Max temp. for yeast

I made a starter last night, put it on the stirplate and went to bed. This morning I check it, and it is running at ~87F! Apparently this stirplate (borrowing from the lab) creates more heat than I thought.....

So, my question is, what do you guys think my yeast has been affected?

I places a pad (for handling pans and stuff) on the stirplate, and put the flask in a water bath....and then turned it back on. Once it cooled down, I repitched the 5 drops of yeast from the original vial. This is a WL cream ale (lager/ale mix), so hopefully I didn't kill all the lager yeast. Or, maybe the few drops I added this morning will be able to grow now.


Thanks for any advice,

87 too high for most ale yeasts, let alone lagers. I bet the yeast didn't actually die, but they may have mutated or been stressed enough that if you pitched into wort they may have some bad off flavors.

ll that being said, it may not be that bad. The main reason you don't want yeast to get too warm is because they will start creating esters that are generally not wanted in your beer, but since it is only a starter it may not betas big of an issue.

It'll be fine. Optimum yeast growth (which is what you're doing in a starter) is around 78-80F. I'm sure a little above that and you're fine.

I take a cold, wet washcloth and put that down underneath the flask on the stirplate.

PseudoChef said:

It'll be fine. Optimum yeast growth (which is what you're doing in a starter) is around 78-80F. I'm sure a little above that and you're fine.

I take a cold, wet washcloth and put that down underneath the flask on the stirplate.

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I am sure the ale part is fine, but I am worried about the lager side. This is the first time I used this stirplate for yeast, as my DIY plate overheated and melted....stupid fans. I never noticed the plate getting warm in the lab, but we only use it for titrations.

I am gonna let it go for a few days and see what happens.

thanks,

Ale or Lager yeast - it doesn't matter for growth. It matters in terms of fermentation. You're not concerned with fermentation in the starter - you want cell growth. It's not going to kill anything, don't worry.

as long as your not pitching the liquid, i agree with pseudochef. Your a bit higher than optimum temp for most yeat (other than saison) but you should still be fine. I would throw in fridge to drop yeast and decant liquid and then pitch...if yourthat worried just start with new yeast and try putting something between stirplate and flask

I turned the stirplate off last night, let it settle until this morning. Took a reading on the liquid from the top part, FG:1.010....so I think that it fermented out. Problem is, that there isn't that much yeast on the bottom. Actually, I can't tell if there is more than what I poured in from the vial.

I placed it in the fridge this morning, and plan to decant and pitch sometime tomorrow or sunday. I have a few packets of dry munton's yeast if this stuff doesn't take off.

Thanks for all the help,