Long wort temp decrease

Hello all,
Just brewed my second batch, a holiday ale. I think everything went well except I do not own a wort chiller. Live in the northeast so put the 5 gallon pale outside, with cover loosely on so to cut out bacteria. But it still took about 4-5 hours for temp to get into 70's to pitch yeast. Yeast was saf-56 I believe, it came with kit. Will this long temp decrease cause a problem. I have plenty of fermentation bubbles in airlock.

From How to Brew:

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]At the end of the boil, it is important to cool the wort quickly. While it is still hot, (above 140°F) bacteria and wild yeasts are inhibited. But it is very susceptible to oxidation damage as it cools. There are also the previously mentioned sulfur compounds that evolve from the wort while it is hot. If the wort is cooled slowly, dimethyl sulfide will continue to be produced in the wort without being boiled off; causing off-flavors in the finished beer. The objective is to rapidly cool the wort to below 80°F before oxidation or contamination can occur. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Rapid cooling also forms the Cold Break. This is composed of another group of proteins that need to be thermally shocked into precipitating out of the wort. Slow cooling will not affect them. Cold break, or rather the lack of it, is the cause of Chill Haze. When a beer is chilled for drinking, these proteins partially precipitate forming a haze. As the beer warms up, the proteins re-dissolve. Only by rapid chilling from near-boiling to room temperature will the Cold Break proteins permanently precipitate and not cause Chill Haze. Chill haze is usually regarded as a cosmetic problem. You cannot taste it. However, chill haze indicates that there is an appreciable level of cold-break-type protein in the beer, which has been linked to long-term stability problems. Hazy beer tends to become stale sooner than non-hazy beer. The following are a few preferred methods for cooling[/FONT]

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Now, this probably doesn't mean your beer is screwed, but you upped your chances of infection and off flavors. If the beer tastes off once it's been in the bottle for a while, leave to condition for a few more weeks/months. A long bottle condition can solve these potential problems.

Take heart, though. I've only been here a short time and have read stories of mistakes that would make your head explode, but the beers still turned out fine!

PS: read on in that link I sent you. It's a great resource for noobs like us

Same thing happened to me with my first batch. I figured, I live in North Dakota and the temperature in my garage is 2ºF, so no problem. Well, it took a couple of hours to get my wort down to pitching temperature. It's been sitting in primary for a week now and there are no signs of infection, so I wouldn't worry too much.

While your beer is fermenting, this would be a great time to build an immersion chiller! You can get all of the components from Lowes.

My first batch I put my brew pot in the bathtub with cold water and all of the ice I could find in the house. I didn't have near enough ice and it took 45 minutes to cool. An immersion cooler is @ the top of my want list now. An ice bath does work however you just have to have enough ice and change the water as it warms.

I would be much more worried about DMS than infection. Infection, for the most part, ruins a beer, rendering it undrinkable. You know this, you taste it, you gag, and you dump the beer.

DMS does not do this, it adds a creamed corn flavor to the beer which is very unpleasant but which most people will force down anyway. YOu taste it, go "eww!,what is that?" and keep on drinking it.

In the future just put the kettle in the kitchen or laundry sink filled with cold water. Then drain and refill the sink around the kettle 3 or 4 times in a half hour and your beer will be pitchable. If your sink cannot fit the kettle build an immersion cooler.