Still no activity from yeast I pitched Saturday night. I pitched at 80 degF without hydrating (bad decisions, I know) and I'm worried I killed the yeast. I just looked at the temp though and apparently my swamp cooler, AKA putting the bucket into a cooler with two frozen jugs of water, worked too well because my wort was at 53-54 degF today. Should I repitch with hydrated yeast or give it another day?
Do I repitch?
- Thread starter vance
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flars
Well-Known Member
Have you looked into the bucket to see if a krausen had started to form? Fermentation may have begun even though there was no bubbling through the airlock. Sudden chilling with ice will slow the fermentation.
You can't kill yeast unless you raise the temperature of the wort over 120°F.
What was the OG of the beer and which dry yeast did you pitch?
Average ale yeast fermentation temperature is 66° to 68°F.
You can't kill yeast unless you raise the temperature of the wort over 120°F.
What was the OG of the beer and which dry yeast did you pitch?
Average ale yeast fermentation temperature is 66° to 68°F.
I've looked in the bucket, not a single sign of fermentation. I forgot to take an OG, but it was the Mosaic Honey Wheat found on this site with a bit extra grain to account for BIAB efficiency. Not a super high gravity beer either way. It was a packet of S-05
Vance - you said this was Safale 05. If that's the case, do your best to keep your ambient temp no more than the upper 60's as if/when fermentation starts, it'll kick up the wort temp a handful of degrees. O5 is happiest, IME, between 62-68. Maybe just put your fermenter in that bucket with some water without the ice jugs. Hopefully you see some fermentation signs by the time you read this, but I'd try to keep it in the upper 60's at most.
As of post time it was too early to get worried with optimum temperatures. With the addition of ice the yeast went into slow motion if not dormant. Also was the fact of pitching the yeast dry. That will add time to the process where nothing is happening while the yeast cells re-hydrate, THEN they can start fermentation.
Let the temperature rise, but not anywhere near ambient of 75-80. When the yeast kick of fermentation it will create it's own heat which could take your ambient of 75-80 and cause the wort to rise as high as 85-90 which would not be good.
Leave the fermenter in the swamp cooler and add or remove the ice bottles to control the temperature.
I suspect, by the time the OP reads this (now Tuesday at 6:55 am) that fermentation will have started.
Let the temperature rise, but not anywhere near ambient of 75-80. When the yeast kick of fermentation it will create it's own heat which could take your ambient of 75-80 and cause the wort to rise as high as 85-90 which would not be good.
Leave the fermenter in the swamp cooler and add or remove the ice bottles to control the temperature.
I suspect, by the time the OP reads this (now Tuesday at 6:55 am) that fermentation will have started.
Fermentation is totally done, actually. I'm not entirely sure how, but I took a gravity reading on the recommendation of a reddit user and it's below what my hydrometer can read (1.000).
Not entirely sure that happened, since I've cracked the lid at least once a day since when I pitched Saturday night, but as far as I know how to tell it's finished somehow - and has been since Sunday?
Not entirely sure that happened, since I've cracked the lid at least once a day since when I pitched Saturday night, but as far as I know how to tell it's finished somehow - and has been since Sunday?
Hmmm - not trying to be mean here, but I question your hydrometer and/or your ability to read it correctly. I've never heard of Safale-05 getting a beer to finish as dry as wine. In my 2+ years, my 05 batches (regardless of recipe) have all finished somewhere between 1.020 and 1.010. To have a beer finish that dry seems extremely odd to me. But, I guess anything's possible...
I have no idea what's going on, honestly. I checked it yesterday after work and it looked to be fermenting normally - airlock bubbling, good krausen, all of it. Clearly the warm temperature at pitching + quick drop to mid 50s + not hydrating caused a ~2.5 day lag time, I just can't figure out why my hydrometer reading was so far off. I checked it with tap water, it's not perfectly on 1.000 (also not distilled water) but it sure as hell wasn't far enough to take whatever my OG was all the way to below 1.000.
If your beer is truly below 1.000 you have more problems than the temperature and the yeast. US05 just will not ferment your beer that low. Take another reading. If it is that low it was probably fermented by a contaminant organism. Which may be bad or you might have something good. When you are sure it is done take a taste. Then you can decide if it is something you like or a dumper.
HarborTownBrewing
Well-Known Member
You may want to calibrate your hydrometer while you are at it: https://byo.com/mead/item/411-calibrate-your-hydrometer-and-fermenter-techniques
I'm gonna wait for the krausen to settle before I take another sample. I'm sure it was just some sort of error with the hydrometer, I'm just not sure what, unless a ~10-15 degree difference from 68 would cause that much of a swing. I tasted the sample when I got the strange gravity and it tasted fine then.
