Warning: I ruined 6 months of cold brew by not measuring my water temperature once

I thought I had my cold brew recipe nailed down. Same beans, same ratio, same 18 hour steep in the fridge every time. Last week it came out tasting sour and flat. Couldn't figure out why until I realized my tap water temp had jumped from 58 degrees to 72 because the water heater got adjusted. Never thought a cold brew would be that sensitive to starting water temp. Has anyone else had a batch go wrong from something this small?

2 comments

2 Comments

caseyw1220d ago

Seventy two degrees? That explains why my last batch tasted like sadness and regret.

matthew_owens920d ago

Yeah 72 is way too warm for fermenting. Your yeast probably stressed out and threw off all those weird fusel alcohols. Try keeping it in the low to mid 60s next time, even high 50s for some styles. A cheap temperature controller and a used mini fridge will fix your sad beer problem real quick.