Got Lazy Today and Pitched Octoberfest Too Hot

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Newgene

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2010
Messages
212
Reaction score
8
Location
Waveland
Well, it's my third batch in 10 days, and I wasn't paying attention. I just brewed an Octoberfest, and the wort temperature was 67F. The yeast temp was about the same. I usually set the wort in the fermentation chamber to get it cold and then pitch, but I don't know what I was thinking. I'm guessing I had the ale temps in my head for some reason.

I pitched it about an hour and half ago, and my temperature taped to the side of the fermenter is now down to 55-56F. I'm guessing the wort temperature is very close. I'm actually more concerned with the hot pitch than the rapid decent in temperature.

At this rate, it looks like it may have a total of about 3 hours to run in the hotter than desired range, and I may be shocking the yeast some. I pitched a stepped up starter that was about a 20% overpitch to start with. The batch of yeast is a washed 34/70 that I made a great pilsner with. This is my first Octoberfest, and I'm hoping the intense maltiness can cover any off flavors. I plan to do a diacetyl rest anyway, but I was really looking forward to this one. Oops.
 
What is the yeast you are using and its suggest range?

The yeast I use regularly is supposedly safe up to something like 90 without damage to the yeast itself, but obviously fermenting that high will give off flavors.
 
34/70. I believe its range is 48-59. I have great results at 49F, and that's where my freezer is headed right now. I'm trying to get it out of the current range. If I believe the manufacturer, I likely was only outside of the range for maybe an hour. However, I don't think anybody really has good results in the high 50's with this yeast.
 
Well let it do its thing and taste it when finished, only way to know for sure and at this point you are committed to letting it roll.

Regardless you at least have learned an important lesson in paying attention...we have all learned it at least once.
 
Looked it up and not finding a lot of detail on it, but it has a max ferment of 60 but nothing that states its heat resistance without damage. I am guessing you will be fine though I obviously give no guarantee.
 
Well let it do its thing and taste it when finished, only way to know for sure and at this point you are committed to letting it roll.

Regardless you at least have learned an important lesson in paying attention...we have all learned it at least once.

Ain't the first time. I just hope if it's not great, I'll still brew it again. I did a lot of research to put together the recipe I brewed.
 
Well, it looks like fermentation is starting to take off. My only concern is that it's too soon for a lager at 49F. I guess I'll play it out, give it a good d-rest, and see what happens.
 
I don't think you'll have a problem. A lot of brewers out there pitch warm then cool once they see "active fermentation." Not the optimal way to do it, and I wouldn't make a habit of it, but you should be fine. Good luck!

Speaking of 34/70, I pitched it into a Vienna around 43 degrees and a Bock around 41 last night. The more I try other lager strains, the more I like 34/70. Definitely my house lager strain.
 
I don't think you'll have a problem. A lot of brewers out there pitch warm then cool once they see "active fermentation." Not the optimal way to do it, and I wouldn't make a habit of it, but you should be fine. Good luck!

Speaking of 34/70, I pitched it into a Vienna around 43 degrees and a Bock around 41 last night. The more I try other lager strains, the more I like 34/70. Definitely my house lager strain.

Wow, that is cold. I thought I was pushing the envelope at 49.
 
Wow, that is cold. I thought I was pushing the envelope at 49.

It's the same strain as Wyeast 2124 which IIRC is rated to ferment as low as 46. A buddy recently had it going at 43 with no trouble. It is easily my favourite lager strain--workhorse at cold temperatures, nice and clean, no-nonsense yeast.

Many lager yeasts will work quite a bit colder that people think. If you read the lager brewing wiki, traditional German pitching temps were insanely cold by homebrewing standards. You have to be patient and pitch a crapload of yeast. I recently tortured some Wyeast 2633 into working at refrigerator temperatures (37 degrees). Massive overpitch into a small starter. Threw sulphur like hell for days, then got cleaner and cleaner. The decanted wort tasted great for an unhopped beer. Pitched the slurry last night into the other half of the Vienna I mentioned above, and it was going today while the 34/70 in the Bock and rest of the Vienna is taking its time.
 
I don't know, but the blow-off tube is really bubbling away at 49F now. I need to drop it a few degrees at least the next time I brew it.
 
I will have to take a look when I get home today and maybe raise the temps a bit if it's not going. Perhaps another shot of oxygen too.

Let it go for at least 2 or 3 days before you do anything (well, it can't hurt to hit it again with O2 if it's not fermenting yet).

I get really nervous when ales don't take off in 24 hours, but lagers can take days to start building up at cold temps. I think mine take off between 2 and 3 days. Then I get a nice krausen, 1", very tidy fermentations with 34/70.

I did a series of german pilsners in the summer, and the last one I did with that yeast came out with a lot of cloves. I don't know where the heck that came from. It was re-used 34/70 cake. The beer wasn't foul in any way; it just had a bit of hefeweisen to it. And, I HATE hefeweisens. I had to dump the kegs. Since I use this yeast all the time and never had anything close to that, I suspect I had some sort of contamination in there. It's also possible I overpitched, though I don't know if that can cause such a flavor.
 
Let it go for at least 2 or 3 days before you do anything (well, it can't hurt to hit it again with O2 if it's not fermenting yet).

I get really nervous when ales don't take off in 24 hours, but lagers can take days to start building up at cold temps. I think mine take off between 2 and 3 days. Then I get a nice krausen, 1", very tidy fermentations with 34/70.

I did a series of german pilsners in the summer, and the last one I did with that yeast came out with a lot of cloves. I don't know where the heck that came from. It was re-used 34/70 cake. The beer wasn't foul in any way; it just had a bit of hefeweisen to it. And, I HATE hefeweisens. I had to dump the kegs. Since I use this yeast all the time and never had anything close to that, I suspect I had some sort of contamination in there. It's also possible I overpitched, though I don't know if that can cause such a flavor.

Yeah, sounds like a tiny bug might have been in your one pils; glad that it didn't spread any further.

Had good krausen developing by the time I checked on my Vienna and bock today. I've had nothing but great luck with 34/70; hoping these beers turn out well!

Our ground water is sooo cold right now I can chill stuff to 40 or 41 with my immersion chiller. We had an unusually hot summer here and I couldn't get under about 70 in August.
 
Alright, this batch is getting outright comical. I think the 67F pitch caused it to finish very early. The BO tube activity stopped while I was at work this week, and I checked it this morning to see where it's at. It looks like I'm right about at FG after just 11 days. Lovely. Now, I did step the starter up twice and then add a cup of wort within a few hours of the pitch, to get it really churning. I tasted the sample, and it's actually pretty good. I don't taste any diacetyl, but it's flat and pretty early. I may still get some pop through after I lager. I moved the controller up to 60F, and I'll let it run at least through tomorrow and taste it and check the gravity again. Hopefully, it drops a few points, but it's close. I had no idea the gravity would have dropped that low that fast.

The beer was actually somewhat void of flavor. However, I've tasted that before. I usually gets better once it's done. I've also learned something about this yeast after this and talking to you guys. I can definitely ferment much colder without worrying about it stalling. 11 days was pretty impressive.
 
Back
Top