they ...
4
No, you did not. Belgian yeast usually don't mind fast temperature increase. Just be sure not to exceed max temperature suggested by yeast supplier.
And just by the way, the one time I had temperature raising too fast was with Belgian yeast, too. Similar with the people I talked with. Seems that these strains simply like to surprise us with heat production.
4
Not bad at all. The only time temperature control is crucial is during fermentation, not conditioning. I live in Queensland Australia where the temps exceed 30 Celsius regularly in the Summer and my beers turn out fine. It doesn't affect the taste or beer in any way I am aware of or have noticed.
4
Optimal about 18C-20C. But almost any temperature between 5 and 25 will work. If cooler then it takes longer. It is possible to go higher but there may be some more fruity esters produced although not very much... Best keep it at lower temperature range of 15-20C for about two weeks or so.
4
I would oxygenate (pure O2) right before or after the pitch.
Just because the process has the chance to introduce bacteria or wild yeast and it's best if the yeast is there to become dominate before anything else.
Aeration has much less risk, if just splashing or shaking the wort. I don't think this would matter much when it's done.
4
Your cider was flat when you drank it because it lost much of its CO2 when you were transferring it from the keg to the bottle, as evidenced by the foam.
The gold standard for filling bottles from a keg without losing carbonation is a counter-pressure filler, which pressurizes the bottle with CO2 before filling it with beer, so that the CO2 stays in ...
4
I usually stir the mash before checking the temperature. If you stir it, wait one minute for the thermometer to adjust, you should get the same temperature anywhere in the mash tun.
4
Yes, your thinking is on the right track. Mashing with crushed grains at an appropriate temperature (about 150 F or 65 C) for at least 45-60 minutes then draining off basically creates your own "extract" so you don't need to add any DME or other sugars. From there you will continue to boil and add hops and brew in the normal way.
For a great introduction ...
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