2nd fermentation too warm?

MikeH

Hello all,

I've got a John Bull traditional English ale in my pressure barrel and a little bit bottled and a Simply pale ale bottled.  What I'm worried about is that it's too warm in my flat?  I know the beer needs to be warm for a few days to start secondary fermentation but then moved somewhere cooler.  My problem is that I don't have anywhere cooler right now - it's about 26 degrees in the coolest area here just now.  I can't open the windows on the South West side of my flat because of the fag-reek coming in from the smokers by the building's door and I can't open the windows on the North East side in the evening when I want to watch TV due to road noise.  This all conspires to produce a flat like a sauna.  Will the lack of a cooler place cause a problem or does it just mean it'll take longer to condition?

Any thoughts or advise greatly appreciated, I don't want to ruin 80 pints of beer!

Cheers, Mike...

HBO_Staff

Hi Mike, the idea of keeping the brew somewhere warm for a few days is to help the priming sugar dissolve and start carbonation, moving it somewhere a bit cooler will help it to clear, but when it is very hot this can be difficult to do. We recommend you try and find somewhere dark or at least covered and away from direct sunlight, and just leave it to condition in the bottles. It will clear and carbonate, and you shouldn't worry about it, you may like to pop a few in the fridge before drinking if wanting them served cooler, this can in some cases (but not all) cause the brew to appear cloudy, but this is just a 'chill haze' and is perfectly normal too

MikeH

Thanks for the reassurance.  I was just worried that not being able to move it onto a cooler place after the initial warm spell might spoil the flavours.  Good to know it'll be all right.  I have the bottles inside cardboard boxes so should be plenty dark enough.  The barrel on the other hand just has a black bin liner over it, I might see if I can put something more solid over it to block out more light, those things are so thin they block very little out.  It was mainly to keep prying eyes off it during my flat inspection!

Thanks again for your reassurance and I'm looking forwards to some great beer in a few weeks time.

Cheers, Mike....