fermentation question

Let me give a quick rundown of my problem. Sunday night I pitched yeast from a yeast starter (Irish 1084). For the next 24 hours she fermented away nicely. When I woke up Tuesday morning all activity had died. Normally would not bother me however I realized a mistake had been made. I had my fermentation chamber set at 55 degrees which would be great if i was using lager style yeast however the Irish 1084 temp range is 62 - 72 degrees. I quickly removed the carboy and placed in the bathroom which stays at 70 degrees.
Question is did I kill my yeast or will it come back to life?
My current refractometer reading is 1.018

Batch Size: 5.00 gal Style: Sweet Stout
Boil Size: 8.24 gal Style Guide
Color: 36.0 SRM Equipment: My Equipment
Bitterness: 27.0 IBUs Boil Time: 60 min
Est OG: 1.057 (14.2° P) Mash Profile: Single Infusion, Full Body, No Mash Out
Est FG: 1.012 SG (3.2° P) Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage
ABV: 6.0%

Shake it up, warm it up. Should wake them back up. I doubt you killed them at 55 degrees.

You could try warming it up or maybe pitching more yeast?

I shook it up when I carried the carboy upstairs. How violently should I shake it?

Assoc said:

I shook it up when I carried the carboy upstairs. How violently should I shake it?

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Not violently at all. If you shook it a bit, don't worry. Just swirl it up so the crap from the bottom gets resuspended a little bit. I actually just spin my carboy while it's sitting on carpet and find that to be enough.

Cold won't kill yeast, it will just make them go dormant. That's why yeast is stored in the fridge. I would just keep the carboy in the 70 degree room for the rest of fermentation and it should be fine. You can swirl yeast up every now and then if you want.

Great, thanks for the suggestions.

Quick update. I moved carboy to a room that stays around 70 degrees. Within 48 hours yeast woke up and went back to work. In brewing, patients is truly a virtue.
Cheers

You should get it back down to 62, though- don't leave it at 70F.

Assoc said:

Quick update. I moved carboy to a room that stays around 70 degrees. Within 48 hours yeast woke up and went back to work. In brewing, patients is truly a virtue.
Cheers

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Nice! I keep my ales between 66-68.

Glad to hear things are moving along for you again but as a note, take a hydrometer reading, not refractometer. Even with proper conversions the reading can still be off.

I moved carboy to a coat closet last night that stays around 65 degrees.
Thanks for the advice regarding refractometer readings. I plan in taking a new reading in the morning and ill be sure to use my hydrometer.