First lager started my fermentation to cold?

Just started my first lager. Actually it Is an American Lager kit from northern brewer. Hit all my temps through out the process. First time to start my fermentation in a mini fridge. Thought I had my temp controlled to 56 deg but over night (on the first night) the temp dropped to 40deg. I have since adjusted and I am back on track. But my question is obviously will this cause a problem? It was at 40deg for at least 8 hrs.

If you pitched your yeast cold then you should not have any problems as the yeast can survive. Typically it is suggested to lager between 46 and 50 anyhow and the most that could have happened is some yeast cells could have perished while others went dormant. Raising the temp back up will get them moving again. Just remember it could take up to 36hrs to see any activity in the wart. Did you make a BIG starter?

It was smack pack. This being only my 4th brew I have yet to make a starter for any of them. This is however my first time to use a smack pack. Should I have made a starter with it? It did however inflate fully in about 26hrs.

With Lagers, you want to make a starter every time. You should be ok, but next time you lager, go ahead and make a HUGE starter. I'm planning on making a starter in a 1/2 gallon glass carboy (really old, used to be for coke.) and pitching that.

I hope it works out for you but I fear you may have underpitched. Definitely do a starter for liquid yeasts (use the calculator at http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html and while you are on the site be sure to read the 14 essential questions about yeast starters), but I really would recommend dry yeast for your first few lagers just so you don't have to worry about underpitching (two packs dry yeast rehydrated for 5 gallons and you are golden).

If he didn't want to worry about under pitching he should use liquid yeast as there is about 100 billion cells instead of 50 billion in the dry.

You might want to think about pitching a second pack in there. Next time definitely do a starter though, it's pretty simple.

ehedge20 said:

If he didn't want to worry about under pitching he should use liquid yeast as there is about 250 billion cells instead of 50 billion in the dry.

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He did use liquid yeast, but that is quoted to have 100 billion cells and not 250 billion. However, most likely there is even less than 100 billion cells by the time it is pitched. By my calculation, you need about 350 billion cells for a 1.050 gravity brew. One smack pack won't cut it and it will likely end up with a high FG.

I forget the number for sure but I think there are estimated to be 20 billion cells per gram of dry yeast.

ehedge20 said:

If he didn't want to worry about under pitching he should use liquid yeast as there is about 250 billion cells instead of 50 billion in the dry.

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I think you better do some research.

Yeah, Osagedr is right, I've seen people use 2 packs of dry yeast where as Mr. Malty recommends a starter or 4 packs of liquid yeast. The first lager I did was a single vial of Whitel Labs Budvar, and yeah, the beer got infected because there wasn't enough yeast. Usually, I do a gallon starter and one of the Activator packs - and I let it go for about 3-4 days to make sure I have enough and I swirl it every time I pass by. The Maibock I just put on tap is AWESOME!

Gotta say..... I just joined this site and I am very impressed with all the talk and knowledge. it's good for a guy starting out . Next time I will start a BIG starter. I have noticed fermentation starting and I am watching it very often. Even got my wife calling me with updates. Thanks guys!

If you make those big starters, be sure to decant and pitch rather than put 4 or 5 litres of starter in your wort.

I just brewed my first lager, a hoppier helles. I did a 3/4 gal starter in an empty milk jug, using a diluted sample of wort from the actual beer. I also fermented the starter around 50*, and pitched the whole thing. Since I took care to treat the starter like a small lager itself, I don't expect any off flavors in this brew.

osagedr said:

I think you better do some research.

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White labs pitch-able tubes have 100 billion cells per vial. You would still need a big starter.

tesilential said:

I just brewed my first lager, a hoppier helles. I did a 3/4 gal starter in an empty milk jug, using a diluted sample of wort from the actual beer. I also fermented the starter around 50*, and pitched the whole thing. Since I took care to treat the starter like a small lager itself, I don't expect any off flavors in this brew.

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Sounds good. Sometimes I assume everyone uses a stir plate like I do; so if I do a gigantic starter on a stir plate for several days I really don't want to pitch the whole thing.

Hope your Helles turns out great! It's a style of beer I really like.