Brewing disaster

[Paulk2022]

Hey all,

This has got 2 parts the first is just an interesting problem and the second is a disaster.

I brewed a Kolsch yesterday and ended with an OG of 1.060, so I used the calculator and it said to add 11.2L to the 45L I had, so I pitched the yeast and then went through the process of boiling and cooling 11.2L. Added that 30 minutes later and got the same OG, 1.060. Thought to myself maybe it's to do with particulate matter so I'll let it drop from suspension and I'll test it in the morning. Ended up at 1.060 at 11:15 AM, probably no surprise there. Any ideas about what's happening?

The Disaster: 2 mistakes, first I installed a thermowell in the top but because I'm doing half batches I don't think it was touching the wort, the second, I decided that there was no chance it would overheat overnight so I didn't hook up the cooling coil. Anyway, the beer cooled slowly from 7 PM to 3:15 AM at which point the element must have turned on and the temperature rose to 25C/77F by 4 AM and 43c/110F by 5 AM, then it dropped slowly from there till I discovered it at 11:15 and turned the cooling on.
So...
1. Does extra heating change the wort chemistry?
2. I'm assuming the yeast is dead, did they have time to ruin the beer or shall I just pitch some more packets after I buy some tomorrow? is 36 hours without yeast going to be a problem?

 

[Paulk2022]

I guess I should add that I have an Inkbird wifi thermostat and I got that info from the app temp history. There was no data from 3:15 till 4 which is just a wifi issue I assume but I'm guessing it got a fair bit higher than 43C as that would be an air temp reading.

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

I brewed a Kolsch yesterday and ended with an OG of 1.060, so I used the calculator and it said to add 11.2L to the 45L I had, so I pitched the yeast and then went through the process of boiling and cooling 11.2L. Added that 30 minutes later and got the same OG, 1.060. Thought to myself maybe it's to do with particulate matter so I'll let it drop from suspension and I'll test it in the morning. Ended up at 1.060 at 11:15 AM, probably no surprise there. Any ideas about what's happening?

Constant 1.060? Weird. How did you measure the wort gravity? If it was with a hydrometer, did you calibrate it and did you adjust the reading for temperature of the sample?

1. Does extra heating change the wort chemistry?
2. I'm assuming the yeast is dead, did they have time to ruin the beer or shall I just pitch some more packets after I buy some tomorrow? is 36 hours without yeast going to be a problem?

Wort chemistry would not be affected by 110°F heat. However, it would kill your yeast, unless you are using a kviek strain, and even that would be pushing it. I'd just pitch new yeast as soon as you can. As long at your sanitation practices are good, 36 hours with dead or weak yeast should not be a problem.

 

[Paulk2022]

Yeah Hydrometer was calibrated at 20C and yes I adjusted.

 

[TetersMillBrewing]

is 36 hours without yeast going to be a problem

I don't have enough experience to really answer your question accurately. I agree that you killed the yeast. I would heat to 160, cool and pitch new yeast. The only reason I would heat it up is to kill any bacteria that may have started. Hard to just toss out that much wort without at least trying.

 

[Zambi]

I would also think you killed the yeast. But this dead yeast has now become yeast nutrient
I would pitch new yeast. In the worst case it is an over pitch.

Problem 1 is basically impossible. Got to be human error somewhere, but I can't really see why.
Maybe your real OG was higher than you measured (maybe wort was not mixed properly) and after adding your water, it became 1.060....

 

[GFHomebrew]

Wow poor bugger!

All above suggestions id do in your situation.

Good luck try and laugh about it and be positive were all human after all.

 

[Paulk2022]

Haha thanks all

 

[Minbari]

I wouldn't call it a tragedy, lol. Definitely a learning experience.

As others said, i wouldnt trust the yeast isn't dead. Pitch new

As for the gravity reading, no way you added 20% more water and ended up with the same reading. Not sure what the explanation is, maybe stuff settled between readings? I wouldn't sweat it.

Definitely get a longer thermo well. Mine reaches about 2\3 of the way down. I can't risk it not being submerged and telling the controller to heat forever

 

[Donoroto]

Ugh. No fun, but definitely saveable with a new pitch

As for that persistent OG, it is very odd but I have no ideas as to how or why.

 

[Dornbox]

I’ve never had issues with my hydrometer since I started brewing around 30 years ago. This year I’ve had 3 such experiences similar to yours. In fact this weekend my beer at close to finish time was 5 points low. Normally I would have boiled more off or called it good but I happened to have a bag of DME on hand. So I called out what I needed for 5 points and added it in. A couple minutes later out I checked my gravity and it was dead on. After knocking out I always pull a cold sample when transferring my chilled wort into the fermenter. I was 5 point high. I have no idea what happed but i know temperature correction was not the issue. I’ve also had random low readings that I can only attribute to stratification in both my kettle and even once in my fermenter. The fermenter turned out dead on when I kegged the beer. But all on this year.

I’m going to blame it on climate change.

 

[GFHomebrew]

I’ve never had issues with my hydrometer since I started brewing around 30 years ago. This year I’ve had 3 such experiences similar to yours. In fact this weekend my beer at close to finish time was 5 points low. Normally I would have boiled more off or called it good but I happened to have a bag of DME on hand. So I called out what I needed for 5 points and added it in. A couple minutes later out I checked my gravity and it was dead on. After knocking out I always pull a cold sample when transferring my chilled wort into the fermenter. I was 5 point high. I have no idea what happed but i know temperature correction was not the issue. I’ve also had random low readings that I can only attribute to stratification in both my kettle and even once in my fermenter. The fermenter turned out dead on when I kegged the beer. But all on this year.

I’m going to blame it on climate change.

Bloody climate change even affecting out gravity readings .
It must be the sudden changes in atmospheric pressure that's causing the hydrometer to float lower one minute than higher the next !

Yeah gotta check your hydrometer readings in an atmospheric controlled chamber....

Sorta why they don't brew beer on the international space station.

 

[Donoroto]

I’m going to blame it on climate change.

Let's see if we can get the Guv-mint to give us $38 billion to fix it. Not sure it's enough, but we can use that for the study at least.

 

[Minbari]

Let's see if we can get the Guv-mint to give us $38 billion to fix it. Not sure it's enough, but we can use that for the study at least.

prolly only get the permits for the study for that kind of money.

 

[Ward Chillington]

so I pitched the yeast and then went through the process of boiling and cooling 11.2L.

If what you wrote here is literally the order you did things in then, there's your problem! You killed your yeast and will continue to if you are pitching THEN boiling! Pitch when you've cooled down your boiled wort and don't pitch outside of a 10°F difference between your wort and your starter / pouch / or packet. You don't want to shock them!

Also....

OG of 1.060, so I used the calculator and it said to add 11.2L to the 45L I had,

What calculator? What 11.2 L of what into the 45 L of what?

 

[Paulk2022]

If what you wrote here is literally the order you did things in then, there's your problem! You killed your yeast and will continue to if you are pitching THEN boiling! Pitch when you've cooled down your boiled wort and don't pitch outside of a 10°F difference between your wort and your starter / pouch / or packet. You don't want to shock them!

Also....



What calculator? What 11.2 L of what into the 45 L of what?

I see how that's confusing, I pitched the yeast into the 45L of cooled wort, which had given me a gravity reading of 1.060, then I boiled 11.2L of water, cooled it to the wort temp and tossed it into the wort. The calculator I used was the brewers friend dilution and boil off gravity calculator

 

[Ward Chillington]

Ok....Mr. Literal says thank you!

Now...what's your hydrometer read in plain water! Does it have a crack in it?

 

[Paulk2022]

Update!
The beer is well and truly ruined, excluding the first brew I ever did, which didn't have temperature control at all, this is my first ruined batch but lesson learned, make sure the thermometer is reading wort temp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the rest of the story: Before my original post I had taken the thermometer out of the thermowell and placed it directly in the wort through the airlock bung, the temperature remained stable for the rest of Sunday till Monday morning where I increased it by 3 degrees to prepare for the new yeast pitch.

At the same time as increasing the temp I pulled the thermometer out and double checked the length was long enough to be just under the half way mark of the wort, I fed it back through the bung and went and bought some yeast (HUGE MISTAKE). Came home to find that for some reason the temp was 28C/82F. (Don't ask why I didn't investigate further at this point, probably something to do with being annoyed, and thinking there maybe something wrong with the element or thermostat)

I decided at this point to use some blue-tac to plug up any potential holes around the thermometer wire in the bung before pitching the new yeast but before I pitched the airlock began bubbling like mad and foaming out the top within seconds. That is some hardy yeast!!!! Drew a sample and found they had done approximately a third of the primary fermentation. Taste was not great, a lot of banana.

Decided to let it go, had to replace the cooling water a couple times due to temp spikes and then this morning decided I would open it up and investigate the thermometer. Yep, that's right, the thermometer wasn't reading wort temp again, it had hit the top of the cooling coil that comes through the top of the fermenter and was reading the coolest part of the vessel. I drew another sample today and the flavour was gag inducing.

In hindsight if I hadn't assumed the yeast was dead and had made sure the airlock was airtight I would have discovered an active fermentation either Sunday night or Monday morning and wouldn't have messed up the thermometer positioning a second time. Doh! Maybe the beer would have been drinkable.

This has been a comedy of errors! Good news is I've got Kolsch yeast I need to use. Looks like I'll be having an emergency brew night tomorrow.

 

[Herm brews]

I am a pretty simple guy who brews what I think is pretty good beer without any electronics. Surprises in temperature control can’t be good for beer. Lucky for me living in a home where an interior closet maintains relatively stable temps year round for the brewing of ales.
Good for those of you who do attempt to control temps in the effort of making better beer. Cheers!

 

[Zambi]

Sorry to hear Paul, but at least you found your problem
Good luck with your next brew!