Brewing in Hot Weather

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Since we approach the warmest months of the year, it seemed appropriate for a thread about brewing in hot weather, which might be of interest to new brewers and some who have restarted after a few years out.
As far as I am aware there are only a few beer yeasts that will happily ferment above about 25*C without either giving up, or introducing unwanted off-flavours, so if you are brewing with the majority of other yeasts you may need to decide to not brew at all, adopt some form of cooling, or use one of the specialist yeasts.
Personally I generally avoid brewing in July and August, since I don’t have a beer fridge. So at present I am slowly building up a beer stock to tide me over. But if I do decide to brew in these months and a week or two either side I will at least check the upcoming weather forecast. I have also used Saison yeasts in the past which can happily ferment in the upper 20*C range, and used my water bath with either old wet towels to cool by evaporative cooling, or change the water with cold from the fridge or add ice.
So, any other ideas from forum members, especially since Kveik seems to be in vogue at present.
 
Great post T.
I have temp control but there's also the business of getting it down to pitching temp...whether you have the latest kit,a simple wort chiller or do no chill...all a bit daunting to the newcomers...but doable for everyone.
 
Great post T.
I have temp control but there's also the business of getting it down to pitching temp...whether you have the latest kit,a simple wort chiller or do no chill...all a bit daunting to the newcomers...but doable for everyone.
Yup if ambient is above 25*C and you only have a wort chiller and are trying to get the wort down to say 20*C and the tap water is 19*C as mine was during a hot spell last year, it ain't really going to work.
 
My Heather Ale spent probably its first 24 hours way above desired temp, and touched 25 for a wee while. It's down now though and hopefully will stay around 18. Bit worried about how it will turn out but Wyeast put 25 as the upper end of its range so hopefully that and the fact that it's back down now means I will get something drinkable still.

Its a lesson learned for sure though. Really didnt think my garage got that hot
 
Great post.
I started my second kit brew on saturday mangrove jacks grapefruit ipa.This time around i put the 5ltr bottles of water in the freezer for a few hours.After i added the cold water to the 3ltrs of boiling, i got lucky it cooled the temp to 20c.Hopefully done it more good than bad.

I managed to get a secondhand fridge, inkbird and tube heater for about £65, so fairly cheap to set a fridge up if you have the space for an extra fridge.

It took about 28hrs at 20c for it to start fermenting.My place gets way to hot in the summer, any brewing would be very hard work thats for sure.
 
Yeah I used 'haze' yeast for my neipa, it's usually around 18c in my utility but was shocked to see my fv sitting at 25c yesterday afternoon, the temp range is 15-20..... 😬
 
I guess I'm fortunate. We live in an old stone farmhouse. It's warm in winter and cool in summer so I can always find a room or the airing cupboard at the right temperature.
Currently sat here with a fleece on and my knees are cold.
 
Many belgian yeasts like the heat. Also Nottingham/Gervin/ Wilko Ale yeast has good temp tolerance. I've had it up to about 26C during the summer
Did the Nottingham give any noticeable flavour at higher temperatures? I've tried a couple of experiments with it at 15 and 22. The difference is perceptible but I wouldn't say there were many esters in the 22degC batch. I'm interested to know what happens when you push it?
 
Did the Nottingham give any noticeable flavour at higher temperatures? I've tried a couple of experiments with it at 15 and 22. The difference is perceptible but I wouldn't say there were many esters in the 22degC batch. I'm interested to know what happens when you push it?

I think I did blonde ales with it because it was summer and whilst they weren't pseudo lager clean like at 15C there weren't any major off flavours or anything
 
Thanks. It would seem that Notty is pretty forgiving, but at the expense of character at both ends of the temperature range.
 
I know I probably sound like a stuck record, but so long as temps don't go really high, if you want something fairly neutral you can't go wrong with Omega Hothead Ale yeast. It's a Kveik, Stranda single strain. Around 20 degrees C mark, it stays fairly neutral in flavours it adds, although the smells you get during fermentation will either make your mouth water, or make you gag if you don't like the smell of mango. Go a bit warmer (30 to 37 degrees C maybe), and you start getting lovely flavours in your beer from it. It's a workhorse that I grew to really love last time around. In fact, I have a pouch in the fridge, was the first thing I bought when I decided I was going to start up brewing again. I've made some delicious golden ales and porters with it. In fact my wife drank a couple of bottles of 1 of the goldens yesterday, whilst I downed a couple of bottles of a porter I made when I brewed last.... It's especially good if you use it with fruity hops. Oh, and yeah, pitch at higher temps means you don't have to use as much water getting your wort down that last 10 degrees that's always a killer in warm weather (even Saison and Wit yeasts you need to pitch low then let them climb in my experience). You can do the same with other Kveik strains too, I found Voss fairly neutral too, but dried wasn't about when I was last brewing, and Omega Hothead pouches were much better value, with a nicer flavour when taken to the warm side in my mind... wink...

What I reckon my tldr; here is, don't be constrained by style to your yeast choice, Kveik will work for almost anything. Porter, wheat beer, pale ale, IPA...... Just brew. I brewed all summer with it. I also brewed a Belgian wit using the Mangrove Jacks M21 Belgian Wit yeast in the heat of a summer, outside in the garden as it was too hot to do it indoors.
img_20180722_170524-jpg.14576


brewinginthedark-jpg.14587


It was delicious (yes, it got dark whilst I was still brewing, no we don't have an outside light still, yes I am wearing a headlamp....The buckets behind me were used for water from my wort chiller, as like a muppet I put the table too far away from the drain, back breaking...). ;)

One last tip, when brewing warm, use a fermenter with plenty of headspace! Things can get vigorous sometimes... lol
 
I know I probably sound like a stuck record, but so long as temps don't go really high, if you want something fairly neutral you can't go wrong with Omega Hothead Ale yeast. It's a Kveik, Stranda single strain. Around 20 degrees C mark, it stays fairly neutral in flavours it adds, although the smells you get during fermentation will either make your mouth water, or make you gag if you don't like the smell of mango. Go a bit warmer (30 to 37 degrees C maybe), and you start getting lovely flavours in your beer from it. It's a workhorse that I grew to really love last time around. In fact, I have a pouch in the fridge, was the first thing I bought when I decided I was going to start up brewing again. I've made some delicious golden ales and porters with it. In fact my wife drank a couple of bottles of 1 of the goldens yesterday, whilst I downed a couple of bottles of a porter I made when I brewed last.... It's especially good if you use it with fruity hops. Oh, and yeah, pitch at higher temps means you don't have to use as much water getting your wort down that last 10 degrees that's always a killer in warm weather (even Saison and Wit yeasts you need to pitch low then let them climb in my experience). You can do the same with other Kveik strains too, I found Voss fairly neutral too, but dried wasn't about when I was last brewing, and Omega Hothead pouches were much better value, with a nicer flavour when taken to the warm side in my mind... wink...

What I reckon my tldr; here is, don't be constrained by style to your yeast choice, Kveik will work for almost anything. Porter, wheat beer, pale ale, IPA...... Just brew. I brewed all summer with it. I also brewed a Belgian wit using the Mangrove Jacks M21 Belgian Wit yeast in the heat of a summer, outside in the garden as it was too hot to do it indoors.
img_20180722_170524-jpg.14576


brewinginthedark-jpg.14587


It was delicious (yes, it got dark whilst I was still brewing, no we don't have an outside light still, yes I am wearing a headlamp....The buckets behind me were used for water from my wort chiller, as like a muppet I put the table too far away from the drain, back breaking...). ;)

One last tip, when brewing warm, use a fermenter with plenty of headspace! Things can get vigorous sometimes... lol

What flavours are you getting at the top end of the temp scale with the OMEGA HH kveik?
 
As has been mentioned, kveik can be a good way to go but it does depend on the strain and it's not quite the same as using normal yeast. But these are simple issues which are easy to overcome, and this forum has a kveik thread which is very helpful.

I've seen a lot of brewers recommend wet tshirt over a fermenter trick, never tried it myself but many do use it.
 
What flavours are you getting at the top end of the temp scale with the OMEGA HH kveik?

Hints of mango/tropical, but just hints as I haven't gone that high with it. I used it in my Ponder's Paradise Porter, along with Citra and Mosaic hops, and it's a very very fruity beer. Dark and fruity. Still drinking it now, and it's been perfect for the current warm weather.

All I do "different" for Kveik to be honest is to make sure I put some yeast nutrient into the boil, as it's hungry yeast, oh along with not cooling the wort as far and pitching a lot less of it. I now have an image though of a various fermenters lined up in a wet t-shirt contest though.... lol

I'm unlikely to ever get a brewing fridge now (wife snuck in a 2nd fridge freezer....but at least she doesn't complain about me having a draw in 1 of them for my hops now...), so I just adjusted to brewing according to the prevailing weather conditions at the time. I started out testing which dried yeasts could cope with 20/22 degrees C fermentations, found 1 that was ok but you still get some brews that burn as they go down if you get a spike, so not worth it.
 
Hints of mango/tropical, but just hints as I haven't gone that high with it. I used it in my Ponder's Paradise Porter, along with Citra and Mosaic hops, and it's a very very fruity beer. Dark and fruity. Still drinking it now, and it's been perfect for the current warm weather.

All I do "different" for Kveik to be honest is to make sure I put some yeast nutrient into the boil, as it's hungry yeast, oh along with not cooling the wort as far and pitching a lot less of it. I now have an image though of a various fermenters lined up in a wet t-shirt contest though.... lol

I'm unlikely to ever get a brewing fridge now (wife snuck in a 2nd fridge freezer....but at least she doesn't complain about me having a draw in 1 of them for my hops now...), so I just adjusted to brewing according to the prevailing weather conditions at the time. I started out testing which dried yeasts could cope with 20/22 degrees C fermentations, found 1 that was ok but you still get some brews that burn as they go down if you get a spike, so not worth it.


Thanks for the info :hat:

I like fruity esters in English style beers and I also like pseudo lagers which of course require a clean ferment with no esters. I also like the idea of having one yeast that can do both (one yeast to rule them all! :laugh8: ) I think kviek might be what I'm after seeing as it can do both
 
Thanks for the info :hat:

I like fruity esters in English style beers and I also like pseudo lagers which of course require a clean ferment with no esters. I also like the idea of having one yeast that can do both (one yeast to rule them all! :laugh8: ) I think kviek might be what I'm after seeing as it can do both

Yeah, I reckon the Hothead is probably right up your street to be honest. I read before how quite a few in the US were fermenting at 18-22 degrees C and making pseudo lagers with it. I, like you, lover versatility and stuff that doesn't need a load of faff and pampering. athumb..
 
It's down to 12 here today from 25+ yesterday.
I've got a pale to bottle that's been in the fv for 3 weeks..it had the first week and a half at around 20 but then hovered around 23/24 even with a wet towel round it so hopefully it'll be ok.
The Tribute clone is in the brew fridge at 19 and has had a week so I plan to take this out as the temps have dropped and put it where the pale is as I want the fridge for this week's brew which either way is a hot fermentation...
Either a Saison at 28 or another pale at 35 with my first go a Kveik... decisions!!
 
I’ve got a sachet of W34 which despite being a larger yeast is meant to, ferment fairly cleanly up to 28 degrees, so will be giving it a go this weekend.

As has being mentioned Omega Hothead I found works really well, I used it last year in a couple of batches of a Landlord clone, and found the slightly tropical taste worked really well in the beer. I’ve tried dried Voss Kweik which so far and wasn’t hugely pleased with the result, was very tart almost but it was a two year old one can kit brewed with a kilo of sugar so am going to try it again and hope it was other issues that caused the problem. WHE Ubbe I round produces a really clean ferment and seemed to be almost neutral in terms of flavour.
 
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