Liquid yeast question

[Lonbear]

I made a batch of brown ale today, and I let my wort cool to about eighty degrees, then put in my carboy and filled to get 5 gallons. Could I have lowered the temp too much to activate the liquid yeast?

 

[USAFSooner]

What was the temp after you topped off to 5 gallons and which yeast?

 

[Lonbear]

Mid sixties I think but the top of the wort may have been cooler from topping to five gallons

 

[Lonbear]

Thanks for the quick reply btw

 

[USAFSooner]

If its an Ale yeast it will take a bit longer to get going and start to ferment. Ale yeasts generally like high 60's to low 70's. Your fermenter will gradually get up to room temp and will also heat up from the fermentation. I just did a batch and I over chilled the wort to like 58 F and it climbed up to 72 F (room temp) in about 24 hours. You should be fine. Lower temps just mean slower fermentation and less flavors/esters produced by the yeast. Since its a brown ale that's not a big deal. If it was a Belgian or a Saison you would want to warm it up.

 

[diS]

At what temperature you pitched?
I always pitch few degrees cooler than fermentation temperature. Yesterday I brewed Scotch ale cooled wort to 59F, pitched on that temp. and I'll let it raise to 63F.

 

[cluckk]

Pitching a little low is a good practice because as soon as the yeast get very active they will push up the temperature pretty well. You're temperature, depending on your yeast strain should be fine. I see you posted this last night and it's early enough this morning that you may still not see any activity--the yeast don't care if they disturb your peace of mind for sleep. From the discussion it is likely you pitched straight from the packet of yeast, so it will take sometime for your yeast to get active. They have to first consume all the oxygen during a major reproduction phase to get their numbers up. During this phase you will see nothing because most of the action you see is caused by their release of CO2 which doesn't happen until all the oxygen is removed and they begin their anaerobic phase. Don't worry.

You mentioned topping off earlier--I assume the water you topped off with did not have chlorine. Keep in mind that the purpose of chlorine is to kill organisms in the water--organisms like yeast.

 

[cluckk]

If you want to reduce this lag time between pitching and visible activity the best thing is a good starter.

 

[pellis007]

Look at the package your yeast came in, or look it up online. You will find what the manufacturer recommends as the optimal temperature range for your yeast to thrive in. As others have said, for most ale yeasts it will be from the low to mid 60's on up to the low 70's F. Most recommend fermenting at the lower end of the recommended scale to reduce the chance of "off" flavors from too high of a temp. Also as others have said, it usually better to pitch low and let the temp come up, rather than to pitch high and try to bring the temp down.

 

[Lonbear]

Thanks for all the replies I just checked the temp it's at 70 but there doesn't seem to have any activity yet. I used tap water but it didn't seem to effect the last batch should I get more yeast if I don't see any activity in. Couple of days?

 

[Lonbear]

Just an update I just got home and I see new bubbles and foam on the surface of my beer and the airlock is starting to bubble.

Thanks for ll of your help you guys rock

 

[Lonbear]

Here is the recipe ill let y'all know how it turns out

 

[sudbuster]

i made a batch of brown ale today, and i let my wort cool to about eighty degrees, then put in my carboy and filled to get 5 gallons. Could i have lowered the temp too much to activate the liquid yeast?

No, unless you added ice water....