Hot Fermentation

Rampage · Oct 4, 2017

Hi. Rushed into an ESB brew too soon and pitched the yeast (Danstar Windsor) when the wort was still in the high 20Cs. Fermentation was vigorous over the next couple of days and seemed to go to completion. I transferred the brew into my clarification/maturation tank intending to leave it for 4-5 weeks. However, after a week there appears to be no sign of the beer clearing from its initial muddy appearance and there is a slight sour smell. Has the hot fermentation messed it up? Or should I just leave it a lot longer to clear?

chub1 · Oct 4, 2017

I'm sure someone with far better knowledge than i will turn up.
Think i would leave it as it is ,usually leave mine at least 14/16 days before i bottle.Not sure why you would want to leave it 4/5 weeks before doing anything with it!.
Not used that yeast, however i have pitched various yeasts into high 20's and they have been fine,guess it depends on if that temperature(high 20's) has been maintained or not.Looking at the description it might leave a bit of a yeasty aroma behind!

Rampage · Oct 4, 2017

I generally find that my beer requires about one week in the sealed tank for every degree of OG above 1000, therefore an ESB with a 1050 OG needs around 5 weeks.

MickDundee · Oct 4, 2017

I have a golden ale which I 1) forgot to add the protofloc and 2) pitched far too hot. I bottled in May but have not touched it since July because it had some horrible esters and looked like swamp water! hope it has improved significantly because after I finish my last mini keg of IPA it's the only beer I have that's fully conditioned.

Rampage · Oct 18, 2017

After 3 weeks in the clarification tank it still looks like pale mud, tastes OK, and there has been some secondary fermentation (without conditioning) as there is a nice head. But I'm not sure if I should go ahead and condition it or just sling it out and start again. The only things I did differently from my first batch were: 1. Sparged the mash a lot more (to the point where the kettle did not need top-up water) as I felt I may be leaving too much of the "good stuff" behind; 2. Pitched the yeast at a much higher temperature than previously; 3. Transferred the liquor from the FV to the clarification tank after only 2 days rather than wait about 5. Any ideas as to which (if any) has caused the muddy appearance?

dan125 · Oct 18, 2017

2 days seems very quick to get it out of the FV. Could it be that the remaining yeast is still slowly finishing off the fermentation?

Slid · Oct 18, 2017

Rampage said:
After 3 weeks in the clarification tank it still looks like pale mud, tastes OK, and there has been some secondary fermentation (without conditioning) as there is a nice head. But I'm not sure if I should go ahead and condition it or just sling it out and start again. The only things I did differently from my first batch were: 1. Sparged the mash a lot more (to the point where the kettle did not need top-up water) as I felt I may be leaving too much of the "good stuff" behind; 2. Pitched the yeast at a much higher temperature than previously; 3. Transferred the liquor from the FV to the clarification tank after only 2 days rather than wait about 5. Any ideas as to which (if any) has caused the muddy appearance?

Two days was not sufficient. Very bad move to shift it elsewhere as you are basically doing most of the fermentation process with inadequate yeast. The initial froth on top of the wort is just the initial conversion step and the whole fermentation cycle can take 5 weeks or so for a homebrew set-up.

My guess on muddy appearance is still fermenting with insufficient yeast to get a good outcome. in your initial timescales.

Hot Fermentation

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