So I made a rookie mistake, would like some advice

[Oceanbear1]

So last night I was brewing some beer, and after the boil I chilled it for about 40 minutes. I then went into auto pilot, racked the beer into the fermenter, and pitched the safale US-05 yeast into it. It was of course back around this time my brain kicked back in and realized the beer was still way too warm for the yeast. Dang it! What could I do but Finish? I put it in a tub of water, covered in a wet shirt, and put a fan over it, which actually to touch cooled it at a decent pace.

So come now it's been about 14 hours, and no activity. I know yeast can take longer than that to start, but given the obvious error, should I just go ahead and repitch?

Thanks in advance

 

[ACbrewer]

define "too warm for the yeast"... was it above about 105F? if not, the yeast lives. If so, get more yeast ASAP.

while we like to ferment yeast at about 68F (depending strain and style), yeast is resilient and has a larger range than that. It can grow quite well up to about 105F (maybe a bit more or less depending). It probably grows better at about 100F than at 70F. What it won't do is make better tasting beer at 100F than 70F. As long as the temp is now in range, and it was under 105F when you pitched, I'd say don't worry about it, give it another day for fermentation sign. over 105F, get more yeast and pitch it.

 

[Remmy]

Agree with the post above. I'd give it 10 or so hours and if you don't have activity, pitch additional yeast.

 

[Oceanbear1]

You know I'm not really sure. Through the glass carboy I could feel the warmth, but it wasn't like hot, and I know water in the 80s can feel warm to us.

I need to start measuring more acurately

 

[Oceanbear1]

Thanks for the quick reply guys

 

[LandoLincoln]

If you're chilling for 40 minutes and it's still not down to pitching temp...

I know it's personal preference and all, but if it were my setup I'd work on getting a better chiller.

 

[ACbrewer]

Yeah I didn't ask how it was chilled. I'm thinking that most methods would get it down close to 100 or less if it was 40 mins. And if you've chilled before, you have a feel for you 'time to chill.'

That said, an aquarium thermometer will get you a fairly decent temp idea with ok range (like 50F to 85F, maybe a bit lower) and they are inexpensive. I wouldn't worry if it felt "warm" but more if it felt "hot."

 

[balrog]

I've gone 36hrs before "visible signs of fermentation" from a bucket, so take it with a grain of salt. It was not my preference to wait that long, just what happened with the yeast that time.

 

[passedpawn]

Your yeast is probably OK. They are very happy 100-110F.

BUT, I wouldn't hesitate to pitch another US-O5. I wouldn't even wait if I thought there might be a problem. $3 is pretty cheap insurance.

 

[Oceanbear1]

Yeah I didn't ask how it was chilled. I'm thinking that most methods would get it down close to 100 or less if it was 40 mins. And if you've chilled before, you have a feel for you 'time to chill.'

That said, an aquarium thermometer will get you a fairly decent temp idea with ok range (like 50F to 85F, maybe a bit lower) and they are inexpensive. I wouldn't worry if it felt "warm" but more if it felt "hot."

Yeah it's an immersion chiller, th kind that hooks hope to a hose faucet. Although since moving I had only brewed in the winter and spring, maybe this time of year the water comes out too naturally warm to chill properly

 

[VApatriot]

I always check the temp before transferring into the carboy. That way I always know the liquid temp regardless of how long it takes to cool down to pitching temp.

 

[mkyl428]

Yeah it's an immersion chiller, th kind that hooks hope to a hose faucet. Although since moving I had only brewed in the winter and spring, maybe this time of year the water comes out too naturally warm to chill properly

It does most places in the summer, that's why in the summer I usually chill as best I can with the hose, then I hook up a pond fountain pump in a bucket of ice water to my chiller and recirculate the ice water.

 

[J-Drew]

There is some good advice already on here, but I would add that if you managed to cool the wort fairly quickly and by more than 10 degrees F after you pitched, you might have shocked the yeast. I would attempt to rouse the yeast if you think that might be the case.

 

[A2HB]

If the boil kettle is cool to the touch then youre most likely ok to pitch yeast. Even if you did no kind of additional chilling and just let it sit there I think youd be ok to pitch at the temp it was at by that point. I wouldnt worry too much if I were you

 

[Oceanbear1]

It does most places in the summer, that's why in the summer I usually chill as best I can with the hose, then I hook up a pond fountain pump in a bucket of ice water to my chiller and recirculate the ice water.

That's a good idea, I'll remember it

 

[FuriousE]

Also, make sure you turn the water source to full blast, and move the coil around inside of the pot. This should bring your chill times down.

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

It does most places in the summer, that's why in the summer I usually chill as best I can with the hose, then I hook up a pond fountain pump in a bucket of ice water to my chiller and recirculate the ice water.

THIS is genius!!

 

[tennesseean_87]

You know I'm not really sure. Through the glass carboy I could feel the warmth, but it wasn't like hot, and I know water in the 80s can feel warm to us.

I need to start measuring more acurately

Maybe you need to start actually measuring.

Also, make sure you turn the water source to full blast, and move the coil around inside of the pot. This should bring your chill times down.

I leave the coil still but stir the wort. If you're not stirring or moving, you're not going to really chill that much. Leave everything still, and feel how cool the chiller output gets. Then stir and feel how hot it gets. You've got to stir if you want to get the heat out.

I would never trust my hand to measure temp, and I think if it feels warm it's too hot.

The real question here is not about if the yeast are dead, but if they're going to make good beer. If anything you want to pitch a little below desired ferm temp in most cases. Pitching too high will add bad flavors to your beer. Do what you can to keep your ferm temps in line or use 3711 or Belle to make saisons.

 

[J-Drew]

It does most places in the summer, that's why in the summer I usually chill as best I can with the hose, then I hook up a pond fountain pump in a bucket of ice water to my chiller and recirculate the ice water.

+1 to this. I currently do the same thing in the summer, but I put my pump with ice water in a cooler, hoping it will not melt as fast as it might in a bucket.

 

[jaydlaw]

wait another day, if no activity then pitch more, thats my $.02 fwiw. that being said, yo ucould have a situation where you killed some, but not all and you aren't left with enough yeast to fully ferment.