The other thing to consider is that an anaerobic pile will be very obvious - there's generally no "might be anaerobic" about it. It will be soggy, slimy and it will stink! As Rick says, those "fermenatation products" smell bad.
If your pile has just burned down aerobically, and you have finished compost at the bottom in the springtime when you get back to turning it, it will smell good and look like rich, dark crumbly "garden gold".
