Brown ale fermentation schedule advice wanted

I had an American Amber that I set my fermentation chamber at 67°F and the GCFI outlet went out for some reason over night and by the time I checked it when I got home from work the following day it was at 73°F. The chamber is in my basement that holds at 66-69°F year round, and I pitched a proper starter after cooling to my desired temperature. The beer was ok, but this is a recipe I've made several times and know how it should taste.

 

How did it taste differently from the ones that you've made before?

 

WLP001 was the yeast, so the ester production wasn't terrible but there was a light pomme and peach ester that clashed with the malt character and muddled the grapefruit/citrus aroma of the cascade and centennial. Not a bad beer but not what it should have been.

 

Yes, many times, My saisons regularly increase 6-8 degrees during fermentation. I didn’t know your level of experience and im happy your process works well for you.

I just wanted to point out fermentation temperature and ambient temperature are two different things and I thought the OP and other possible beginners should know. Controlling my fermentation temperature improved my beer tremendously in the early years.

Cheers

 

How do the rest of your beers fare?

The "level of experience" thing wasn't meant to convey superiority or anything. It was just a frame of reference. Same thing if I said, "After brewing X-amount of beers . . . ". Either way, saying something like that always comes off as dickish. Sorry about that.

How are you determining and controlling your temperature of fermentation?

 

No, worries. I use a chest freezer with a temperature probe.

 

FWIW, I've seen as high as 7F above ambient, measured with a probe in a thermowell. I don't have a lot of data points though, because I normally use temp control setups.

 

That's really what I was looking for. Should have worded that initial post a LOT better.

 

I have. I was fermenting with irish ale yeast, the beer started at 1.110. Temps got out of control in my basement, esters and fusels really impacted the flavor. I now use temp control for my big beers, and utilize a more neutral yeast as well.
More on topic of a secondary, I don't unless I am bulk aging something. My concern is oxidation and cutting short the conditioning process. Diacetyl is real, and I don't plan on dumping a batch of buttered popcorn anytime soon. Also, secondary makes your beer take LONGER to clear than just leaving it alone.

 

Probably a good idea, that.

Have you had diacetyl issues in the past?

I have found the opposite to be true. Any science on that?

 

Yes, I have had diacetyl issues before using a secondary.
Flocculation is a function of gravity, temperature, and time. If it takes a week for a particle to flocc halfway out, and you rack to secondary, wouldn't it stand to reason you would have started the process over again? It's simple physics really. It may even take longer as the larger pieces that were flocculating in primary will not be in secondary to attract smaller pieces to itself as it drops.

 

Interesting. Care to share the details, if you can remember them? Never had an issue, myself, and am curious about specifics.

Sort of. More than any of that, flocculation is a function of the specific yeast strain that you are using and its genetic predisposition to fall out of solution. I have always found that getting the beer off of the yeast cake causes more yeast to fall out of solution, but, then again, I've been using this technique for a long time without comparing it to not racking and I've never done a side by side for comparison. You can rouse a yeast temporarily back into solution after it has flocculated, but rousing will not keep it there for any prolonged period of time, so it is more than simple physics that is dictating flocculation.

 

Flocculation is not solely about yeast but polyphenols, proteins, and other haze causing solids that are in suspension.
perhaps I should have said precipitate rather than flocculate

 

Agreed. There are certainly many epigenetic concerns when it comes to the behavior of single cell organisms, like yeast. All of which make their behavior more complex than "simple physics".

Na . . . flocculate was the right term.

 

I would like to see hard evidence either way. Exbeeriment?

 

Here are three excellent papers, complete with citations:

https://www.cmbe.engr.uga.edu/bche4520/Other/Ch3/Verstrepen et al 2003 Appl Microbiol Biotechnol.pdf
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0065291108602155
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ncmh/documents/bger/volume-10/bger10-6.pdf

A quick search doesn't reveal much, but I'll keep looking.