Did I kill my yeast?

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Cheesepolp

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I made my first batch yesterday. I took plenty of notes as well. Having read up quite a bit before hand, I knew to re-hydrate my yeast. So I boiled some water and let it cool some. Now here is the part I may have messed up. The water was still hot, I don't have an exact temperature. It was warm though.
I added it to a cup of this water, put plastic wrap over it and let it sit. I pitched it and continued normally. Now here I am, 36 hours later my airlock has not moved. I peaked inside through the airlock hole. No foam has developed on top. I took a initial hydrometer reading before hand.
I understand the whole "It might not start for 24-72 hours" thing, but my main question is, What temperature would the water have had to be at to kill my yeast? I don't have any more either, so no re-pitching.
I have definitely learned that next time I'm going to use a yeast starter so if something goes wrong I can rule out the yeast.
 
Temps over 120 degrees are where you're really going to start hurting your yeast severely. And that's not all THAT hot. Unless you're really heat sensitive, you can wash your hands in 120 degree water and not feel like you're scalding yourself. It's hot, but not intolerable.

Temperatures lower than 120 can still shock your yeast, slowing it down quite a bit, so even if the water wasn't "kill my yeast" hot, it could still have had a negative effect.

If the water felt actually hot to you, it may have been a bit much for your yeast.

But 36 hours is, for me, just starting to get into "should I be worried?" territory. Do the usual stuff, in this order: Give it more time; move to a warmer environment; give it more time; gently resuspend the yeast; give it some time; pitch more yeast.
 
Most people don't even rehydrate. They just pitch the packet right in, depending on the OG of the wort.

How long did you let the water cool before pitching the yeast in there?
 
Not that long, looking back it was still quite hot. I will take another gravity reading in a few days.
 
Honestly, you probably nuked the poor bastards. They never even had a chance. You might want to consider repitching if you don't see anything soon.
 
Well now... That is a shame. How long do I have before its past the point of return as in re pitching. Should I refrigerate my 5 gallons?
 
You can repitch whenever you want. I'd suggest just pitching the packet directly in provided the gravity hasn't changed. Make sure to give the fermentation vessel a good swirl or two.
 
Stop Stop Stop!!!! Before you do anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First, fermentation can take up to 72 hours for the yeasties to start, it's called lag time.
There's a sticky at the top of this forum that should have caught your attention....36 hours is NOT 72 is it?????

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/fermentation-can-take-24-72-hrs-show-visible-signs-43635/


The rate of airlcok bubbling, lack of airlock bubbling or airlock bubbling in general really means nothing except that co2 is being vented and the top of the fermentor will not explode spewing your beer all over the palce...It is NOT any type of a gauge.

Some bubble fast, some bubble slow, some never bubble, some people don't use airlocks....and yet the yeasties do their thing and beer is made, that's all that matters.

So, get out of the idea of using "airlock bubbling" as a sign of fermentation, you have to realize that airlock activity is not an accurate indication of fermentation...an airlock is a vent for excess co2, nothing more...and half of my beers never bubble.

Read this for why arilock analysing is useless, and what is the only gauge of ferementation...https://www.homebrewtalk.com/1217925-post3.html And there is a link to my blog in there as well....The only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in.....

I'll say it as plainly as possible....

Repitching yeast before taking a grav reading is like performing a hip replacement before even looking at an x-ray.

It's taking an action which may be unnecessary, without performing a proper evaluation....Or fixing a problem when it may not even be broken....That's NOT good brewing practice.


Don't repitch the yeast BEFORE you take a grav reading...more than likely your beer is fermenting away happily.....


Stepaway_copy.jpg


Wait 72 hours, then take a gravity reading...The post the information, and we'll make an informed decision. Not one based on an ignorant knee-jerk reaction...

:mug:
 
what he said! step away from the beer, and spend your time reading and re-reading revvy's posts. I've been trying to do all the right things(sanitation, re-hydrating dried yeast, oxygenation, etc), and thusfar all of my (i'm on batch 7) brews have fermented by-the-book beautifully....until...this last one! after 24hrs, no signs whatsoever (glass carboy) of krausening, just still water, and-apparently-yeast at the bottom.
so...i was thinking, "man, if nothing is happening this morning, I'll probably re-pitch today". I got up, grabbed a cup of coffee, and sat down to read the gold by revvy and others on this site, and after a couple of hours, got up to check the beer, and...can I get an amen?-KRAUSEN and fizzing!!! (after 36hrs). tap the brakes, and read what the big dogs do, you can't go wrong! thanks yall, for all of the help.
c
 
A falling gravity reading will be the best way to gauge whether the yeast are doing their thing. Good luck!
 
HOWEVER - next time, IF you re-hydrate, take your thermometer....100F max.
(or save the trouble and sprinkle it into the cooled wort...your wort IS below 70F, right?)
 
Thank you all. I've read the links and I would never dump or re-pitch without taking another few gravity readings. I'm keeping a close eye on it. If after 72 hours (god forbid), the gravity has not changed, then I'll order some more yeast. Assuming what I've read is correct, I can keep the wort, re stir and add new yeast. Can any one confirm this for me?
 
Cheesepolp said:
Thank you all. I've read the links and I would never dump or re-pitch without taking another few gravity readings. I'm keeping a close eye on it. If after 72 hours (god forbid), the gravity has not changed, then I'll order some more yeast. Assuming what I've read is correct, I can keep the wort, re stir and add new yeast. Can any one confirm this for me?
Click to expand...

Yup, just keep an airlock on it until you pitch the new yeast and you should be fine. If it takes off before you add new yeast, you've got yourself a lambic.
 
Cheesepolp said:
Pardon my ignorance, A lambic?
Click to expand...

A beer brewed with wild yeast. A little while back my buddy brewed a beer and waited a while to pitch yeast. Before he could, it started fermenting. I told him he should wait it out and see how it tastes, but the p***y dumped it.
 
Cheesepolp said:
Interesting. Am I mistaken or is that how they brewed back in the olden days?
Click to expand...

Pretty much. If you check out the Reinheitsgebot, there's no mention of yeast. Back in the days of yore, they didn't know what the fermenting agent was. There are still some breweries that have open fermenters for wild yeast, but most lambics these days have wild yeast pitched right into them.
 
Still no activity and same gravity reading?
Also for the sake of curiosity, what was the original gravity?
What kind of yeast were you using?
What is the temperature that you are fermenting at?

Personally I've NEVER had a brew where there wasn't SOME visual sign of fermentation. And if the temperature you rehydrated was as HOT as you say, I'm still going to think that you nuked them.

The point I think we're missing here is that he rehydrated dry yeast in water that was probably upwards of 140 degrees ATLEAST. That certainly doesn't bode well for yeast that were lyophilized (freeze dried). People talk about shocking the yeast innoculating a wort that is too warm (80 - 90 degrees) so imagine what would happen using water that was well beyond that temperature.

"Ale yeast are more tolerant to higher temperatures, lager yeast do not survive well over 80F. Ale yeast will survive to 90F." - White Labs

Most of the popular dry yeast say to rehydrate between 80 - 95 F and Palmer even says 95 - 105 F. We don't know for certain what the temperature was but the OP claims that it wasn't long and was still rather hot. One can only conclude that the water temperature was well above 105 and was atleast 140 or higher.

That being the case, suppose that even some of the yeast cells survived and the lag time. He will risk wild yeast or other bacteria taking over the wort and have high levels of esters and diacetyl.
 
Cheesepolp said:
Thank you all. I've read the links and I would never dump or re-pitch without taking another few gravity readings. I'm keeping a close eye on it. If after 72 hours (god forbid), the gravity has not changed, then I'll order some more yeast. Assuming what I've read is correct, I can keep the wort, re stir and add new yeast. Can any one confirm this for me?
Click to expand...

A lesson I learned on my very first batch (after running to wal mart to pick up baking yeast to bail out some yeasties that I killed)....always keep a couple extra packs of yeast. I've got 3 extra munton's standard and 2 extra safale 05's now. Be prepared.

But, I would follow the other advice here. Give it time. First of all, if the airlock ain't going, you can't use that as a fermentation indicator. What if you had a leak in your lid? Falling gravity readings is the best measure to see if your beer is going along well. Remember, 72 hours.
 
I just peaked and took another gravity reading. My original was: 40 SP/GR, 5% Potential, and 10 Balling. Now when I took my reading this second time it is as follows: 45 SP/GR, 6% Potential, and 13 Balling. So Falling gravity is good? well why is mine rising? I don't know what was on top, but when i looked before it was clear. now there is a layer of something. not very thick. I don't know if it was krausen or not on account of this being my first batch.
I have no info on the yeast I used except that it was from LD Carlson.
 
Well, it's not possible for the SG to go up. There can't be more sugar in there than you started with. What I think is happening is that it's starting to ferment. That layer of something is krausen, and because it's starting to ferment, you must have had some co2 bubbles pushing the hydrometer up a bit. That would explain why the reading is higher.

Don't worry about it. Cover it back up and keep it at 65-68 degrees, and then check on it next week. It sounds right on track.
 
So then did I pick up a lambic? or did some of my original yeast survive? And thank you for putting my fears aside.
 
Either way, chalk it up as a lesson learned (one of many more to come). Next time I'm sure that you will remember to be mindful with temperatures when they pertain to your yeast. Be good to them and they will repay you with wonderful beer. :)
 
Lesson most assuredly learned. I should also note, It has a peculiar smell. Different then before. Slightly sour. Should I be worried by this?
 
Does your hydrometer actually have a specific gravity scale?

The numbers that we use look sorta like this...

SpecificGravityreading-main_Full.jpg


A Specific graivty reading is usually read as a number beginning with 1. and three digits after like. 1.020, 1.070, 1.090, 1.010 or something between two of them, like 1.019..all the other scales are ignored by most of us. Like potential and alchohol, etc...

Like this scale starts at 990, and then the next one you actually see in that format is 1.050...but most of us can read the stuff between that as wall as after...990, 1.000, 1.010, 1.020, 1.030, 1.040, 1.050, 1.060, etc.

Go back and look for the side of the hydro that looks like the pick..and also take a temp reading of the beer..this will help you determine the actual gravity of your beer

again I think you are worrying too much AND I think some people whilst nobly trying to help you are actually confusing and scaring you more with mentions of lambics and such.....that is really not an issue here

So relax......You AND the posters trying to help.......

We need to determine whether you beer is fermenting or not...simple as that...

What was you original gravity before you pitched your yeast? Again it would have a number like, 1.050, 1.070 something like that.

And what is your grav reading now in that scale on your hydrometer?

If it is less than the original, then the beer is fine...and fermenting away despite what anyone is saying to you...

If you are stil confsed about reading a hydrometer, check out palmer in how to brew...How to Brew - By John Palmer - Appendix A - Using Hydrometers

Or Bobby M's video....

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtQt7HiObuU]YouTube - Hydrometer - Brewing Beginner Series[/ame]

You didn't "pick up a lambic" or anything else...they are feeding fear in you...it is really hard to fuq this up, so relax
 
As far as the smell, it could just be your yeast that you're smelling or it could be something else. It's so hard to tell trying to diagnose problems over the internet.

I remember my first brew like it was yesterday. I was so concerned (much like you :)) about the fermentation of my beer. Matter of fact, I was down right paranoid. I was told time and time again, RDWHAHB. Relax Don't Worry Have A Homebrew. But since you don't have any homebrew, have a local microbrew or a growler from the local brewpub. Whats done is done and there is no changing that. My first two batches turned out poorly but I learned a lot of valuable things helped me grow as a brewer. I experienced high levels of fusel alcohol and a plastic off flavor. At the time I wasn't aware that fermentation temps getting out of control can cause fusel production. Nor did I know about malt extract being stored in metal/plastic containers for long periods of time lending to off flavors in your beer.

No matter what happens stick with it and don't give up. You will learn from your mistakes and from the people on this forum.
 
Your beer is really hard to screw up...it surprises us and turns out Ok despite what we do to it....

Read some fo these threads to see..

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/wh...where-your-beer-still-turned-out-great-96780/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/has-anyone-ever-messed-up-batch-96644/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/ne...virtue-time-heals-all-things-even-beer-73254/

And for you guys and gals trying to help take a read of this blog.....before you jump the gun and talk about "lambics" and infections stuff, please read this blog...and get into the mindset of helping without spreading panic...it's such a tricky thing to do..but if YOU are afraid of your beer and brewing then you are going to spread more fear...even when you are trying to help....Try to stick with the subject and concern at hand AND not introduce extraneous issues like "lambics" and "wild yeast" concerns , into the discussion into a beginners threads...it really causes more harm and confusion than actually helps the situation.

It is really doubtful you have an infection in your beer, there are so many things, including basic sanitzation practices that are working in your favor...even if the yeas thasn't taken hold yey.

The "I" word....
 
Cheesepolp said:
I just peaked and took another gravity reading. My original was: 40 SP/GR, 5% Potential, and 10 Balling. Now when I took my reading this second time it is as follows: 45 SP/GR, 6% Potential, and 13 Balling.
Click to expand...

I think the 40 SP is 1.040 and the 45 SP is 1.045. Pretty sure thats what he meant.
 
My specific gravity was 40 at first, which would be 1.040 and just now it was 1.045. Logically this is impossible. YooperBrew said I had co2 bubbles pushing the hydrometer up a bit. My liquid crystal thermometer sticker thing on the side of it says its 73 degrees F.
 
When taking your hydrometer reading what are you using to hold the wort (theif, jar) Also, did you you take the reading multiple times, making sure to spin the hydrometer and prevent it from sticking to the sides? Hydrometers are calibrated to measure gravity at certain temperatures. Your hydrometer should have the temperature on it somewhere.

Refrain from opening the lid too many times. The more you open and close it will potentially do more harm than good.

In one of your original posts you said that you don't have any other yeast on hand, IF in fact you may have to repitch. Are there any local homebrew stores around that you might be able to stop by if need be?
 
it says for 78F to add 0.001. When taking my readings, the first time I had just pitched and was about to put the lid on. I had already sanitized the hydrometer so I dropped it in. I have read to spin it to dislodge bubbles so both times I've done that. The second time I actually lifted the lid to peak and suck my sanitized hydrometer in as well. I'm for sure investing in a wine thief.
 
schweaty said:
...Your hydrometer should have the temperature on it somewhere.
Click to expand...


What?????

Um, I own three hydrometers, NONE of them have a temperature scale on them....the combination hydrometer/thermometer ones are NOT standard issue for MOST brewers...that's NOT the one that most people get in their kits.....
 
Revvy said:
What?????

Um, I own three hydrometers, NONE of them have a temperature scale on them....the combination hydrometer/thermometer ones are NOT standard issue for MOST brewers...that's NOT the one that most people get in their kits.....
Click to expand...

Apparently you misunderstood what I was trying to say. Some hydrometers are calibrated to read liquids @ 66F and others at 60F. I wasn't saying that there was a thermometer on the hydrometer, just for him to check and see what temperature his is calibrated at. But hey, what do I know, right?
 
schweaty said:
Apparently you misunderstood what I was trying to say. Some hydrometers are calibrated to read liquids @ 66F and others at 60F. I wasn't saying that there was a thermometer on the hydrometer, just for him to check and see what temperature his is calibrated at. But hey, what do I know, right?
Click to expand...

Well I'm sorry to say, you weren't clear...perhaps if you said that some hydrometers are calibrated to to 60 or 66 degrees, that would be a little more clear...Thats is TOTALLY diffeerent from saying that "your hydrometer should have the temperature on it somewhere."

Heck If I can't understand what you mean...maybe the new brewer can't either....huh???

I mean...If I misunderstood, and I can speak "brewer" lingo...then do you thinks perhaps maybe mister fearful new brewer would understand any better?

:mug:
 
Cheesepolp said:
it says for 78F to add 0.001. When taking my readings, the first time I had just pitched and was about to put the lid on. I had already sanitized the hydrometer so I dropped it in. I have read to spin it to dislodge bubbles so both times I've done that. The second time I actually lifted the lid to peak and suck my sanitized hydrometer in as well. I'm for sure investing in a wine thief.
Click to expand...

Back to the topic at hand.

You are taking readings directly from the bucket and not taking a sample?
Hmmm, this probably isn't the most sanitary practice or the most accurate. A wine theif or some other receptacle for the wort would be ideal for taking hydrometer readings. They will allow you to place the hydrometer at eye level and you can take multiple readings to ensure that no CO2 bubbles or liquid give a false measure.

I say take another reading 10-12 hours from now. If there still isn't any action on your hydrometer then a repitch is probably necessary. If the gravity is lower then congrats on sweating it out for 3 days. :)
 
schweaty said:
Yeah, sorry about that. Sometimes it just seems like you can never say anything right. I appologize if some of my previous posts caused you to freak out, that was never my intent.
Click to expand...
It's cool. Fighting and forums go hand in hand. As for the confusion, don't sweat it. I'll just wait a bit, take another reading and figure something out.
 
Hopefully that krausen keeps rolling. Otherwise one explanation for the spec grav going "up" would be that it wasn't properly mixed on the original reading. After allowing time for proper mixing it now measures more accurately.

Hate to freak you out, but I'm still concerned you killed your yeast.
 

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