S-33 temp question

[Stormcrow]

I try to stick to dry yeast. LHBS only had some s-33, which was fine because I was wanting to try it anyway. I don't have a cooling ferm chamber yet and my basement is right at 68 degrees right now with these summer temps and holding steady. I'm sure the yeast will take the temp up to the low or mid seventies during the most active phase of fermentation. Should I expect any negative affects or will this yeast be fine with that? The beer is just a light pale summer ale, going to be moderately hopped with Chinook. I wouldn't mind a little fruitiness if that is what it's going to throw off. Any thoughts?

 

[MikeCo]

Fermentis states a range of 59-68, so fermenting in the 70s may give you some unwanted flavors. I haven’t used this yeast myself, but I would try to keep the temp in the mid 60s for the first few days. You can use a swamp cooler which is a tub of water with ice that you place the fermenter into. You can certainly try it in the 70s and see what you get. Have you searched this and other forums for direct experience with S33?

 

[Stormcrow]

Just an update here. The s-33 took off like a rocket! Despite that, the temperature has remained under 70, so good deal there. I have stacked a few frozen water bottles around the fermenter to wick away heat, but I suspect the main reason heat is under control is due to the fact that my new fermenter is stainless (conductor) vs. glass (insulator). I've got five gallons in an eight gallon vessel, and it seems the thin stainless is allowing the heat to radiate out readily. It's also in contact with my concrete basement wall. Ideally, I'd like to keep it a little cooler, but this has been encouraging so far.

 

[Stormcrow]

Just for the record, my statement above that glass is an insulator was inaccurate. Nonetheless, I still think stainless would wick temperature faster by virtue of being a "better" conductor.

 

[passedpawn]

I try to stick to dry yeast. LHBS only had some s-33, which was fine because I was wanting to try it anyway. I don't have a cooling ferm chamber yet and my basement is right at 68 degrees right now with these summer temps and holding steady. I'm sure the yeast will take the temp up to the low or mid seventies during the most active phase of fermentation. Should I expect any negative affects or will this yeast be fine with that? The beer is just a light pale summer ale, going to be moderately hopped with Chinook. I wouldn't mind a little fruitiness if that is what it's going to throw off. Any thoughts?

I love the convenience of dry yeast and use it all the time. I've used all of the lager yeasts, many many times, and I've settled on S-189 as the best one for crisp german-style lagers (and my palate). I did use S-33 many times, but a long time ago. Can't remember why I abandoned it, sorry for that. Also, I had some bad experiences with W34/70.

A bit of unsolicited advice: use more yeast than is suggested. For example, the cost of an extra packet of S-189 is negligible compared to the time and other costs you put into a batch of beer. The problems of under-pitching lagers are well-documented on this site. I save yeast in jars and reuse on the next batch, so I'm getting a lot of cells in there and the results are obvious to me.