Brewing Master

Question:

Jon, This month’s Brew Your Own magazine had a neat tip that might help you get closer to that 58 degree temperature.  Try "swamp cooling" your fermenter. (Don’t panic… it’s not as gross as it sounds!)  Put some wet towels around the fermentor, then aim a fan at it.  The blowing air evaporates the water, which keeps the fermenter cool.      Please keep in mind that I have never tried this (although I’m going to, with the dunkel I’m brewing next week!), so I don’t know how well it works. As for the flavors, I once brewed a Vienna using 2206 and fermented it at the upper 60s-low 70s range (gasps from the hard-core lager types) for a week due to my lack of an adequately cool area, then racked to secondary where it stayed for about 2 months at 38-40 degrees.  It came out GREAT, with no noticeable fruity esters. Now, those hard-core lager brewers who gasped earlier may call that heresy, but that was pretty dang good beer! Ric – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Yesterday I brewed a maibock with a double decoction and I am using the wyeast #2206, bavarian lager. My problem is that I am not able to ferment it at 50 degrees. The packet says that the top of the reccommended range is 58, and the place I am fermenting it is about that, with a little cooler temp overnight. What types of flavors does this yeast produce at warm temps? Are the flavors similar to the fruitiness in steam beers or are they unpleasant? I plan to "lager" in the garage after the primary, which will be anywhere between 35 and 50 degrees depending on the weather etc. I want to avoid a flavor that some lagers at my homebrew club have had. it is sort of sulphery-diacetylish, (DMS or acetaldehyde?). Anyone familiar with the taste i am talking about? A little fruitiness wont be the end of the world, but i want to avoid the aforementioned flavor that may appear in younger lagers etc.

Response:

What types of flavors does this yeast produce at warm temps? Are the flavors similar to the fruitiness in steam beers or are they unpleasant? I plan to "lager" in the garage after the primary, which will be anywhere between 35 and 50 degrees depending on the weather etc. I want to avoid a flavor that some lagers at my homebrew club have had. it is sort of sulphery-diacetylish, (DMS or acetaldehyde?). Anyone familiar with the taste i am talking about? A little fruitiness wont be the end of the world, but i want to avoid the aforementioned flavor that may appear in younger lagers etc.

Last march I brewed a "bock" w/ this yeast and temps got into the upper 50s and *maybe* even 60.   This made a bad beer, unpleasant fruitiness and harsh flavors.  Other yeast types more forgiving.  Do what you must do to keep temperature down below 55F. Phil

Response:

Another way to get the same results is to put your carboy in a tub of water (6 – 8 in), put a Tshirt over the carboy and leave the botom of the tshirt in the water. the water will wick through the tshirt so you don’t have to keep wetting it down. If you put a fan on it, it can lower the temp by as much as 15 degrees. Luck. If everyone brewed there own beer, there would be no war.

Response:

I put my carboy in a picknick cooler and fill it up with water.  Then I drop frozen 2liter bottles of ICE or blue ice blocks into the water.  I’ve fermented at 60(f) in august in Atlanta with this method. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Jon, This month’s Brew Your Own magazine had a neat tip that might help you get closer to that 58 degree temperature.  Try "swamp cooling" your fermenter. (Don’t panic… it’s not as gross as it sounds!)  Put some wet towels around the fermentor, then aim a fan at it.  The blowing air evaporates the water, which keeps the fermenter cool.     Please keep in mind that I have never tried this (although I’m going to, with the dunkel I’m brewing next week!), so I don’t know how well it works. As for the flavors, I once brewed a Vienna using 2206 and fermented it at the upper 60s-low 70s range (gasps from the hard-core lager types) for a week due to my lack of an adequately cool area, then racked to secondary where it stayed for about 2 months at 38-40 degrees.  It came out GREAT, with no noticeable fruity esters. Now, those hard-core lager brewers who gasped earlier may call that heresy, but that was pretty dang good beer! Ric Yesterday I brewed a maibock with a double decoction and I am using the wyeast #2206, bavarian lager. My problem is that I am not able to ferment it at 50 degrees. The packet says that the top of the reccommended range is 58, and the place I am fermenting it is about that, with a little cooler temp overnight. What types of flavors does this yeast produce at warm temps? Are the flavors similar to the fruitiness in steam beers or are they unpleasant? I plan to "lager" in the garage after the primary, which will be anywhere between 35 and 50 degrees depending on the weather etc. I want to avoid a flavor that some lagers at my homebrew club have had. it is sort of sulphery-diacetylish, (DMS or acetaldehyde?). Anyone familiar with the taste i am talking about? A little fruitiness wont be the end of the world, but i want to avoid the aforementioned flavor that may appear in younger lagers etc.

BigJohn You know what to cut!!

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Yesterday I brewed a maibock with a double decoction and I am using the wyeast #2206, bavarian lager. My problem is that I am not able to ferment it at 50 degrees. The packet says that the top of the reccommended range is 58, and the place I am fermenting it is about that, with a little cooler temp overnight. What types of flavors does this yeast produce at warm temps? Are the flavors similar to the fruitiness in steam beers or are they unpleasant? I plan to "lager" in the garage after the primary, which will be anywhere between 35 and 50 degrees depending on the weather etc. I want to avoid a flavor that some lagers at my homebrew club have had. it is sort of sulphery-diacetylish, (DMS or acetaldehyde?). Anyone familiar with the taste i am talking about? A little fruitiness wont be the end of the world, but i want to avoid the aforementioned flavor that may appear in younger lagers etc. Any advice that people can share who have used this yeast would be greatly appreciated. post to the group and email too. Thanks.

See the "bitter lager" in that I posted in this thread.  We used the Wyeast Bavarian Lager yeast. Mike Cibulka

Response:

Yesterday I brewed a maibock with a double decoction and I am using the wyeast #2206, bavarian lager. My problem is that I am not able to ferment it at 50 degrees. The packet says that the top of the reccommended range is 58, and the place I am fermenting it is about that, with a little cooler temp overnight. What types of flavors does this yeast produce at warm temps? Are the flavors similar to the fruitiness in steam beers or are they unpleasant? I plan to "lager" in the garage after the primary, which will be anywhere between 35 and 50 degrees depending on the weather etc. I want to avoid a flavor that some lagers at my homebrew club have had. it is sort of sulphery-diacetylish, (DMS or acetaldehyde?). Anyone familiar with the taste i am talking about? A little fruitiness wont be the end of the world, but i want to avoid the aforementioned flavor that may appear in younger lagers etc. Any advice that people can share who have used this yeast would be greatly appreciated. post to the group and email too. Thanks.

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