Pitching yeast

[NHhomebrewer]

Today was my first attempt at a brew day. After the nightmare boil over situation playing itself out the boil was over. I put the pot in the sink on a bed of ice and used my homemade wort chiller. The good news is I got the wort temp from 185 degrees to 80 in around 14 min. The bad news is, when I added the wort to the fermenter and added my additional cold water my temperature was around 54 degrees. I was close on time and had to get the yeast in. I pitched the yeast, stirred it around a bit and closed it up. Do you think an ale yeast will still work properly at 54 degrees? I also decided to scrap the idea of a second fermentation for this batch. The IPA kit says only 7 days in fermenter before bottling. I was thinking more like 3 weeks then bottled for 3 weeks. Should I follow the kit or my preconceived idea.? Any help would be great. Thanks again

 

[JamesM]

don't worry about the 54 degrees. As your beer warms up to room temp the yeast will wake up. One week sounds short for fermentation. You may not need the whole three weeks, but it wouldn't hurt. If you're feeling impatient, just brew another batch!!

 

[Calder]

3+3 would be good,

Don't worry about the 54 degrees. Yeast will be fine.

 

[muthafuggle]

While you might get to your target gravity within 7 days, you will notice a BIG quality difference if you let it go for at least 21 days. I have found most kits have hopelessly optimistic estimates on when they will be done with fermentation. Relax a bit, it will improve your beer more than just about anything. Buy another fermentation bucket and do another brew to occupy yourself if you are impatient, they aren't expensive.

 

[NHhomebrewer]

I have it fermenting in the basement now, which normally has a temp of 60-65 degrees. Do you think I should leave it there or try to find a warmer spot? 3 and 3 sounds good to me as well. What beers do you normally use a second fermentation for? Also will the wort chill give the wort a metallic taste as the raw copper is coming in contact while it is hot?

 

[dutchoven]

You shouldn't notice a metallic flavor from the chiller.

 

[djfriesen]

Leave it where it is and keep an eye on it. If it's too cold, the fermentation might stall, but I don't think it will. Fermentation will produce some heat anyway, so you should be fine. If the FG doesn't come out right, you can work on it then.

Second fermentation is usually used if you are wanting to dry hop, add flavors like vanilla or pumpkin, or for lagering. General opinion is split on whether second fermentaiton is required for anything else. If you're not planning on dry-hopping I would say secondary fermentation is superfluous. Some people say it is necessary and they always do it. Others don't want to risk contamination, and never do it unnecessarily.

 

[NHhomebrewer]

Sorry for the silly questions but I'm a greenhorn at this. I checked the temperature this morning at 12 and it was 64 degree, thAt should be good for ale yeast right? I was also a bit discouraged as there was no activity in the fermenter yet. Is this normal? I used safale-04 in my IPA

 

[djfriesen]

I take it you didn't use a starter? Many people on this forum talk about fermentation taking multiple days to start. As I understand it, using dry yeast, fermentation begins more quickly with a higher temperature, so I would not be surprised that yours might take a little while to get going. Give it time. Assuming they have a good home, those yeasties will get after it soon enough. In the words of many a wise homebrewer: "Relax, Don't Worry, Have A Home Brew."

 

[NHhomebrewer]

Lots of people talk about starters. What exactly is a starter for yeast. The packet said to just pitch it in. Didn't require stirring or anything of that nature.

 

[djfriesen]

Take my info with a grain of salt (you should be doing this with anything on the interwebz anyway) as I don't have a lot of personal experience. Starters, as the name suggests, give the yeast a jumpstart in the fermentation process, so they can get after it quicker. But I believe dry yeast works fairly well, too, even if it takes a little more time to get going.

There are plenty of threads here for intructions on making starters, and I imagine you will find many people that swear by them. However, you will find just as many that insist they are rarely required. As in many facets of homebrewing, personal preference will determine what you do.

 

[Revvy]

Lots of people talk about starters. What exactly is a starter for yeast. The packet said to just pitch it in. Didn't require stirring or anything of that nature.

Read this.