yeast pitch - shock via temp change?

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zakleeright

zakleeright

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Hi all - great msg board! 1st post ( read Palmer, sticky posts here. Starting w/DME ales, then lagers, then maybe AG.)
P
background: 1st batch (DME/steeping grains)wort was too warm...79 degreees, yeast took off like a bat outta hell, done in 3 days. (I let stay in pri. for 6 days, sec. for 7, just bottled -tastes good for green, so I'm encouraged) "for second batch, I'll make sure wort is cooler/works slower"

2nd batch brewed 9/27
2-stage chiller dropped temp to 69 quickly, add cold water, temp 65.
Wort SG at 65 degrees: 1.048
Yeast: "Nottingham" dry yeast packet
Follow directions on yeast packet: warm water, let set on top for 15 minutes, then stir in, then add bit of wort, then a bit more to get temp the same. Not sure I did this slowly enough. Pitch, ferm lock, talk sweet to inanimate beer bucket in effort to encourage future deliciousness, stow n go.
soon, wort temp 70 degrees. "I'll do 'swamp cooler' technique to keep temp down." I brilliantly thought.
Temp dropped to 64-66 degrees.
Go work. Come home: no carb pressure, yeast not working.
Remove t-shirt & cold water, slowly raised the 'swamp water' temp to 100 degrees. Carb pressure within 60 minutes. Stip gauge shows wort at 70
Next morning (today) temp 74, bubbles every 20s
home from work, temp 75, bubbles every 4s
It looks like I'm OK. (hope not a good strategy, but comforting) :)
Question (finally):
My local supply guy says his batch working right now on the same yeast, and 66 degrees is a GREAT temp for that yeast to work.
So...why did mine not? Because I rehydrated in 80 degree water, then transferred too quickly to 66 degree water?
The ambient temp in ferm room is 78 degrees. Best to SBRHAHB and just let the yeast do its thing at that temp? Or use better technique and ferment@ 66 degrees or so?
Opinion on problem cause, & advice moving forward much appreciated.
Cheers from Florida.
 
zakleeright said:
Hi all - great msg board! 1st post ( read Palmer, sticky posts here. Starting w/DME ales, then lagers, then maybe AG.)
P
background: 1st batch (DME/steeping grains)wort was too warm...79 degreees, yeast took off like a bat outta hell, done in 3 days. (I let stay in pri. for 6 days, sec. for 7, just bottled -tastes good for green, so I'm encouraged) "for second batch, I'll make sure wort is cooler/works slower"

2nd batch brewed 9/27
2-stage chiller dropped temp to 69 quickly, add cold water, temp 65.
Wort SG at 65 degrees: 1.048
Yeast: "Nottingham" dry yeast packet
Follow directions on yeast packet: warm water, let set on top for 15 minutes, then stir in, then add bit of wort, then a bit more to get temp the same. Not sure I did this slowly enough. Pitch, ferm lock, talk sweet to inanimate beer bucket in effort to encourage future deliciousness, stow n go.
soon, wort temp 70 degrees. "I'll do 'swamp cooler' technique to keep temp down." I brilliantly thought.
Temp dropped to 64-66 degrees.
Go work. Come home: no carb pressure, yeast not working.
Remove t-shirt & cold water, slowly raised the 'swamp water' temp to 100 degrees. Carb pressure within 60 minutes. Stip gauge shows wort at 70
Next morning (today) temp 74, bubbles every 20s
home from work, temp 75, bubbles every 4s
It looks like I'm OK. (hope not a good strategy, but comforting) :)
Question (finally):
My local supply guy says his batch working right now on the same yeast, and 66 degrees is a GREAT temp for that yeast to work.
So...why did mine not? Because I rehydrated in 80 degree water, then transferred too quickly to 66 degree water?
The ambient temp in ferm room is 78 degrees. Best to SBRHAHB and just let the yeast do its thing at that temp? Or use better technique and ferment@ 66 degrees or so?
Opinion on problem cause, & advice moving forward much appreciated.
Cheers from Florida.
Click to expand...

It was probably fine at 66 degrees- just not quite taking off as quickly as you'd expect, but fine. I don't think there was any problem. It might take up to 36 hours to really show signs of fermentation, but not always. I like that yeast really "clean" so I ferment it at 59-62 degrees often.

In my opinion, nottingham is a great yeast. But if it's fermented at over 70-72 degrees it tastes really nasty. If you need to go over 72 degrees, I'd pick another yeast strain.
 
+1 to everything Yooper said. It will definitely go slower at 64-66, but it will also taste better IMO. When you said "yeast not working", were you simply going by what the airlock was (or wasn't) doing? At low temps I often don't get any airlock activity because the lid is not totally airtight - but I know it's working because I can smell the CO2. Nottingham can definitely get nasty tasting at warmer temps (above 72) - it's just not worth the slightly faster fermentation.
 
I agree with both of the above posters, and will add that temperature flucuations can also impart some off flavors in your beer, especially in the first few days of fermentation. It is often better to maintain a slightly higher temperature rather than panic and try to quickly reduce the temperature and have it fluctuate rapidly.

This can also stall fermentation. If your yeast is acclimated to 70 degrees, then you drop it to 65, it may flocculate and not fully attenuate.
 
Thanks for responses guys. In researching other similar posts, I also found:
- recall on Notty yeast due to slow fermentation, but had already thrown my packet away, & didn't think to record lot #'s, etc in my log.
- when you cool your primary fermenter, the coldness can contract the fermentation lock.
So, lessons learned so far:
- READ (what a concept) the yeast packet info, and get wort to the ideal temp before pitching.
-Aerate the yeast well. people get good results with sloshing, aquarium pumps,Oxygen tanks, drill paddles. I'm leaning toward the drill thing, seems good balance between simplicity, cost, effectiveness, plus, you get to use a power tool)
- Get the primary fermenter situated and chill the heck out.

It looks like there's a good chance I'll have some off-tasting beer. I'll taste it in a few days when I rack to the secondary. If it doesn't make me hurl, I'll bottle it & cross fingers & any other crossable appendages. It is now at 77 degrees and bubbling every second. Of course I have newbee freak-out syndrome and am torn between re-swamp cooling it and just leaving it the hell alone, but leaning toward the latter.
 
77 degrees is very high for that yeast strain. I would have attempted to keep it under 70 degrees, especially two days ago. Oh, well.

Like the others said, just because you didn't see insane bubbling doesn't mean it wasn't fermenting. Often you get a better, "cleaner" fermentation with a slower fermentation and more reasonable temps.
 
Thanks Yooper,
After reading replies and pouring through other posts (plus my OCD kicking in) I reengaged the swamp cooler (slowly) & brought the temp down 8 degrees. Yeast spent from 11am Tues thru 5pm Wed. above 72, and did a 68 to 77 back to 68 in 3 days.(It's not a stupid mistake...its a tolerance test for yeast). Since its a nut brown ale, I'm hoping some of the off flavors I've created are hidden and I can call it "character". If not, I'll give it away to carefully selected "freinds". :)
In the process, I learned how to use a swamp cooler to lower temp 10 degrees and keep it fairly steady, and found hoards of great posts here about yeast, starter, aeration, etc. I also began reading "designing great beers" - great book.

Thanks all for enduring yet another "Help!! My yeast has fallen and it can't get back up" newbie thread.
 

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