Time to pitch yeast

[JMiles74]

Summer here in the south makes it hard to get our wort below 80 degrees. Witha wort chiller we can get it to 80 in a little less than 30 minutes. We usually put our wort in a carboy cover it and throw it in the fermentation fridge till it geta to 70.
My questions are: how long should I wait to pitch the yeast? As long as it takes for the wort to get to pitching temps? Is there any danger with off flavors because of the lag time?

 

[duboman]

Summer here in the south makes it hard to get our wort below 80 degrees. Witha wort chiller we can get it to 80 in a little less than 30 minutes. We usually put our wort in a carboy cover it and throw it in the fermentation fridge till it geta to 70.
My questions are: how long should I wait to pitch the yeast? As long as it takes for the wort to get to pitching temps? Is there any danger with off flavors because of the lag time?

Nope, chill it down and pitch!

 

[aiptasia]

A) You can safely pitch the yeast once your wort is below 100 degrees. It's best to pitch on the cool side to avoid stressing the yeast, but 80 isn't going to harm anything. Just be sure the temperature of the yeast is within 10 degrees of the temperature of the wort and you're golden.

B) The dangers of not cold crashing your wort quickly are twofold: First, you run the risk of not having a cold break. A cold break is when the wort chills rapidly which causes haze producing proteins to coagulate and settle out of the beer (similar to a hot break). This means that your beer might not be as clear is it could be but is purely an aesthetic issue. Last, your beer might absorb some dimethyl sulfide back into solution. DMS is constantly being boiled off during the vigorous boil phase of your brewing and is the major reason why a vigorous boil is encouraged. Never cover your wort with a lid or you'll risk water droplets with vaporized DMS dripping back into the wort. DMS is responsible for a particular vegetable off flavor in your beer. To me it tastes like boiled green bell peppers.

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

interesting, you ask 10 people this question and you will get 10 different answers. I can't believe it's ok to pitch your yeast @99F. That being said. my water temp here is about 82F, going to put my carboy in fermenter chamber for a day after wort is down to 65F, then I will pitch the yeast

 

[JMiles74]

Thanks for the replies. Never thought about the lid issue. Sounds like waiting to pitch the yeast at cooler temps is the right thing to do. Thanks all!

 

[Tutsbrew]

Anybody else catch this? ...Guess I'm gunna stop stress'n so much about this aspect at least: http://bkyeast.wordpress.com/2013/04/05/part-three-of-the-dry-yeast-series-temperature-differences/

 

[Cyclman]

You can pitch at 80 and chill the wort with no ill effects- the off flavors occur with active fermentation, prior to that the yeast are growing, and don't produce much of anything but more yeast.