Just cooked my yeast at 28c! Help Please.

[Pav]

Ooops. That was a error!

Added the yeast at 21.8C , which I figured was close enough to 21c.

BUT then stuck it on a pets heating pad thinking I'd keep it warm as the house is cooler now. Checked today 2 days into fermentation and very few bubbles. Checked temperature and found it was 28c!!

Has this killed the yeast. If it has what can I do to save this brew? or is it a write off?? I am hoping I can just add more yeast?

This was my first brew using spray malt and fear I may have lost it!

Thanks.

[steve_flack]

It won't have killed the yeast but the flavour of the beer might be a bit solventy and it could well be headache city.

[Pav]

Doesn't sound great! ,

Will it be safe to drink? Solventy / Headache city..... what has happened to the brew (I know the cause, but not able to reason why it creates solventy taste or causes more headaches). Is the headache caused by toxins?? ... I don't want to go blind.

Sounds like this could be a bit of a dissapointment. Any silver lining to the cloud?

Is there anything I should do? , or do I just leave it, and barrel / bottle it as per usual.

Thanks.

[steve_flack]

Taste it and see what it's like. Might be OK

[BlackBag]

I've fell foul of fermenting at too high a temperature a couple of times so let me pass on my experience.
When your brew has fermented at too high a temperature fusel alcohols are created. In essence this can give the brew a fruity chemical taste. At worst it may smell like nail varnish remover! Something with high levels of fusel alcohols will give you an instant bad head. If the levels are a little lower you may just notice more of a pronounced hangover the next day. Somehow, and I don't know the exact science behind this, if the level aint too high, and you leave your brew to condition a little longer in the bottle/barrel, the effects are not as discernible.
I made a stout in the summer that fermented all the way through at about 26 degrees or higher. My subsequent bad hangovers prompted my fusel alcohol research. That brew is about 3 months old now and tasting just fine, and any hangover I get with it now is purely down to over consumption.
I would suggest with your brew not to worry too much. Carry on as normal. If the ferment sticks, then follow all the advice on here. When you've bottled/barrelled it, leave it at least 3 month before trying. What have you got to lose?
I've just "killed" a Samson's strong ale by using a brewbelt wrongly. My own stupid fault. It's carried on fermenting though, and when it's done it'll be bottled and not opened until next summer. Hopefully it'll be grand.

[clogwog]

Your yeast will love you for giving them a nice warm environment at 28ºC, and they'll do the job really well at that temperature.
However, as pointed out by others above, it will also create fusel alcohol and other potential unwanted fermentation by-products.
All you can do now is to suck it and see. Try racking it to secondary, and cold conditioning it for about 4 weeks. You might drop out some your unwanted side effects, but you are still likely to end up with a less than pristine beer.

I learned this lesson with my first ever brew, also fermented in mid-summer here, at 28ºC using a lager yeast. Not good!

What a lot of the brewers in Australia do is to route the power for the heat belt or pad through one of those light etc timing devices, so that it only comes on say in the early morning during the coldest period of the day, for an hour or two.
Once you have your fermentation up and running, it tends to generate its own exothermic heat, and there is less need for an external heat source.

[Pav]

Cheers for the advice. It seems that I have a stable 19c now so should have left the heat pad alone.

I have been suprised however by the lack of serious fermenting from this brew. My previous brews have always had a LARGE head of froth during fermenting. This has created the odd surface froth, but only a bubble deep. 4 days into the brew there are only a scattering of surface bubbles.

I don't know if I missed it during the 1st 2 days or if it hasn't got going properly.

I am guessing I need to use the hydrometer wizardry thing that my Dad gave me years ago, and that I have never done anything with!

What should the reading be roughly before I steralise and drop it in? If it hasn't reached it I am guessing I monitor for a day and if it still isn't moving add new yeast?

I thankfully have had reasonable straight forward brews in my previous days of brewing so this is throwing me a bit.

Cheers.

[steve_flack]

Chances are it's done and finished and you just missed it. If it's S-04 it could easily have done it in that time at that temp.

[Pav]

Cool... I'll leave it till after the weekend and Bottle or Barrel.. and then wait and see what this brew turns out like....

if I can find this thread I'll post back in about 8 weeks!

Cheers for the help and advice. Hopefully the next one will be a bit more straight forward as won't make the same mistake twice!