Power outage during fermentation question!

[RandomBeerGuy]

I live in washington state and mother nature is having her way with my area SNOW/ICE/RINSE and repeat. We are now sitting out of power. Our energy company says we might not have power until next week. I have a brown ale that is in day 5 of fermentation. Since I don't have power my house is getting really cold. I know when yeast get to cold they drop. My questions is, If these yeast are completly dropped is it to late to save them? Do I need to re pitch?. I will be taking a reading sometime this evening to see how far they got before the power went out.

 

[TyTanium]

No need to worry. It's likely after 5 days you're pretty close to FG. Either way, when you get power back and the yeast warm up they'll finish up & do their conditioning work. I would not repitch.

And sorry about no power...light a fire, grab a blanket, get a good book and sip a tasty winter brew.

 

[RandomBeerGuy]

I need to RDWHAHB!

 

[Revvy]

FYI, as long as the world or your house doesn't freeze solid, all that would happen if at the low temp end of the yeast (usually the low 50's for an ale) is that the yeast would go dormant. They would hibernate like a bear. Yes fermentation would stop then....But as soon as the ambient temps rose above the dormancy temp, they would wake up and get back to work, they'd find the un eaten sugars and eat them. Worst thing you might have to do is swirl the fermenter to kick them out of bed and back into the factory.

Cool temps are never the end of the world.

Freezing solid? That's a different story most of the yeast cells would burst. But I think you'd be doing something in the house for your comfort long before you'd worry about the fermenter freezing.

 

[Revvy]

I need to RDWHAHB!

Yes, it's pretty hard to screw this up. Yeast wants to make beer, it's in their dna...Their sole purpose in life is to ****, then eat sugar, and fart co2, and pee alcohol. It takes a lot to dissuade them. They're like horny frat boys during rush week.

Beer has been brewed with yeast that sat in Amber for 45 million years, in every conceivable temp swing and environmental situation imaginable. Once you realize how hardy it is, you relax more.

 

[SouthBay]

I'm in a similar situation.brewed wednesday, pitched that night, and then power went out. House is sitting pretty chilly, but the fermenter is still going. I figure that itll turn out ok once things warm back up too

 

[RandomBeerGuy]

FYI, as long as the world or your house doesn't freeze solid, all that would happen if at the low temp end of the yeast (usually the low 50's for an ale) is that the yeast would go dormant. They would hibernate like a bear. Yes fermentation would stop then....But as soon as the ambient temps rose above the dormancy temp, they would wake up and get back to work, they'd find the un eaten sugars and eat them. Worst thing you might have to do is swirl the fermenter to kick them out of bed and back into the factory.

Cool temps are never the end of the world.

Freezing solid? That's a different story most of the yeast cells would burst. But I think you'd be doing something in the house for your comfort long before you'd worry about the fermenter freezing.

Awesome, I'll check the gravity this evening and thanks for the info. I knew they go to sleep at so cold of a temp. So when they freeze solid they will die. My house will probably be around the 30's-40's by the time the power is restored.

 

[RandomBeerGuy]

I'm in a similar situation.brewed wednesday, pitched that night, and then power went out. House is sitting pretty chilly, but the fermenter is still going. I figure that itll turn out ok once things warm back up too

Awesome we are petty much neighbor's. I'm in Lacey. Just down the road a ways.

 

[SouthBay]

You should have seen me calling around wednesday to see if the lhbs's were open. Accodentally ordered goldings instead of amarillo hops, and was making a smash with golden promise. I ended up using the goldings . Oh well.

I didn't want to use the immersion chiller that day either, because it attaches to the hose bib... So instead, I made a snow bath for the boil kettle. The swmbo wasnt quite as impressed with my ingenuity as I was

 

[RandomBeerGuy]

Update: The power has been restored so I checked the gravity. It is at 1.012 and is ultra clear. It has an awesome nutty/roasty flavor, low bitterness, nutty aroma, low hop flavor. It is very good can't wait to keg this ale

@Southbay, I should kegged by saturday so if you can come over on sunday for the double brew session on sunday. We can enjoy this ale while we brew. PS clear out your pm inbox and sent messages folder.