Yeast got too cold. Can I wake it back up?

[McHaven]

I brewed a honey wheat beer on the 20th, using Safale WB-06 Wheat yeast. I pitched yeast and put the bucket into my fermentation fridge at a medium setting. I wanted to keep the ambient around 62.

It was bubbling well for a few days and then totally shut down. I noticed my fridge had dropped to almost 50 degrees. I figure it got way too cold for the yeast to continue fermentation. I changed the settings in the fridge to stay warmer now.

So are my yeast dead? Can I just raise the temperature back and hope they continue fermentation? What's the deal?

 

[ElevenBrewCo]

I would say your fine. Hopefully the majority of the fermentation already occurred. Check your gravity readings a couple days apart and see if it lowers. If not, you will have to repitch

Dont pay attention to bubbles. I never do. All about the gravity readings. I never touch my beer beer for a minimum of 3 weeks

 

[RJS]

All about the gravity readings. I never touch my beer beer for a minimum of 3 weeks

Yup.

If the yeast went to 50, they wouldnt die, just get real sleepy. Getting the fridge back up to ale temps is good but i would bring the yeast back up for another round. If they flocculated out from the cold temp they might not come back up, but ive never missed a temp so i dont know for sure.

 

[McHaven]

So, could I shake it up a bit to try and get the yeast back up into the solution?

 

[bottlebomber]

Try warming it up, and if that doesn't work boil a few ounces of honey in a little water, let it cool and add it to the beer and then add some sort of a sanitized instrument in to stir up the yeast. The simple sugars will get the yeast excited about life again.

 

[BrewKnurd]

So, could I shake it up a bit to try and get the yeast back up into the solution?

Its a wheat yeast, so its low flocculating, and the recommended range goes down to 59. Who knows what your actual fermenter temp was as the fridge temp went to 50, but there's a decent chance you were still at least a few degees above the fridge temp in the fermenter.

Bottom line, you didn't kill the yeast, and since its a low flocculator, if your ferment isn't done, you may not even need to shake it up to get things going again. But swirling it around wouldn't hurt.

You're fine.

 

[McHaven]

Well, I get back from work in a few days. I'll take a reading and see what's up. I hope it picks back up. I know bubbles aren't a good indicator, but it bubbled about 3 days and I haven't seen one since. It may still be doing it, but so rarely that I just miss it every time. Whereas my apfelwein has been fermenting since the 20th as well, and it hasn't stopped bubbling yet.

 

[BrewKnurd]

Well, I get back from work in a few days. I'll take a reading and see what's up. I hope it picks back up. I know bubbles aren't a good indicator, but it bubbled about 3 days and I haven't seen one since. It may still be doing it, but so rarely that I just miss it every time. Whereas my apfelwein has been fermenting since the 20th as well, and it hasn't stopped bubbling yet.

Plenty of fermentations are done with active CO2 generation in 3 days.

 

[bottlebomber]

Plenty of fermentations are done with active CO2 generation in 3 days.

This. Most of my beer except the lagers have hit terminal gravity in 3 days. You really should take a gravity reading.