temperature

I brewed a batch of beer yesterday evening. All is well but I've got two questions about temperature.

First, I used Wyeast Bohemian Lager yeast 2124. The package says the temperature range is 45-58F. Should I have brought the wort to that
temp before pitching the yeast? When I pitched the yeast the temp was more like 78F. Will this have a flavor impact?

Second, I checked this morning and the fermentation was cranking. Stuff was flowing out of the blow by tube. My carboy is in a refridgerator with a regulator with the temperature set to 51. I've got a tape style thermometer on the carboy and another thermometer in the fridge. The fridge temp is in the range 47-51 as expected but the carboy temp was showing 60F. So my question is: Is that higher temp a result of the fermentation or is it just that the temp hasn't yet gotten down to the fridge ambient temperature (it's been about 12 hrs since it went into the fridge and was mid 70's at that point).

This is my first time using low temperature fermentation and I'm looking forward to tasting the results.

The higher temp may be due to fermentation. Fermentation does produce some heat so the temp in the carboy/bucket will be slightly higher than the ambient air temp.

I usually pitch my ale yeast around 70 degrees and then continue to cool the wort in the carboy. I pitch lager yeast around 60 degrees. I don't think you'll have any issues with the pitch temp since it sounds like you got things cooled off pretty quickly.

I'm just a noob here so far, but I think you can pitch at a higher temp than you are supposed to ferment at. Just as long as it's not too high otherwise it will scald the yeast and then there will be bad flavor. I pitched my yeast around 75-80 degrees.

Compliments on the scientific temp monitoring. You might want to lower the fridge temp to balance out the fermentation heat.

some info about pitching lager yeasts warm: http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter10-4.html

Yeah, fermentation can raise the wort temp by ten degrees F or more.

I've pitched lager yeasts warm and it's not the end of the world. Actually, the last time I pitched cold, I had to bring it back up to room temp because the yeast refused to start. 8 hours at 60f and they were on their way, and I chilled it back down.

Thanks for all the responses.

When I got home and checked again the temp on the carboy was down to 57. So it appears that the temp that I first saw was a combination of residual heat and fermentation heat.

Now it seems I've got about a 6 degree difference between the fridge ambient and the carboy surface. Wonder what it's like in the middle of the carboy.
Anyway I dropped the regulator temperature a couple of degree so I should be closer to my target temp. Now it's just a waiting game.