Maybe pitched too high a temp?

[mic]

I did my second batch over the weekend, Imperial Stout AG kit from MWS and made a yeast starter with Wyeast British Ale # 1098. I had the starter in the fridge prior pitching & in a cold garage 40*F or so. All went well until I pitched, I didn't check the wort temp and was at 87*F. No air-lock activity after a day so i added a comparable dry yeast and it took off. My questions are:

1) Did the yeast starter get killed? or shocked?
2) Did I not wait long enough for the starter to get going?
3) If the starter was shocked, would it come back?
4) What kind of results could I expect?

Thank you!!!!!

 

[progmac]

a cold starter might take 24 hours to perk up. i think you jumped the gun on pitching the dry.

 

[sweetcell]

1) 87*F is not enough to kill yeast, in fact they quite like that temp (although brewers don't - too hot to make most beer styles). you may well have shocked the yeast with that big a temp differential.
2) yes.
3) yes, yeast are very resilient.
4) beer

prior to full-on fermentation, yeast multiply during the "lag phase". this quiet period during which the cells are splitting can easily last 24 hours or more, but typically it is less.

so it's hard to tell what the outcome will be. maybe your initial yeast was dealing with the temp changes and was reproducing, so that second yeast resulted in over-pitching. if this is the case, i would expect less yeast character from your beer and potentially a slightly higher attenuation. or maybe the first pitch didn't recoup in time and the second pitch took over, in which case you may well have saved your beer. either way i wouldn't worry about it - you've got fermentation and have learned a few lessons: gets your starter closer to room temp before pitching, and cool your wort to ~70 before pitching.

 

[mic]

1) 87*F is not enough to kill yeast, in fact they quite like that temp (although brewers don't - too hot to make most beer styles). you may well have shocked the yeast with that big a temp differential.
2) yes.
3) yes, yeast are very resilient.
4) beer

prior to full-on fermentation, yeast multiply during the "lag phase". this quiet period during which the cells are splitting can easily last 24 hours or more, but typically it is less.

so it's hard to tell what the outcome will be. maybe your initial yeast was dealing with the temp changes and was reproducing, so that second yeast resulted in over-pitching. if this is the case, i would expect less yeast character from your beer and potentially a slightly higher attenuation. or maybe the first pitch didn't recoup in time and the second pitch took over, in which case you may well have saved your beer. either way i wouldn't worry about it - you've got fermentation and have learned a few lessons: gets your starter closer to room temp before pitching, and cool your wort to ~70 before pitching.

Thanks a ton for this! Now, the kit/recipe calls for adding champaign yeast to the secondary...still do this or no with all the yeast already in there? I guess checking the gravity would tell me that if i hit the numbers per the kit.

 

[sweetcell]

definitely take a reading first. how big a recipe is this? what are the predicted OF, FG & ABV?

how long are you going to age this in secondary? if it's just for a week or two, you could consider skipping the secondary entirely and just leave it in primary (also worth asking: how long do you intend to leave it in primary?)

 

[mic]

definitely take a reading first. how big a recipe is this? what are the predicted OF, FG & ABV?

how long are you going to age this in secondary? if it's just for a week or two, you could consider skipping the secondary entirely and just leave it in primary (also worth asking: how long do you intend to leave it in primary?)

Ingredients: 18 lbs. Domestic 2-Row barley, 12 oz. Chocolate Malt, 4 oz. Caramel 120°L, 12 oz. Roasted Barley, 4 oz. of hops, priming sugar, yeast, and 1 pkg. dry champagne yeast. Wyeast British Ale # 1098
Predicted OG 1.082 - 1.086 FG 1.022 - 1.035 8%ish

My OG wss 1.072 (BIAB with not a lot of wiggle room) Primary for 2 weeks minimum and then secondary at least 2-4 months on vanilla beans soaked in bourbon. I'm thinking if the FG is in the correct range I'll skip the additional yeast but would I not get good carbonation later?

 

[sweetcell]

your beer should carbonate but it might take some time.

what i would do is add a quarter to a third of the champagne yeast 4 or 5 days before you bottle. keep the dry yeast in the fridge until then. when it's time, rehydrate it per the instructions (for the amount used) and pitch it in the secondary.

also, that's potentially a long secondary on vanilla. could be perfect, or could be too much. if you can do so safely and in a sanitary manner, you should taste the beer every other week to see where the vanilla flavor is at. flush with CO2 if you have any on hand.