Wow, I just had one of the fastest ferments ever, and with liquid kolsch ale yeast that’s been sitting in the fridge for at least six months. I am down 42 points in 3 days and just a few points to go.
I usually do 5L starters at 1.028 for a 10 gallon batch starting with a single pitch. I use a stir plate with a 5L flask and leave it in the basement which runs about 66 degrees. I leave it for around 36 hours on the plate then cold crash then decant. Then I split it 3 ways, pitch 2 and save 1.
This time I did the same 5L starter at 1.028, but had a ferment freezer free, so I set up a heater in it on the Inkbird controller and spun it for 24 hours at 78 degrees. Then instead of cold crashing it all, i let it settle for an hour, poured off the liquid into mason jars, and pitched the settled yeast immediately. I took the mason jars, cold crashed them, then decanted and pitched them too the next day.
I know it’s not a fair apples to apples test because I ended up pitching it all instead of saving a third, but still crazy fast results. I always had this notion that doing a starter that warm would breed “spoiled” yeast that wouldn’t want to work at colder temps. I guess it’s still to be seen how the beer tastes.
And the Altbier was fermented at 66 and maintained that temp according to the tilts.
I usually do 5L starters at 1.028 for a 10 gallon batch starting with a single pitch. I use a stir plate with a 5L flask and leave it in the basement which runs about 66 degrees. I leave it for around 36 hours on the plate then cold crash then decant. Then I split it 3 ways, pitch 2 and save 1.
This time I did the same 5L starter at 1.028, but had a ferment freezer free, so I set up a heater in it on the Inkbird controller and spun it for 24 hours at 78 degrees. Then instead of cold crashing it all, i let it settle for an hour, poured off the liquid into mason jars, and pitched the settled yeast immediately. I took the mason jars, cold crashed them, then decanted and pitched them too the next day.
I know it’s not a fair apples to apples test because I ended up pitching it all instead of saving a third, but still crazy fast results. I always had this notion that doing a starter that warm would breed “spoiled” yeast that wouldn’t want to work at colder temps. I guess it’s still to be seen how the beer tastes.
And the Altbier was fermented at 66 and maintained that temp according to the tilts.