Cold Pitching = 48 hour lag for Me...Why?

[bigcountrybrew]

I cold pitched yeast for the first time this past weekend, and it took 48 hours for high Krausen to develop. I really like the idea of pitching straight from the fridge. So if you could be so kind, help me figure out where in my process I went wrong, as I know lots of people are reporting lag times of < 2 to 4 hours. So here is what I did:

1. I brewed a partial mash recipe with a 3 gallon boil using filtered H20 from my tap, mixing 2.5 gallons of store bought spring water from the freezer. I mixed the wort and water for 3 minutes using a wine whip and electric drill in a 7 gallon ale pail. I did no other O2 additions. OG was 1.050

2. I cooled my wort down to 63 degrees F, I want to ferment at 68 degrees F so I chilled to 5 degrees lower than ferm temps.

3. I used WLP001 California Ale yeast harvested on 3/22/10, washed using the process found on this thread.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/yeast-washing-illustrated-41768/

4. I decanted most of the liquid off of the washed yeast, shook the mason jar to mix remaining liquid and yeast.

5. I pitched yeast

6. I then secured lid and air lock, then put the pail in a water bath at 68 degrees F. 36 hours later SG was still at 1.050 and temp of beer was 68 degrees F. At 48 hours a beautiful layer of Krausen had formed and fermentation was going.

Some things to note:
1. This was only my second attempt at washing yeast, but the yeast looked good, it had a nice creamy color with very little visible trub.
2. 68 is the low end of the temp spectrum that White Labs recommends.
3. I did not add any Oxygen other than stirring
4. I did not stir the yeast into the wort, I just pitched on top.
5. I typically see lag times < 12 hours using a starter and the same processes.

I am guessing that in the 48 hours lag the yeasties spent multiplying and not eating sugars. I am not worried that the beer is ruined, just trying to understand a new process.

Thanks for all you help in advance,
~ Country

 

[dzlater]

I think cold pitching is more a term for pitching lager yeasts at fermentation temps.And not pitching in the 60's and then lowering to lager temps.
Not actually pitching a cold yeast onto a 63 wort for ales.

 

[bigcountrybrew]

dzlater, that is what i thought to, but I read this post and made me think people are using it for ales as well.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/cold-pitching-good-read-176587/

 

[dstar26t]

The beer isn't ruined, if it's fermenting now don't worry.

When you took the jar of yeast out of the fridge, how many mL of yeast was in it? If you look at the PRC at Mr.Malty, best case scenario (highest concentration, lowest non-yeast percentage) with 55 day old yeast, you needed 389 mL (assuming 5 gallon batch @ 1.050).

 

[Yooper]

The beer isn't ruined, if it's fermenting now don't worry.

When you took the jar of yeast out of the fridge, how many mL of yeast was in it? If you look at the PRC at Mr.Malty, best case scenario (highest concentration, lowest non-yeast percentage) with 55 day old yeast, you needed 389 mL.

Yes, that's where I'd look. If the yeast had been in the fridge for two months, the viability goes way down, plus it might have been underpitching. That would be a double whammy for the yeast. For yeast that's been washed and in the fridge, I always do a starter to "wake it up".

 

[dstar26t]

I've made this mistake before and it took 3 days to show krausen. Beer was fine though. And by fine, I mean fine, not great.

 

[bigcountrybrew]

Thanks for all the quick responses. I have had great sucess making starters with the washed yeast. Do you all make the starter, chill the starter, decant and then pitch?
Thanks again

 

[dstar26t]

I don't wash, I harvest and re-pitch within 2 weeks, no starter. The less handling the better IMO.
When I start with new yeast, I make a starter to get the right number of cells and chill-decant-swirl-pitch.

 

[JKoravos]

My guess is low viability is the culprit. 2 month old slurry will have very low viability. If I'm harvesting slurry, I don't let it get beyond 2 weeks without making a starter to get it going again.

 

[permo]

When cold pitching, you should be cold pitching the yeast from a fresh starter. If your yeast has been in the fridge for a few months, use a starter, ensure the viability and "wake up" the yeast so to speak. Then cold crash, decant and pitch cold.

 

[MattHollingsworth]

When cold pitching, you should be cold pitching the yeast from a fresh starter. If your yeast has been in the fridge for a few months, use a starter, ensure the viability and "wake up" the yeast so to speak. Then cold crash, decant and pitch cold.

+1, 100% agree.

 

[bigcountrybrew]

Thanks to all for the response on this. As an update the beer finished just fine, with an SG of 1.010, with no off flavors that I can detect. It is sitting in the fermenter, letting the yeasties clean up, before I bottle this week. One more question. I was going to wash this yeast, but I am worried about the viability due to the stressing of under pitching. This is the second generation (1st time washing), so I don't think the mutations would be too bad. What say you? Would you wash this batch, or just buy a fresh vial for my next batch?


Brian

 

[permo]

Go ahead and wash it. If u use proper protocol in making your starters, the healthy yeast cells will reproduce and you can step it up to propopogate a large amount of healthy yeast

 

[bigcountrybrew]

Awesome! Thanks again for the quick response