How long can you keep wort before pitching yeast?

Just brewed a fresh batch and would like to step up my starter for another day before pitching. My question is how long can you keep wort before pitching the yeast in? I have heard you want to cool down and pitch as quickly as possible.

You can keep it a good long time if your sanitation is good. The trick is the good sanitation as the fermentation process helps keep things "clean". Since you are delaying this step, you risk an infection taking hold. But with good sanitation you will be fine for the day you are planning to wait.

I had a batch where fermentation never did take off...I waited over 72 hours with nothing going on (yes, I even took a gravity reading). So I repitched and it turned out fantastic. So, in other words, sanitation being good, it can sit for at least 72 hours....based upon my experience.

ALSO - I put my lagers in my fermentation chamber overnight as I wait for the temp to drop to 45 before pitching...and that has worked. So, you don't need to pitch ASAP - as long as sanitation is good.

Most people are not that sanitary to leave the batch for more than a couple of hours.

If you have a starter that's been growing, I'd pitch it. It'll multiply in the beer just as well as the starter and you won't be leaving your wort where a wild yeast or bacteria can get a foothold. Can't see stepping up a starter while your wort sits being worth doing.

ChshreCat said:

If you have a starter that's been growing, I'd pitch it. It'll multiply in the beer just as well as the starter and you won't be leaving your wort where a wild yeast or bacteria can get a foothold. Can't see stepping up a starter while your wort sits being worth doing.

Click to expand...

Chesre's right under normal brewing situations you want to pitch the yeast asap, and an active starter, even if it's not at the volume you would like is still better than no starter....or waiting and risking infection.

However some folks do "No Chill Brewing" and they don't pitch til the wort has cooled down to pitching temp, and that may be a couple days.

BUT they don't put it into a typical fermenter. They use something similar to a plastic jerry can, called an aquatainer. And what they do is pour the still boiling wort into the container and seal it up. The boiling wort instantly sterilizes the vessel, and after they put the stopper on the cooling wort forms a vacuum in the container which prevents anything from harming the wort. It's sort of like a rudamentary pressure canning of it. And it keeps it sterile til they pitch the yeast.

It is nearly impossible to recreate this in a normal bucket, with normally cooled wort. That added vacuum doesn't get formed...so your wort is at risk.

If you wanted to do no-chill and hold off pitching til you build your starter, then I'd say go for it...but storing it in a bucket, or carboy, that you couldn't pouring boiling wort in and instantly sterilise...then no, I personally wouldn't wait...I would just pitch what I had.

Ive been doing no chill brewing in a bucket for a year and a half now.

I simply rack the wort over at about 180 F and pitch the next day. Works like a charm!

Revvy said:

Chesre's right under normal brewing situations you want to pitch the yeast asap, and an active starter, even if it's not at the volume you would like is still better than no starter....or waiting and risking infection.

However some folks do "No Chill Brewing" and they don't pitch til the wort has cooled down to pitching temp, and that may be a couple days.

BUT they don't put it into a typical fermenter. They use something similar to a plastic jerry can, called an aquatainer. And what they do is pour the still boiling wort into the container and seal it up. The boiling wort instantly sterilizes the vessel, and after they put the stopper on the cooling wort forms a vacuum in the container which prevents anything from harming the wort. It's sort of like a rudamentary pressure canning of it. And it keeps it sterile til they pitch the yeast.

It is nearly impossible to recreate this in a normal bucket, with normally cooled wort. That added vacuum doesn't get formed...so your wort is at risk.

If you wanted to do no-chill and hold off pitching til you build your starter, then I'd say go for it...but storing it in a bucket, or carboy, that you couldn't pouring boiling wort in and instantly sterilise...then no, I personally wouldn't wait...I would just pitch what I had.

Click to expand...

What about a stainless steel conicle Fermenter? i've just bought a Grainfather one, looking to make my first Helles this weekend and it's unknown territory for me, the ground water here is still a bit warm around 22-25c so want to chill it with the Grainfather chiller then pitch dry yeast into the wort. the fermenter will be rinsed with Starsan before emptying the wort into the fermenter.

Plenty folks have had success w/ No-chill in the last 11 yrs.

The key for your conical is not to put hot wort and then make it airtight... the cooling will cause the wort to contract causing a bit of a vacuum that can buckle your walls.

I'd still add hot wort, but maybe put and S-type airlock for no suckback... or a starsan soaked cloth over the airlock hole, etc... You'll get some air in while it cools, but you should be OK... I do overnight no-chill in my brew kettle with just the lid on sometimes... with no major issues...

jtratcliff said:

Plenty folks have had success w/ No-chill in the last 11 yrs.

The key for your conical is not to put hot wort and then make it airtight... the cooling will cause the wort to contract causing a bit of a vacuum that can buckle your walls.

I'd still add hot wort, but maybe put and S-type airlock for no suckback... or a starsan soaked cloth over the airlock hole, etc... You'll get some air in while it cools, but you should be OK... I do overnight no-chill in my brew kettle with just the lid on sometimes... with no major issues...

Click to expand...

Thanks Jtratcliff, I was thinking of putting the 25c(77F)/30c(80F) wort into the stainless steel conicle (with an S type Airlock) then chill it with a glycol chiller until it is the right pitching temperature for dry yeast, is this acceptable?

I'm expert on conicals ... I ferment in HDPE buckets

But I remember seeing a thread here about somebody making their stainless fermenter air-tight w/ hot wort and having the walls buckle...
Pics and everything

But as long as you have an airlock to equalize pressure, you should be good to go... And perhaps the 80F to 60Fish temp drop wouldn't be enough to cause a problem anyway... But 212 F-60ish F has killed before

here's the thread:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/failure-of-brewha-biac.522909/

jtratcliff said:

I'm expert on conicals ... I ferment in HDPE buckets

Click to expand...

edit: as i susspected everyone was lying! missing words in your posts! lol (just one wise crack deserves another )

just as for the post #1....i've had active fermentation in a day when i didn't have an extra fermenter, without pitching yeast, so in this case i'd pitch the young starter....

You could just cold crash your wort until you are ready for yeast. I suppose you could hold it like that for weeks or months...not that you would though.

odie said:

You could just cold crash your wort until you are ready for yeast. I suppose you could hold it like that for weeks or months...not that you would though.

Click to expand...

not a bad idea, if it did take off, it'd worth saving whatever fermented it!

jtratcliff said:

here's the thread:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/failure-of-brewha-biac.522909/

Click to expand...

Yeah, not sold on the entire "brewha" thing.

@Monkeykler it sounds like you have a glycol chiller in the mix. Get your wort as cool as you can, in fermenter, then let the glycol chiller take it the rest of the way. Do NOT try to get the glycol chiller to take it from post boil temps (190F or above) to fermenting temps. They simply are not built to handle that level of stress. IIRC, if the wort is above 100F, you shouldn't use the glycol chiller to bring it to pitch temp either. Unless you're looking to kill it and get a different one.

I only had one batch that had to sit for any length of time from post boil to pitch. That was due to a brewer brain fart and my chiller got clogged up. With my setup it didn't go more than about 12 hours (in a fermentation chamber) before it was at safe pitch temperature.

These days I chill and pitch the yeast within a short amount of time. With the coming batch I'll be using a yeast brink to push the yeast in through the bottom/dump valve. Which means even less chance of something going sideways since I won't be opening up any lid ports. I do a closed transfer into the chiller (gas QD/tube running into a container of Starsan from the gas manifold keeping anything from getting in).

Replying to the last 3 people,

Golddiggie said:

Yeah, not sold on the entire "brewha" thing.

@Monkeykler it sounds like you have a glycol chiller in the mix. Get your wort as cool as you can, in fermenter, then let the glycol chiller take it the rest of the way. Do NOT try to get the glycol chiller to take it from post boil temps (190F or above) to fermenting temps. They simply are not built to handle that level of stress. IIRC, if the wort is above 100F, you shouldn't use the glycol chiller to bring it to pitch temp either. Unless you're looking to kill it and get a different one.

I only had one batch that had to sit for any length of time from post boil to pitch. That was due to a brewer brain fart and my chiller got clogged up. With my setup it didn't go more than about 12 hours (in a fermentation chamber) before it was at safe pitch temperature.

These days I chill and pitch the yeast within a short amount of time. With the coming batch I'll be using a yeast brink to push the yeast in through the bottom/dump valve. Which means even less chance of something going sideways since I won't be opening up any lid ports. I do a closed transfer into the chiller (gas QD/tube running into a container of Starsan from the gas manifold keeping anything from getting in).

Click to expand...

Hi, No, just going to put 80F or less into the fermenter then use the glycol chiller.

bracconiere said:

edit: as i susspected everyone was lying! missing words in your posts! lol (just one wise crack deserves another )

just as for the post #1....i've had active fermentation in a day when i didn't have an extra fermenter, without pitching yeast, so in this case i'd pitch the young starter....

Click to expand...

Whats a starter? I have only ever used dry yeast....

bracconiere said:

not a bad idea, if it did take off, it'd worth saving whatever fermented it!

Click to expand...

not planning on that...

Monkeykler said:

Whats a starter? I have only ever used dry yeast....

Click to expand...

i'm not completly sure myself. but it's when you build up yeast gradually on a stir plate. like start with 500ml, pitch your yeast into that wort....then wait a day or so, then pitch that into like 2liters....they say it helps for the main event, never really worried about it myself either....

(that's what the op was asking because he wanted another day's step for it)

Monkeykler said:

Replying to the last 3 people,

Hi, No, just going to put 80F or less into the fermenter then use the glycol chiller.

Click to expand...

Set the chiller correctly and you should go from 80F to pitch temp pretty fast. Handful or hours would be my guess. Which shouldn't be any issue provided you followed smart sanitation methods.

bracconiere said:

i'm not completly sure myself. but it's when you build up yeast gradually on a stir plate. like start with 500ml, pitch your yeast into that wort....then wait a day or so, then pitch that into like 2liters....they say it helps for the main event, never really worried about it myself either....

(that's what the op was asking because he wanted another day's step for it)

Click to expand...

Yea, i'm confused, i've only ever thrown dry yeast into a bucket of 30l cooled wort

Golddiggie said:

Set the chiller correctly and you should go from 80F to pitch temp pretty fast. Handful or hours would be my guess. Which shouldn't be any issue provided you followed smart sanitation methods.

Click to expand...

Set the chiller then pitch the dry yeast?

Monkeykler said:

Set the chiller then pitch the dry yeast?

Click to expand...

after it chills of course

Monkeykler said:

Yea, i'm confused, i've only ever thrown dry yeast into a bucket of 30l cooled wort

Click to expand...

hang around here more and you'll hear more about starters, and people flushing their stir bars more! i usually just use my last batches yeast cake as my starter, but i'm low brow.....

bracconiere said:

hang around here more and you'll hear more about starters, and people flushing their stir bars more! i usually just use my last batches yeast cake as my starter, but i'm low brow.....

Click to expand...

Yea your terminology is confusing, stir bar? I took yeast from a Hefeweizen once and it kinda worked...

jtratcliff said:

Plenty folks have had success w/ No-chill in the last 11 yrs.

The key for your conical is not to put hot wort and then make it airtight... the cooling will cause the wort to contract causing a bit of a vacuum that can buckle your walls.

I'd still add hot wort, but maybe put and S-type airlock for no suckback... or a starsan soaked cloth over the airlock hole, etc... You'll get some air in while it cools, but you should be OK... I do overnight no-chill in my brew kettle with just the lid on sometimes... with no major issues...

Click to expand...

I've only done overnight no-chills in the brew kettle with just the lid on for the past three years now. No issues I'm aware of.

Monkeykler said:

after it chills of course

Click to expand...

Once it's at a safe pitch temp for the yeast. I don't use the low brow dry yeast in my beers.

I do set my glycol chiller to a good temperature for the yeast in the batch connected to it. Most of the time, that's 70F. Or has been with WY1318.

I've been harvesting the yeast from one batch and using it in another batch since getting my conical fermenters (so damned easy to do). The last harvest I did I split for two batches. One got pitched last weekend and another is planned for Saturday coming up. I decided to make a small (1L) starter for the second part. Got that running last night (yes, on a stirplate, I've only had one stir bar go into fermenter, got it out later ). I'll put the starter into the fridge either later tonight or tomorrow morning to get it to settle better. Then use the new yeast brink to get it into the wort post chill.

I'm fortunate in that my chill water has been cold enough, even in the middle of summer, to chill my wort FAST, to my pitch temperature target (65F).

Golddiggie said:

Once it's at a safe pitch temp for the yeast. I don't use the low brow dry yeast in my beers.

I do set my glycol chiller to a good temperature for the yeast in the batch connected to it. Most of the time, that's 70F. Or has been with WY1318.

I've been harvesting the yeast from one batch and using it in another batch since getting my conical fermenters (so damned easy to do). The last harvest I did I split for two batches. One got pitched last weekend and another is planned for Saturday coming up. I decided to make a small (1L) starter for the second part. Got that running last night (yes, on a stirplate, I've only had one stir bar go into fermenter, got it out later ). I'll put the starter into the fridge either later tonight or tomorrow morning to get it to settle better. Then use the new yeast brink to get it into the wort post chill.

I'm fortunate in that my chill water has been cold enough, even in the middle of summer, to chill my wort FAST, to my pitch temperature target (65F).

Click to expand...

I have SAFALE, w34/70 4KG pilsner and 1KG CARAPILLS , hopefully to make a Helles

Monkeykler said:

Yea your terminology is confusing, stir bar?

Click to expand...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/265294276499?hash=item3dc4c56793:g:v0YAAOSwQqtgoZU8
https://www.ebay.com/itm/234081140801?hash=item368052c041:g:4pQAAOSwxa1g5o3~

If you're planning to not pitch right away the only thing I would add is don't oxygenate until you're ready to pitch. Hot wort is pretty low on dissolved gases and yeast need oxygen to grow initially. If you seal the word up in a container with no headspace when it's hot, you should be able to cool it as quickly or as slowly as you wish. The key is to not have any air in the container so the only thing that's expanding or contracting is the liquid. But when you're ready to pitch make sure that you whisk it or bubble O2 through the work to dissolve some oxygen before you pitch your yeast

jerrylotto said:

If you're planning to not pitch right away the only thing I would add is don't oxygenate until you're ready to pitch. Hot wort is pretty low on dissolved gases and yeast need oxygen to grow initially. If you seal the word up in a container with no headspace when it's hot, you should be able to cool it as quickly or as slowly as you wish. The key is to not have any air in the container so the only thing that's expanding or contracting is the liquid. But when you're ready to pitch make sure that you whisk it or bubble O2 through the work to dissolve some oxygen before you pitch your yeast

Click to expand...

If I recall correctly it's not really necessary to add O2 for dry yeasts only for liquid yeasts.

Edit:

• Aeration is optional. During the drying process, the yeast manufacturer incorporates key nutrients needed for cell growth. Consequently, dry cultures can be pitched into oxygen-poor wort. Aeration won’t hurt, but it’s not necessary.

From here:
How to Use Dry Yeast | Craft Beer & Brewing (beerandbrewing.com)