Any reason not to delay pitching yeast?

I'm in the middle of the boil and I just realized that I have the wrong yeast. I bought a kit from my local brew store and they gave me an ale yeast instead of a lager yeast for an Octoberfest. I think I'm going to finish up and then wait to pitch the yeast tomorrow morning after I go in and exchange it. Does anyone think that will be a problem?

Not a problem, but...do you have the ability to actually do a lager? Cold fermentation at stable temps, and a colder lagering phase post-fermentation?

wont be a problem, just let the wort cool and cover it with some seran wrap or something that will keep nasties out.

I do not recommend doing this often though....especially since you have to wait a full day longer for your finished product!

you should be concerned with infection. as far as i'm aware of the way it works, you pitch the yeast asap in order to have it grow before any bacteria or wild yeast does. if your yeast is established, it will fight off other bacteria better. If you wait and you get other stuff growing in there, your pitched yeast might not make it and/or you'll have some off flavors from the bad guys. if you don't have a choice though, just sanitize everything well during the brew and transfer, then cover securely and get some yeast in there when you can.

This is my first lager and I'm all set up for it. I'm planning on finishing everything like I normally would and sealing up the carboy with an airlock. Tomorrow I will open the airlock and pitch the yeast.

On the other hand, should I wait on mixing the wort with water? I guess I could boil it again for a few minutes tomorrow and then start the process again from there.

No expert here, but you went to a lot of trouble to make everything sanitary. If you did a good job your wort should be able to wait. If not, well then you risk infection anyway.

My bet is, it will wait.

PistonHonda said:

This is my first lager and I'm all set up for it. I'm planning on finishing everything like I normally would and sealing up the carboy with an airlock. Tomorrow I will open the airlock and pitch the yeast.

On the other hand, should I wait on mixing the wort with water? I guess I could boil it again for a few minutes tomorrow and then start the process again from there.

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If you're making a lager, put the wort in the lagering chamber and keep it cold. Since you didn't make a starter for the yeast (lagers need BIG starters), buy 3-4 packages of yeast. Pitch the yeast right out of the fridge into wort that is slightly warmer. For example, if the yeast is at 42 degrees, pitch it into 45 degree wort and let it raise to 50 degrees for fermentation.

No way you want to do this with one package of yeast, especially since the wort is already a day old and with underpitching so much it might take another 3-4 days for fermentation to start!

I do this often in order to make a starter with the actual wort I make.