Not pitching yeast right away

[JayZeis]

We will be having a brewday not at home, and want to transport the beer before pitching yeast (will be going home the next day). has anyone done this before? Should we wait to pitch the yeast, or pitch it, and drive (20 miles) the next day during fermentation?

 

[pola0502ds]

Pitch your yeast at your buddies house man, the last time i brewed was at a buddies house. Pitched the yeast and put it in my car. The only problem I had was, i use glass carboys. They are heavy, so use a plastic bucket for your primary. It makes it easier to get in and out of a car. The one thing going for me was, i had a child car seat in my car so i put the car boy on top of it which made it stable.

Why do you have this concern?

If you wait to pitch it you give bacteria time to f-up your brew. Thats part of the reason why you want a pitch healthy yeast, cool your wort fast, and add o2 to your wort so your yeast take off as fast as possible.

 

[ACbrewer]

Jay - I agree with pola's reasoning. I will say that it is possible to pitch later and get good (ie not infected) results. I had a wine that I made from a kit that was to warm (80+) and had to wait several hours for it to cool down. It turned out ok, but I was sweeting it until finished.

The key to delayed pitches is to keep your wort sealed, preferably move it hot. I know you miss the cold break that way. But if it is 155+ and you take it home and chill it, then the possible growth is much less. But again, keep it sealed. you put it in a sanitized container and seal it totally so no dust/mold/wild yeast can get it and you should be fine. Still pola has it right, quicker the pitch the less infection risk.

Oh and lots of head space - fluids stop after solids so it will slosh more when you stop and start (and turn). Very imporant to sanitize the lids in this case.

 

[pola0502ds]

Now a question from me, not only do you want to cool it quick to normally pitch your yeast right away but don't you want to cool it down to prevent off flavors?

 

[paraordnance]

I used to do no-chill brewing and always pitched yeast next day when wort cooled down on its own. Sometimes 24 hr later, never a problem

 

[pola0502ds]

well there you go

 

[JayZeis]

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[Henrythe9th]

I regularly pitch the next day or a couple of days no problems

 

[pola0502ds]

Now a question from me, not only do you want to cool it quick to normally pitch your yeast right away but don't you want to cool it down to prevent off flavors?

Anyone have an answer?

 

[paraordnance]

Anyone have an answer?

the only problem I noticed with slow cooling is hop schedulle gets all messed up. Beers will be slightly more bitter, and almost no aroma other than that, I personally have not noticed any off-flavours from no-chill. Some will say about increased DMS and such, not from my experience.

 

[PseudoChef]

If anyone is having bacterial issues within 24 hours, they need to revisit their sanitation practices.

I routinely pitch the next morning/day in the warmer months since I like to pitch cool (low 60s) for most of my ale fermentations. If the tap water isn't cold enough to get it down that far, then I always, always let it cool overnight (even an ice-water bath can do the trick) before pitching yeast.