Beer Forum

Just started an Extract Tripel recipe Friday. I got home today from work (after 36hours away), and I find my carboy in the closet at about 76F. Almost 10 degrees warmer than planned, thanks to a open door...my fault. Also, a lot of fallout/trub is plastered to the top of the carboy. The air lock is still secure, and it is bubbling like crazy. I know better than to drop the temp now, and put my yeast to sleep, but Im wondering what to expect. My questions are:
1. Am I totally screwed by this overtemp?
2. Should I worry about getting the trub/fallout back down into the solution, a lot is plastered to the inside top of the carboy.
3. Should I anticipate pitching some more yeast later in the fermentation cycle because this yeast will probably wear out by then? I guess the simple answer to this is checking the Sp.Gr and if it stabilizes higher than I want it, add more with some sugar?

I know it is not going to taste like I anticipated, but can I expect atleast tolerable results? Thank you very much for any and all input.
Jason

crashlann wrote:Just started an Extract Tripel recipe Friday. I got home today from work (after 36hours away), and I find my carboy in the closet at about 76F. Almost 10 degrees warmer than planned, thanks to a open door...my fault. Also, a lot of fallout/trub is plastered to the top of the carboy. The air lock is still secure, and it is bubbling like crazy. I know better than to drop the temp now, and put my yeast to sleep, but Im wondering what to expect. My questions are:
1. Am I totally screwed by this overtemp?
2. Should I worry about getting the trub/fallout back down into the solution, a lot is plastered to the inside top of the carboy.
3. Should I anticipate pitching some more yeast later in the fermentation cycle because this yeast will probably wear out by then? I guess the simple answer to this is checking the Sp.Gr and if it stabilizes higher than I want it, add more with some sugar?

I know it is not going to taste like I anticipated, but can I expect atleast tolerable results? Thank you very much for any and all input.
Jason

Depends on what you mean by "screwed". Will your beer still taste good? Probably. This is a Belgian, if you used a good Belgian yeast I don't think the heat will hurt you too bad. It might get a little fruitier than you wanted in a tripel (or not) but I wouldn't be kicking myself too hard.

I've read that alot of the belgians ferment in the 70's and even into the 80's, it may not be what you're expecting, but will probablt still be good.

1. not screwed. 76 isnt exactly a crazy number, if it was 86 i would be more concerned.
2. no, that will happen with an active fermentation....you can search out threads with people who have trub on their ceilings from active fermentations. but in general you want beer not trub, so leave it on the wall.
3. based on what you are saying you have a pretty healthy fermentation going. the yeast won't "wear out".

while it is better to control the temperature rise, it won't ruin the beer. belgians are typically fermented at elevated temps to get the ester production. like dubalicious mentioned you may notice that in your beer. make sure you taste your beer when you are taking readings, if it tastes good, which i assume it will, RDWHAHB.

out of curiosity what yeast did you use?

1. Maybe, what yeast did you use? It might be just extra fruity and estery, which ages out to a degree (though not all the way). It depends on what you're threshold is for "this is shitty beer, but it's my shitty beer and I'm drinking it."
2. Nope, that's why god made pbw.
3. I doubt it, I would just wait. Check your gravity and if it's way too high then maybe pitch a starter at high krausen. In a big beer like a tripel, it's going to be hard to get that yeast going with such high alcohol levels. In all likelihood it's going to finish as low as it'll go as long as you wait it out with the current yeast. What was your starting gravity and recipe? Also, adding sugar in the ferment doesn't lower your finishing gravity, it only dries out the beer if you add sugar in place of malt.

I've had some bubblegum and banana bombs, so here's to luck!

ps if it's wlp500, you're f'ed.

Yep, I used wlp500. It smells so good in my closet right now, Im hoping that is a good sign. Very fruity.
thanks for all the feedback. i will post results.

(No pun intended with the fruity smell in the closet...)

It depends on WHEN it was hot. During the the first day or two, it will cause big problems with solventy, fusel alcohols. However, it's often used to encourage complete attenuation later on in the process. I have gone up to 90 in a saison or two.


Mylo

Mylo is right on the money, but if you are seeing a TON of stuff stuck to the top that would lead me to think that it was at that temp early on. Even still 75 isn't the end of the world, remember its more important that the temp is stable then that its at 65 or something.

EDIT* one other thing, don't pitch more yeast until you know what the gravity is. Take a reading and see where its at, then decide what you want to do.