Pitch at 78 then chill to 60?

[mattrennert]

My last three brews I've had trouble getting my wort chilled below 78deg with an IC. Is there any risk to pitching Chico at 78deg then putting the carboy into a 60deg ambient ferm chamber right away?

Also, setting my ferm chamber to 60deg essentially guarantees my beer cant go below 60deg and probably wont go above 70deg, right? (us-05..59deg-75deg)

I usually leave my beers at 60deg ambient for 10 days then into 72deg basement to finish out.

 

[Celticway]

Not ideal but also no problem at all. I have had to do that also a few times before. As far as your ferm chamber, can you not tape your controller probe to your fermentor and put some insulation over that to make sure the beer temp is what is desired?

 

[lumpher]

it's hard to get it below 95 here this summer with my 50', 1/2" ic, so i can relate. i've been chilling to 95, put it in an ice bath, chill to about 75, then pitch and let it cool to about 67 or so in the next couple hours. the troubles of a hot summer...

 

[mattrennert]

Controller probe is not quite long enough. Its only inside the chamber about 6-8"

I do have a small digital aquarium thermometer i could stick on there and adjust the temp controller accordingly..

 

[sudsmcgee]

Why not put it in the ferm chamber for a couple of hours and then pitch the yeast. If you are sanitary, it won't hurt anything.

 

[Celticway]

Why not put it in the ferm chamber for a couple of hours and then pitch the yeast. If you are sanitary, it won't hurt anything.

I agree with this,

 

[mattrennert]

I was thinking of that. I'm pretty confident in my sanitation, but still always worry about not pitching soon enough.

It just becomes a question: Is it better to pitch cooler but wait longer before pitching, or pitch a little warm right away?

 

[poislb]

Do you have a kegerator? fridge? I put my last batch in the kegerator for a few hours to get down to 65-67, then pitched. Did nottingham yeast, 16 hours in had krauzen and lasted for 3 days.....A fridge big enough to hold a carboy is a beautiful thing

 

[poislb]

I was thinking of that. I'm pretty confident in my sanitation, but still always worry about not pitching soon enough.

It just becomes a question: Is it better to pitch cooler but wait longer before pitching, or pitch a little warm right away?

Yes, better to wait for lower temps than to pitch at a high temp. Next day wont hurt a bit..

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

agree on waiting for cool temps.

5 gallons of 78 degree wort in a 60 degree ambient chamber will take hours and hours to reach 60. By that time the yeast will likely have kicked off and started generating heat and ramping things back up.

Also agree on taping the temp probe of whatever cooling unit you are using to the carboy so you can control the temp of the liquid, not the air.

 

[bad67z]

I had the same problem in the summer with my 50' 1/2" IC and 70 degree tap water. So I bought a $20 submersible pond pump @ HF and made up a secondary chiller circuit consisting of the pump, a Rubbermaid tote containing a couple of chunks of ice I make up in 2.5 gallon water jugs (with the tops cut out) and water .

Once I am below 100 degrees with the tap water (10-15 minutes) I switch over to the secondary and finish it off with the 35-40 degree ice water and I'm at pitching temp in no time.



Pump info here

 

[gtwarren1966]

Here is what I do. I can't chill mine in the summer below 85 degrees with my chiller because the water is so warm. I chill to 85 and then I put in my temp control freezer at 0 degrees fahrenheit. I chilled a lager down from 85 to 53 in 3 hours then pitched the yeast. Beer is fermenting beautifully.

 

[weirdboy]

I do not pitch hot, and I certainly wouldn't pitch THAT hot.

I prefer to chill to lower than my target fermentation temp by a few degrees, pitch, and then let it warm up slowly over the next day or so. If I cannot chill directly to my target temps, I will rack to the fermenter and wait to pitch until I it gets into the correct range.


I also do like bad67z above, using a submersible pump to pump ice water through the chiller once it gets to below 100F or so.

 

[bad67z]

I also do like bad67z above, using a submersible pump to pump ice water through the chiller once it gets to below 100F or so.

Thanks, I would like to take credit but I got it from another thread on here. My thought is a $30 investment saves me time and it is paid for by saving one brew session.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Is it better to pitch cooler but wait longer before pitching, or pitch a little warm right away?

Wait longer; pitch cooler. Temps during the early yeast propagation phase are VERY important.

 

[AzimuthBrewery]

I believe that if you're under-pitching it's ok to start at a higher temp, because the yeast need to reproduce anyway and the warmer temps help with that. Also, they will be getting their numbers up while the temp drops to the desired fermentation temps so by the time they start fermenting they'll be where you want them. If you're making a starter and pitching a high amount of yeast that don't need to replicate (too much) and will start fermenting right away you'll need to pitch at fermentation temps. Otherwise they'll begin fermentation at too high of a temp and you'll get the high fusels, esters etc. So it depends on our pitching rate. BYW I heard this from Chris White of White Labs (I'm not this smart).

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I believe that if you're under-pitching it's ok to start at a higher temp

"Higher temp" and 78 degrees are two different things. If you want to ferment at 64, and you pitch at 70, you'll probably be fine. 78, though, is a different story.

 

[Yooper]

"Higher temp" and 78 degrees are two different things. If you want to ferment at 64, and you pitch at 70, you'll probably be fine. 78, though, is a different story.

That, and the idea of a higher temp pitch to compensate for underpitching is just that- an idea to help compensate for underpitching. Better to use more yeast, and pitch at the correct fermentation temperature.

Part of the reason is pretty simple- it's hard to lower the temperature just right to "catch" the yeast at the tail end of reproductive phase before fermentation gets going, and it takes a LONG time for 5 gallons of liquid to cool in a 65 degree fridge.

 

[AzimuthBrewery]

I agree, "higher temp" is a relative term and there is definitely a limit. As well, there's no reason not to pitch the right amount of yeast at fermentation temps. It's not hard and will make your beer so much better.

 

[stubbornman]

another vote for waiting for cooler pitching temps. it takes longer than you think for that ambient ferm chamber to cool wort down from 78 degrees, especially if you have yeast going crazy in there....

 

[kappclark]

Why not put it in the ferm chamber for a couple of hours and then pitch the yeast. If you are sanitary, it won't hurt anything.

This is what I do in the summer ... I chill to about 80, use a water bath w/50-55 deg water .. check the temp every half hour...try to pitch at wort temp below 70...I try to conserve water when chilling, but I guess that doesn't matter anymore after Irene's gift of water and destruction.