Did I hurt my yeast?

[Tommyb52]

Brewed an all grain Belgian wit this morning and had a real hard time cooling off the wort(cold water changes in the sink with some ice packs). I was dead tired (@4 AM)and was fed up trying to cool the wort even more( I REALLY need to pony up and get a copper coil wort cooler) so I pitched my Wyeast 3944 @ 85 degrees F. I then put the fermenter in my basement where its 76 degrees. I checked the double air lock @ 10:30 AM and see no real pressure difference so I gave the fermenter a good shake. Its only been 6 hours since I pitched the yeast, so did I slow the process down due to the temperature or did I "hurt" my yeast? Any info is appreciated.

 

[AlCophile]

Could you make a setup whereby you leave wort in boil kettle, making sure it won't tip, and let sink or tub water run slooooowly, with overflow going out the tub emergency drain, while you catch some ZZZs?
This is meant to be an emergency method, only, especially since you must pay for city water(I have well water, true, but the well cost several grand).

 

[kiwibrewer]

Give it a while to kick in, depending on o2 and nutrients it can take up to 24hrs for visible activity. You were probably bang on the upper limit for pitching there.

You might want to consider upping the pitching rate for a faster start

 

[kh54s10]

No you did not hurt your yeast. They should love the too hot temperatures.

On the other hand fermenting in the basement at 76 degrees is WAY to hot. Get the fermenter into a swamp cooler ASAP and get the wort temperature down to the low to mid sixties as quickly as possible.

 

[WoodlandBrew]

+1 to kh54s10. Yeast thrive at 80 degrees F. Up to 86 is the recommended rehydration temperature by Fermentis.
http://www.fermentis.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/SFA_US05.pdf

However, your pallet will probably not like what they produce at that temperature.

In my book I have some tequniques that might help you.

 

[Tommyb52]

Thanks for the quick responses. My o2 should be good,going from the boil kettle to the fermenter bucket I had my hose set up to suck in o2 (venturi effect) and then aerated with a paint mixer on my drill for 5 minutes. The wort had a nice frothy head on it when I pitched the yeast. I'll set up a swamp cooler when I get home. Thanks again.

 

[k_mcarthur]

Yeast actually really like higher temps, but they eat and divide so fast that they throw a lot of off flavors. During the summer it's tough for me to get any lower than 75° (temp of tap water), so I put it in fermenting fridge overnight and pitch the next day when it's down to mid 60's. Wit yeast throws a lot of different flavors even when kept in ideal range, I had one that sat at 75° and it had a kind of sour finish to it. Wasn't undrinkable, my wife actually liked it better, but she likes Belgian sours and lambics. Get it to ideal temp, and let it sit two weeks after fermentation is done to let yeast clean it up.

 

[biertourist]

As WoodlandBrew stated the yeast will be happy; your tongue might not be so happy with all of the phenols that end up in the beer. (Spicy, peppery, and possibly plasticy / bandaidy if you've got chloramines in your beer.)

I'm super sensitive to phenol levels and I'd probably have to dump it, although I have plenty of friends who LOVE drinking clove-bomb hefes that I just can't deal with.


Adam

 

[austinb]

As was already stated your yeast is fine but maybe not your beer since you will most likely get off flavors at those temps. If you can't get the temp down in time it is ok to let it cool in your fermenter the rest of the way overnight before pitching. However, 76 is too hot (and fermentation temps will be up to 10 degrees warmer) so you will need a DIY fermenter swamp cooler. Put the fermenter in a tub of cold water and rotate ice packs (frozen drink bottles work great) until you get it down to the mid 60s before pitching and try to keep it there for the duration of fermentation. For glass carboys an old t-shirt draped over the carboy and sitting in the water will wick up some of the water from the tub and evaporate causing evaporative cooling.

 

[Tommyb52]

I put it in a tub in my basement last evening with cold water, a big ice pack(which I changed to a new ice pack this morning), a wet shirt around the bucket, and the temp gauge sticker on the fermenter said 69 degrees. I didn't have a fan but I got my hands on one now and will put it on everything when I get home. I also see a pressure difference on the double airlock now. Thanks again for the help.

 

[ncbrewer]

Be careful with the wet T-shirt over a fermometer. They're water resistant, but not water proof.

 

[Tommyb52]

The water isn't wicking up to near the bucket lid,about 5-6 inches before the top but I'll keep an eye on it,thanks.

 

[Tommyb52]

oops.. fermometer,sorry didn't catch that at 1st. Thanks again.