what is "pitching temp" ? ie: what do you pitch at?

Ok, I use only dry yeast (nottingham, etc). I usually end up pitching when the wort is about 80-90*F. This is because I don't have a chiller, and just put my brewpot into the sink (cold water bath) to chill. I can get it down to 90 or so in 1/2 hour, but I get impatient after that, and put it into the carboy, then pitch, figuring that if I'm hydrating the yeast in 100*F water, that it can handle going into 90*F wort.

What do you pitch at?

I pitch at fermentation temperature, though I do rehydrate my yeast in ~85-90F water. I get minimal lag time so it can't affect the yeast much.

I usually try to get down to 62-64F before pitching Nottingham's.

I usually pitch to high 70's. Then in the winter when my faucet water is cooler going thru my counter flow chiller it is cooler.

The closer to your yeast's fermentation range the better. Too high a fermentation temp is going to give you off flavors (ie. fusel alcohols, which will give you a rippin' headache) and the wort tends to pick up temperature as the yeast becomes more active as well.

For ales I pitch at around 65°. For lagers I try to get the wort to about 45-50° before pitching.

70-75 degrees

Pitching above 80F is a bad idea. By the time it gets started, it will never want to drop down under 70F due to the thermal output of fermentation.

I pitch in the low to mid 70's. Once I get my wort chilled to that point it takes way too long to get it any cooler.

bradsul said:

I pitch at fermentation temperature, though I do rehydrate my yeast in ~85-90F water. I get minimal lag time so it can't affect the yeast much.

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Me too.

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Due to the fact that I live in a very warm climate I've begun lowering my pitch temps, as most of the off flavors are produced during the beginning of fermentation. I pitch my ales @52/55 and lagers about 45 and let them ramp up to desired temps over a day or so

64-75...:d

Wow. I'm pitching much higher than everyone else then. But haven't noticed any problems doing it this way. Next time I'll go sit down and have 2 brews after it's gotten down to 90*F, and see if it'll come down to 80 or so.

it's summertime so I have to go with this stupid ritual until I can get new connectors for my IC.

I can get the wort down to 84 than its wet a towel and pout a fan directly on it to continue cooling. I pitch around 80, and since I usually have a lag time of 3 hours, Ill be down to lower 70s by the time the yeast starts. Its then only an hour or two more until its in the upper 60s

I live in a cold climate with cold tap water, so I always pitch at fermenting temperatures, except sometimes in the winter. In the winter, my house is cold so if I can pitch at 70-74 degrees, often fermentation will start before my wort cools to 60 in a few hours, so that helps to keep it warm. I usually ferment in the 62 degree range, because that's my house temperature in the winter. I pitch lagers and ales at fermentation temperatures with that one possible exception.

Bobby_M said:

Pitching above 80F is a bad idea. By the time it gets started, it will never want to drop down under 70F due to the thermal output of fermentation.

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My thought exactly. Fermentation adds 5 degrees in most cases(in my brewhouse). My fermenter temp will actually rise as fermentation begins, according to the fermometer.

Getting weird off flavors? I'm make a concerted effort to get it down around 70 before pitching. When you rehydrate, you're just waking them up. They don't want to live at 100 F.

I pitch at 72 for my ales.
In the winter the general average temp in the part of my apt where the beer is is about 68...and in the summer, about 73-74.
I might try some kind of cooling technique though as I use the rest of this year's brewing schedule to improve my game.

blacklab said:

My thought exactly. Fermentation adds 5 degrees in most cases(in my brewhouse). My fermenter temp will actually rise as fermentation begins, according to the fermometer.

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It will drop, trust me. I have to do it every week.

fermenting that high definitely is a bad idea. but you can pitch if you know you can bring the temps down.

I really need a cooler of some sort. The wife is getting fed up with me using the house's AC for my fermentation cooler

My point was that fermentation will increase the ambient temp of the fermenter. That's why I pitch in the low 60's. After fermentation subsides, the temp goes back down to ambient.

blacklab said:

My point was that fermentation will increase the ambient temp of the fermenter. That's why I pitch in the low 60's. After fermentation subsides, the temp goes back down to ambient.

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Very true it will. And you're right it is easier to pitch at lower temps.

I should of quoted Bobby instead of you my bad. About saying you cant bring it down once you pitch the yeast. If you know your lag time however, you can time it just right and fermentation will kick off just about the same time you get those temps down to what they should be. Is this ideal? No but it works for me in the summertime

In winter this isnt a problem for me, but its the hottest time of the year here and we do what we have to do.

Ah, gotcha.