temperature dilemma

So, i brewed a dunkelweizen yesterday and used a wlp300 (my store didn't have 3068). The thing is,my brew was taking a bit too long to come down in temperature and i couldn't get it to drop lower than 80*F. Would this have hurt my yeast? I know yeast tend to like warmer temps and the vial said to pitch above 70*F, so i figured it was ok. Did i kill my batch? And/or is there any way to save it?

Note: I asked because I was not seeing any activity from my bubbler, but i noticed a small hole in the gasket in the lid for the bubbler. Once I sealed that up, it started bubbling like normal.

Still would like to know if I have done something detrimental to my batch.

Thanks!

WoodHokie4 said:

Note: I asked because I was not seeing any activity from my bubbler, but i noticed a small hole in the gasket in the lid for the bubbler. Once I sealed that up, it started bubbling like normal.

Still would like to know if I have done something detrimental to my batch.

Thanks!

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No, but ideally you want to pitch lower and allow to rise to desired fermentation temperature. Yeast would prefer to go from slightly cold to warm and not the reverse. This process creates a controlled growth phase for happy yeast

Yeast make much of their flavors during their growth and reproduction phase (first 12 hours after pitching). Unfortunately for you this means that they did this at 80 degrees. The yeast definitely aren't dead, but depending on the strain, may have produced a bunch of unpleasant flavors. Don't give up on the batch though. It may turn out fine in the short or at least long term.

sudsmcgee said:

Yeast make much of their flavors during their growth and reproduction phase (first 12 hours after pitching). Unfortunately for you this means that they did this at 80 degrees. The yeast definitely aren't dead, but depending on the strain, may have produced a bunch of unpleasant flavors. Don't give up on the batch though. It may turn out fine in the short or at least long term.

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What sort of flavors? Sour or just heavy in one direction or another?

Not sour, that would be a result of infection. Usually the off flavors produced will be excessive characteristics of the yeast itself like too much banana, clove, phenols, esters, etc. With extra time in primary many of these off flavors can be cleaned up by the yeast themselves. This depends on the extreme nature of the flavor though and some don't go away. If you got the temperature down before too much active fermentation you lessen the issue.

Thanks, everyone, for your comments. I read a user review on the manufacturer's website that described pitching at 80*, and he ended up with a "banana bomb." I'll keep an eye on it and post results here after I get to taste it.

Thanks again!

Its been 2 weeks now and u just transfered it to my secondary. Looks like the yeast did just fine. I also got a chance to taste some as i siphoned it out of the primary. No outstanding banana flavors or anything. I'll see how it is after bottle conditioning, but it looks good so far.
Thanks again for the help!

Heres a shot of what i saw when i opened the primary

Cracked open my first bottle tonight. No heavy banana flavors, but a slightly strong presence of cloves. Strong balanced flavor, good mouth feel, smooth and easy to drink. I poured at slightly less than room temp in a frosted glass, thus the high head retention in the photo.

Thanks for all the help!



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