Good afternoon! Two days ago I tried my hand at brewing a Bavarian wheat beer using Safbrew WB-06 dry wheat beer yeast. I have 3 gallons of wort in a 5 gallon plastic vessel with a lid (sealed tight) and an air lock. I havent seen any airlock activity in the 48 hours since pitching so I opened her up and took a look. I saw a small island of foam and about 1/4 inch of krausen residue on the side but no krausen remaining. Should I repitch? I'm a little unsure here because I pitched at about 95°F which I know isnt ideal but a hot house, 85°F "cold" sink water, and no ice left me just frustrated enough to pitch it a little hot. Not sure if this is real or imaginary but the wort seemed to sparkle in the light from my flashlight so I'm not sure if that can be a sign of activity. Unless there is an overwhelmingly obvious need to take action I plan on waiting but thought I'd take a chance to draw on others wisdom. Any help is great!
It sounds like you pitched warm (to put it mildly) and had a fast fermentation. I'd take a gravity reading before even thinking about pitching more yeast. A lack of airlock activity could be due to a leaky lid. You say it was tightly sealed, but how do you know?
Sorry, forgot to add that, I had an initial gravity reading (after the boil and pitching) of 1.050 and the reading today is 1.016
Provably the wise move. I'm pretty sure the lid is sealed because the slightest press on it sends a lot of air out of the airlock. If it was coming out the side I'd assume the airlock would be not bubbling when the lid is pressed. I've been reading and it does sound like a fast fermentation... What effect does that have on taste, alcohol content, and clarity? I'm going to let it age another week in primary and then about 3 weeks in secondary before botteling so hopefully that can offset any issues? Lol *hopefully*
The high temp will have stressed the yeast and they in turn would have produced fusel alcohols. The taste may be hot and solvent-like, nail polish perhaps. They are also noted as contributing to worse headaches. The actual alcohol content would remain relative the amount of sugar the yeast have to consume, so that wouldn't change. Not sure they would affect clarity. They can mellow out with time, like in a big beer that needs some age on it anyway. Was there any attempt to lower and maintain the temp after you pitched? Heat will be generated from active fermentation, so the internal temp can be even higher than you might think. Temperature control is one of the most important things you can do to improve your beer.
I attempted to cool the wort but didn't have any ice and the temperature in my home was pretty high plus our "cold water" is hardly cold. All of this led me to pitch at 100, cap it, and walk away for the night. I was ambitious that day so I brewed a batch of wine, cider, and this beer and by the time I got to the beer it was late and patients were thing I had no real way of cooling the vessel after pitching so it sat in a closet. To be honest my home rarely reaches below 80 from april-october (desert living), how can I regulate temps during fermentation with heat like this? I doubt I'll be able to invest in any expensive solutions.
Try a water bath with rotating ice packs or 2 liters of frozen water. Wrap the fermenter a towel soaked in cold water. You might also stick to beers that like warmer fermenting temperatures during the hot season.
@DBelle93 As a fellow Texan, I feel your pain. I say don't give up on the beer, fermentation is most likely over (though you should get another gravity reading to confirm). Bottle condition them and try one in a month. For future reference, I would get a used fridge, or chest freezer, or mini-fridge to use as a fermentation chamber and control your temps. Look at craigs list, and fb sales groups for your area. Wiring a controller to maintain a temp is pretty cheap and doesn't require much know how. Check out the STC-1000. Are you using a bath method to get your temps down, or do you have an immersion chiller?
