How long can wort last?/How long before I pitch Lager Yeast?

[maierhof]

Hi all,

I have a bit of a problem - I finished my first ever lager brew session and right as I was putting the cooled down wort into my chest freezer - the PID just shorted out and I lost control of the freezer. I took it apart and it was the Romex wires that I used (I know, I know, I meant to change them and never did grumble) just bent the PID attachments right off over time... DOH!

Brew Day +1 - my new PID arrived and I put it in and started the cooling down from 21C in the chest freezer.

Brew Day + 2 - Now that my starter is done and flocc'd down finally. I want to pitch this thing but my temp is around 12C - boy this chest freezer is OLD!

Do I have to wait to get this thing down to temp or should I just pitch it now?

Info:
I ferment w/ a 13.2g Sanke Keg with silicon bung but I failed to add CO2 the night of the brew
Chest freezer - 1980s relic
Lager Yeast WLP 838
edit --> Goal Temp was 48*F
Wort was at ~21C* when it went into the fermentor and stayed there the whole time while it waited

 

[LLBeanJ]

Pitch the yeast now.

 

[maierhof]

Funny you said that too - because that is exactly what I was doing.
I just couldn't wait anymore...

It is now my latest experiment in this hobby... not of my choosing, of course, but hey it is what it is.

I will continue to keep posting here as to my progress...

So I think that there is a silver lining here - it was around 21C when it put it in - and it sat for 25 hours without pressure - then I put the freezer on and it dropped the temp within 5 hours down to 17C - then it slowly fell to 13 in 14 hours from the moment I turned it on - and it has been slow ever since. The silver lining is that there was more than a few lbs of vacuum in that thing when I popped the bung (sanke top) and my best guess is around 3-4 psi but perhaps more or less considering I didn't have a psi gauge on it. Is that enough pressure to keep bacteria out?

 

[sikkingj]

I regularly leave my wort in a covered kettle over night, 12-18 hrs. Outside - no spoilage problems. Bacteria falls in, it does not crawl up and into your wort.

A number of people "cube" their wort for months, it sounds like you did a modified version of this. I suspect you will be alright, let us know how it turns out.


Sent from the window of an airplane...

 

[LLBeanJ]

I agree with sikkingj, once the fermenter is sealed up, it's unlikely that any new bugs will get in. What you need to be worried about are the one that are already in there. I have gone close to 24 hours between boil and pitching while the wort was cooling to lager temps and have never had an issue. 48 hours, I would think, would likely be pushing your luck, though, which is why I advised you to pitch, regardless of where the temp was. However, at 12°C, your temp was fine to pitch that strain.

 

[maierhof]

Thanks guys - that is good to hear.
It is already gurgling out the blow tube and I only have 8g in that 13.2g keg so that was Fast for sure...

I am a PITA (pain in the @$$) about sanitation - so my hope is that pays off well here. We will see...

I will keep you posted!

 

[maierhof]

Just to put this subject down on paper for others to read...

I am at 12 days now into the fermentation cycle and the yeast was beginning to slow down considerably. I would get a gurgle from the blowoff tube every 13-16 seconds. I moved to my D-rest phase goal of 63*F. The blowoff tube picked back up as I moved the temp up slowly. I started this move from 48*F late last night around 12.30am and by 8am it was at 52*F. As I write this it is now 57.5*F and I get a gurgle every 9 seconds. I will give this 2 days at 63* then set it back down to cold crash before I rack it off - which will take 2 more days to bring it back down to ~36*

So far so good!!

Thanks again for the help all!

 

[maierhof]

sorry for the delay all - i did rotater cuff and separated shoulder reconstruction surgery on the 22nd so i have laying low... one handed typing sux.

I did manage to get this lager off the yeast finally on 10-30-14 tho... doing a transfer with my off hand was a lot harder than i first thought lol
my final reading was 1.018 from a 1.063 yielding 5.91%abv
the clarity of this lager was incredible - crystal clean rack to primary serv keg.
it tasted great going into the keg too!

i did the forced d-test and picked up a faint difference from control - i was willing to let this one go as i forced O2 into this thing right before i pitched the yeast and i consider this a first batch a test anyway. i have never tasted diacetyl yet - curious to see what happens. it took 2 days to get it to 63 and i let it sit for 4 days before taking 2 days down to cold crash levels then two days crash and racked.

edit: tasting note - at first there was just no body to this one but has been slowly been coming along tho now - a little better each week. Excited to brew again xcept for my damn arm in a sling - thinking of calling in a few friends lol