I killed my yeast. We can rebuild him.

[vast_reaction]

SO, I did something very stupid. I know very little about wine making, and I used Campden tablets improperly. I was making a high gravity hard lemonade with Montrachet yeast, and I pitched the yeast without waiting a full 24 hours. To be honest, I waited about 30 minutes. 180 billion yeast cells, screaming and dying.

Main questions: Is all that dead yeast in any way harmful to the recipe? It seems like it would not be, like I basically just created a bunch of yeast nutrient for when I re-pitch.
Also, why is 5-10 grams of wine yeast enough to ferment 5 gallons of a high gravity solution, when pitching proper amounts of yeast seems to be a HUGE element in beermaking. Is there a way to calculate amounts of wine yeast needed for a particular must, as in the MrMalty calculator?

Thanks for any help anyone can offer!

-Matt

 

[Nurmey]

Campden doesn't kill yeast but it prevents it from reproducing. Repitching is a good idea so the yeast won't be stressed but nothing bad will come of it.

 

[vast_reaction]

Oh. Man, the lady at my LHBS sometimes tells me things in such a casual, offhand manner, I think she has lost the passion for the hobby, and this is really nothing more than an occupation now. She has consistently misinformed me. So if I pitch 15 grams of Montrachet into a must containing 5 crushed Campden tablets (added 30 minutes prior) this yeast will STILL WORK? I was under the impression that NOTHING would live in that must for 24 hours while the Campden tabs are working. Sigh. This is a wild hobby I've thrown myself into.

 

[Nurmey]

Your yeast is probably not very happy it since it can't make babies. I would pitch more yeast because those yeast in there are going to have to work like crazy to do anything.

 

[Nurmey]

I just had a thought. Your yeast may just be delayed in reproducing and will get going in a day or two. One of the wine experts should be around soon and can be more helpful.

 

[passedpawn]

Dead yeast is food for live yeast. It's all good!

 

[theonetrueruss]

I don't know much about wine but it seems like the amount of time wine takes to ferment the growth time of the yeast almost becomes irrelevant. All of the crap that us beer brewers worry about with getting the right amount of yeast pitched might just not matter on that time scale... the issues will age themselves out.

Just pitch more yeast and see what happens.

 

[Yooper]

Wine yeast is amazingly tolerant of sulfites- that's why we winemakers use them. Sulfites kill all kinds of microbes, but don't kill wine yeast in reasonable quantities.

They WILL stun the yeast, though, if not outright kill it. I'd just buy some more yeast, and then add it.

One tip, though- lemonade is a tough ferment. It's very acidic. The yeast like it far less than they like sulfites. I posted a hard lemonade recipe that talks quite a bit about getting the wine yeast to ferment lemonade, if you want to read it over it may be very helpful for you.

 

[klcramer]

If you are looking for a good lemonade recipe you should take a look at the thread called skeeter pee. I have made this a few times now and it is easy as long as you follow the directions and turns out very good.

 

[vast_reaction]

Cool, thank you. I looked at it, and it seems really precise. I'll definitely try that one next! My lemonade must smells like brutal farts right now, so I'd say the SO2 production is in full swing.

 

[CampFireWine]

Dead yeast is food for live yeast. It's all good!

It gives the wine a putrid smell and taste and takes a long time to age out. As long as sugars are available, they won't usually eat each other.