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I brewed and then the storm came

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by marathonman, Dec 9, 2013.

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  1. marathonman

    marathonman Initiate (0) May 1, 2009 Texas

    I brewed a stout last Wednesday and by Thursday evening the air lock was popping at a good pace. That night a heavy winter storm hit and early Friday morning I lost power. The fermentation slowed and came to a standstill. Power is back on as of 7am this morning. What do I need to do to save this beer? Any help is appreciated.
     
    #1 marathonman, Dec 9, 2013
  2. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand Pooh-Bah (5,533) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    So the lack of power means a loss of heat as being your issue? I don't think there will be any problem with the beer finishing up. The yeast likely went dormant but should revive and finish their work. I'd try to slowly get the temp up to around 70-72 for a brief period to 'goose' those little buggers a bit and wake them up, then back to 65-70 for the finishing process.
     
    #2 PapaGoose03, Dec 9, 2013
  3. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,055) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Nothing. As long as your wort temperature gets back to where it was, the yeast will finish the job. And no need to 'goose' above that range. (And I can think of at least two reasons not to.)
     
    #3 VikeMan, Dec 9, 2013
  4. Tebuken

    Tebuken Initiate (0) Jun 6, 2009 Argentina

    Normally yeast will come back to work when temperature falls in the correct range, if it doesn´t(wait 6-8 hours) then give the fermentor a gentle shake to rouse yeast.
     
    #4 Tebuken, Dec 9, 2013
  5. RichardMNixon

    RichardMNixon Maven (1,407) Jun 24, 2012 Pennsylvania

    How far off the temperature did it get? Did you measure the gravity? It could just be done with the visibly active part of fermentation?
     
    #5 RichardMNixon, Dec 9, 2013
  6. Ilanko

    Ilanko Initiate (0) Aug 3, 2012 New York

    As long as your worth never freezes you are good. Total freezing will break the yeast membrane cell and kill it.
     
    #6 Ilanko, Dec 9, 2013
  7. HerbMeowing

    HerbMeowing Maven (1,283) Nov 10, 2010 Virginia
    Trader

    Rookie error.
     
    #7 HerbMeowing, Dec 10, 2013
  8. skivtjerry

    skivtjerry Pooh-Bah (1,853) Mar 10, 2006 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah

    I've had several lagers partially freeze when fermenting in our attached greenhouse in the winter. They all resumed fermenting when they warmed up and were fine. No need to do anything special.
     
    #8 skivtjerry, Dec 10, 2013
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