Pitching yeast into starter that might be too warm

I made a starter last night, and without thinking, after transfering the wort to a gallon jug with the intention of finishing off the cooling process in the fridge, i accidentally pitched into the starter. I was warm to the touch so im estimating 85-95 degrees. What will this do to the yeast, it appeared this morning to be fermenting just fine, will it have killed any yeast or caused a reproduction frenzy and weird flavor byproducts? Thanks

I really think you were right on the edge of diaster but we all have problems and you scated right by this one. For the yeast it was sink or swim......

The same things happen in a starter as in a full-batch wort. Many yeast were killed by thermal shock, but some survived and went on to reproduce and ferment the wort. Lots of fusel alcohols and esters are being produced that you do not want in your beer. But this is just a small starter, so even if you add the whole thing to your beer you will not notice it (unless you are making a huge starter and pitching it into a delicate beer).

Most likely not too many yeast were killed as you had a healthy ferment a short while later. If you had killed a lot of them you would still be waiting until they could multiply to ferment the sugars you had in the starter. Decant (gets rid of off flavors "esters" and any "fusel alcohols") that when it ferments and the krausen falls to another container of boiled/cooled wort (80F) and you will have more than enough yeast starter for your ferment.

WBC is right that you were on the brink of disaster, depending on what strain you pitched. According to White Labs, ale yeasts survive fine up to 90F, but lager strains do not survive well above 80F.


TL