I usually have a lag phase of 18-24 hours but when i got up during the night my beer was chugging away vigorously only 10 hours after pitching. I checked the fermenter and I've never seen such a violent fermentation. It was at high kreusen and pushing material through the blowoff tube. So much so that I had to switch the tube into a gallon jug. Now, I pitched from a starter into wort that was probably a little warm, 85-90F, but I figured by the time it got started the next day that temp would drop to ambient air temp(63F). FWIW the yeast is a blend of us05/notty/wlp007(long story). I put the fermentor on the cold tile-ambient temp about 56F-and draped a cool, wet towel over it, but am I going to have a hot mess here? If the temp comes down over the next 8 hours what is the likelihood of producing unwanted esters?
Lag phase too short?
- Thread starter zoomzilla
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BreezyBrew
IPA is my spirit animal
For me, it would be pretty hard to tell if there will be off flavors. The Notty and 007 are known to be quick starters, and Notty ferments hard. A higher OG will ferment harder too. I've had beers at 65 start in a few hours so it may not be the temp.
I'd watch that batch like a hawk for off flavors. 85-90 is really high to pitch unless you're doing some weird Belgian stuff.
The shorter the lag time, the better. The faster the yeast start utilizing the wort to make alcohol, the lower chance there is to harbor an infection.
My last batch started in under 4 hours of pitching from a freshly cold-crashed starter.
The shorter the lag time, the better. The faster the yeast start utilizing the wort to make alcohol, the lower chance there is to harbor an infection.
My last batch started in under 4 hours of pitching from a freshly cold-crashed starter.
sandyeggoxj
Well-Known Member
I pitch at 78-80 because that is the temp I can get the wort in a single pass with my 75 degree ground water. I also can get the wort to 65 in less than 30 minutes with my glycol. Usually 15 minutes or so to drop it. If you can't get the wort to cool fast then let it drop overnight and pitch in the morning. Don't risk doing what you did here. There is a high chance you'll get off flavors. You likely fermented plenty of the sugars in the 70 and 80 degree range
Not necessarily. In the yeast book they talk about too short of a lag time leading to less than optimal fermentation. I would have to go back and look but somewhere in the 8-12 hour range for ales and 12-18 hours for lagers being the sweet spot. You want the yest to analyze the wort and reproduce the correct number of cells to have an optimal ferment.
zoomzilla
Well-Known Member
All great advice. I put my kettle in the bath tub with cold water and it usually cools to about 75f in a half hour or so. For whatever reason this one was still sitting at about 90 after 45 minutes. I let it cool another 15 min then racked into primary and aerated with an o2 kit. I imagine the damage has already been done.
Not likely. The yeast will love temperatures in the nineties. It would take 140+ to kill yeast.
It is best to cool to fermenting temperatures before adding the yeast. Mid sixties for most ale yeasts.
That makes sense. I'd have to poke around for my sources, but I came to that conclusion based off of research I did leading up to doing my first yeast starter on my last batch. I typically brew larger beers, so I try to avoid straining the yeast with under pitching.
solbes
Well-Known Member
A really short lag time (under 2 hours) can indicate an overpitch. Meaning there were enough cells picthed that no reproduction was necessary. I like to hit the 4-8 hour lag time for most of my beers. Surely some reproduction is going on, but there is already a good base of healthy viable yeast.
As most have pointed out, its not the short lag time that may be detrimental, but rather the high pitch temps (85-90). I think the next piece of equipment you should look at is a wort chiller. Most immersion chillers work well in most climates (summer tap water temps can be a problem). And they can be made for ~ 30 or bought for $50.
As most have pointed out, its not the short lag time that may be detrimental, but rather the high pitch temps (85-90). I think the next piece of equipment you should look at is a wort chiller. Most immersion chillers work well in most climates (summer tap water temps can be a problem). And they can be made for ~ 30 or bought for $50.
PhinneyWoodBrews
Well-Known Member
I'm admittedly far from an expert on this subject, and I'll have to check back with actual references, but in Chris Whites 'Yeast' book(of the Brewing Elements Series) I recall reading that too short of a lag phase indicates the yeast did not spend enough time(and resources) fortifying their cell walls and producing healthy daughter cells before beginning fermentation. This will result in yeast that are of sub-optimal quality for the ensuing phases of fermentation. To paraphrase, it is better to have a smaller count of healthier yeast than a great number of yeast that have not properly prepared for fermentation. If one over-pitches yeast, it's not so much that reproduction was deemed unnecessary by the yeast, but the oxygen and nutrient levels per individual yeast cell were depleted before they had a chance to fully undergo the metabolic and reproductive cycles that are preferred. I'll get back to you later with sources on that. Cheers
