Cold pitching

[ragnar_the_red]

Hi guys,

New brewer here. Just wanted to start off with a big thank you for posting on this site as it has helped me immensely.

I have a small question. I brewed a variant of a recipe for a black IPA from hopville. It had a og of 1.061 and temperature between 75-80 when I pitched the yeast. Problem was that I forgot to let the yeast warm up for a few hours before pitching. I put it directly from the fridge to the wort.

I have some fermentation this morning. but it is much slower than my first batch that I did: about 1 bubble every 15 seconds. Should I pitch more yeast? I have another packet of the same exact stuff:Safale US-05.

 

[MrHadack]

My guess is you should be fine; I would just let it go.

I will note that the pitch temperature might have been a bit on the high side but I wouldn't worry about it too much as long as the beer's temperature this morning is closer to 70. Anything over 77F with that yeast strain may start to produce some off-flavors, and most of those off-flavors occur within the first 72 hours of fermentation. When the yeast start to get going they will produce some of their own heat, so check on it occasionally and make sure it doesn't get too warm.

 

[carluchi]

You should be fine. With that high of an OG, the yeasties are still trying to get their act together before the big show.

Regarding the temp of the yeast, some people advocate taking yeast right from the fridge and dropping it in versus letting it sit out for an hour or so. I have done it both ways and cannot really tell the difference. The big factor is as MrHadack says, making sure your wort temp is close to 70 when pitching.

Good luck

 

[flars]

Rehydration is a best practice. Fermentis also has on their site that you can rehydrate in water or wort.
http://www.brewwithfermentis.com/tips-tricks/yeast-rehydration/

 

[ragnar_the_red]

Thanks guys. Cleared up my worries. Checked temp just now and it's sitting at around 72. Also had plenty of bubbling in my airlock. Foam is starting to appear now too.

I guess I just had to give 'em more time to get started.

 

[flars]

Thanks guys. Cleared up my worries. Checked temp just now and it's sitting at around 72. Also had plenty of bubbling in my airlock. Foam is starting to appear now too.

I guess I just had to give 'em more time to get started.

72° is the top of the fermentation range for SA-05. Fermentation produces heat. Your wort temperature may go over 72°.

 

[ragnar_the_red]

Thanks flars. I'll keep an eye on it. If it goes any higher I was thinking it might be a good idea to cool it down by putting it in a fridge or a cooler with ice for a little while. Just enough to get it in the 60's.

 

[flars]

Thanks flars. I'll keep an eye on it. If it goes any higher I was thinking it might be a good idea to cool it down by putting it in a fridge or a cooler with ice for a little while. Just enough to get it in the 60's.

Don't go lower than 65° or peach flavors may result.

 

[ragnar_the_red]

Wow. Sounds like temperature is more important than I thought. I should think about getting a fermentation fridge in the future. I was already planning on making a keg-erator but it looks like wort/krausen temps are a big deal. Might want to make a wort chiller while I'm at it. It took about an hour to chill my wort to 75 last night with an ice filled sink. Everything was sterile that went into it so I'm not worried about infection, but some copper tubing filled with cooled water would have kicked ass.

Hopefully, all the hops I'm adding in later will hide any weird flavors. I'm going to add 2 oz of centennial and cascade hops in the last week of fermentation. Should add some citrus flavor to the piney dryness of the Chinook I used in the boil.