Pitching High - should I be ok?

[dr_sanch]

Morning everyone,

Made a nice batch of some Irish Red Ale yesterday evening and due to circumstances beyond my control I didn't have the time to properly cold crash or allow the batch to drop too far in temperature before I had to pitch the yeast.

I think I must've pitched at about 26 Celsius (78.8 F) around 8:30 pm last night. Now I know this isn't disastrous and it may contribute some off flavours to the brew (that hopefully mellow out with time), but I'm curious about something...

Despite me pitching high, if the temperature then stabilized to a more suitable environment for the yeast, am I eliminating a lot of the risk? I woke up this morning and it had cooled down to 20 Celsius (68 F) and it will probably hover around that range for the remainder of the fermentation process. Does pitching high really have THAT much of an effect even if the temperature for fermentation stabilizes fairly quickly?

 

[Getzinator]

I've had a similar situation where it had just dropped down to 80.0 F and had to pitch and run. I didn't experience anything off.
Not sure what yeast you're using, but I was using Safale US-05

 

[bad67z]

You should be fine. If your fermenting @ 68 degrees F and maintain 62-68 degree F with your ale yeast you should be good.

 

[dr_sanch]

I've had a similar situation where it had just dropped down to 80.0 F and had to pitch and run. I didn't experience anything off.
Not sure what yeast you're using, but I was using Safale US-05

Thanks, guys... I was actually using Safale US-05...

I can sleep easy!

 

[dcp27]

Made a nice batch of some Irish Red Ale yesterday evening and due to circumstances beyond my control I didn't have the time to properly cold crash or allow the batch to drop too far in temperature before I had to pitch the yeast.

if you could check on it this morning, why couldn't u pitch this morning? you won't get an infection if you don't pitch immediately

 

[dgez]

It depends on how high you were when you pitched. Just a little? or zonked out of your gourd?...as long as you aren't using bath salts, you should be ok. have fun!

 

[DonMagee]

I have always chilled my wort to about 80F, then transfered the fermenter and pitched my yeast. My basement keeps everything in around 62-65F. So far I have noticed no issues in this method with a variety of ale yeasts.

 

[basilchef]

just did the same thing last week. between lag time and the correct air temp forcing your wort to a cooler temp you will be just fine. i personally gained some beautiful banana and clove esters that match well with my witbier. i was scared too and did a bunch of research finding that its VERY hard to over pitch and 80 deg pitch temp wont really effect your beer too much. it may not be perfect but it will be hard to tell.

 

[dr_sanch]

if you could check on it this morning, why couldn't u pitch this morning? you won't get an infection if you don't pitch immediately

I was always under the impression you should pitch right away or ASAP... Knowing this is gonna save me a few headaches in the future for sure!

As well, I forgot to mention this earlier but the recipe called for OG: 1.042 - 1.046 and my initial reading was 1.032... What can I expect from this? Or what do you think went wrong? Too much water?

 

[grem135]

I had to wait till I got home from work to pitch because temp was still 90f. I was worried but everyone on here said it would be fine. As for the OG being off, it probably just wasn't thoughly mixed when you topped off your batch (assuming you used a extract kit and you where supposed to top of to 5 gallons in your fermenter)

 

[Dan]

My chilling in the summer only gets wort down to around 80-85F. I transfer gently to my fermenting bucket, seal it up and put it in a temp controlled freezer. A big bucket with water and ice "swamp cooler" will work just as well. Next morning I aerate the cooled wort, yeast is pitched and we go from there. Seems to work well and no harsh alcohol fuesal flavors.