Pressure KILL Yeast

[Bugaboo]

Transferred out of my conical at 26 psi and forgot I was going to put a beer on top of my yeast cake and left it at 26 psi over night. Any detriment to my yeast? I haven't brewed yet so I can still buy some new yeast.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Is your conical rated for 26psi? That seems pretty high. Who makes it? If it is rated for that pressure then I want one!

I can't comment about the pressure. I would bet you are fine. Yeast are pretty hardy little organism despite how much people fret about providing the perfect environment for them.

 

[Bugaboo]

It's a brewhemoth. I don't think they advertise psi ratings that high for legal reasons, but it definitely holds 26 psi.

 

[zachattack]

Yeast work fine up to much, much higher pressures. If 26 PSI killed them, nobody could naturally carbonate.

 

[Bugaboo]

I've done pressurized fermentation at much lower psi. Also, I've read that people do pressurized fermentation in the 15 psi range, so I don't think I should worry. It's just that I'm doing a Pliny the Elder clone, which is expense, so I wanted to get some feedback from the beer community

 

[zachattack]

If you bottle condition at room temperature, you're looking at 30-40 psi no problem. So 26 should be fine.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Good to know. I wasn't sure how high I could go with my brewhemoth.

 

[dstar26t]

White Labs recommends that if you're going to reuse the yeast, keep the pressure under 15 psi.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

I've heard that changing the pressure rapidly is what causes yeast death, so 26 psi might be fine, but if you release this all at once this might cause some cell death. I think enough will have survived to rapidly increase the population once there are some sugars to ferment, especially with their ruptured friends nutrients in the mix, so I would guess you'll do fine.

 

[dstar26t]

I've heard that changing the pressure rapidly is what causes yeast death, so 26 psi might be fine, but if you release this all at once this might cause some cell death. I think enough will have survived to rapidly increase the population once there are some sugars to ferment, especially with their ruptured friends nutrients in the mix, so I would guess you'll do fine.

I agree that a quick change in pressure is harmful...very good point. The only way you can be sure of viability before you repitch is to actually check it. Squinting won't suffice.

 

[Bugaboo]

I've released the pressure by 5 psi intervals every time I remember to do so, so no quick pressure change