What to do when you have 80 degree water?

[jawilson20]

Yesterday my water was a balmy 80 degrees out of the faucet here in Atlanta. I use a plate chiller in my single tier setup. I plan to add fittings to my chiller to allow pumping of ice water through it, but do not yet have that capability. So I was left with a bit of a conundrum yesterday afternoon.

I was brewing and IPA in this instance and planned to add 1056 American Ale yest. After I transferred to my carboy I was looking at 80 degree wort. What is the highest temperature you will pitch your yeast at? In this instance is it better to put my carboy in the ferm chamber without yeast and allow it to cool to my preferred temp of 65 the pitch the yeast? If this is the route to take should I shake to carboy at this time to aerate the wort?

Or is it acceptable to pitch at 80 and know that the ferm chamber will bring down the temp of the wort in a few hours?

What are some of the off flavors you might get from pitching yeast into too warm wort?

 

[duboman]

It's really better to pitch colder and let warm than the opposite as warm temps will get the yeast moving faster and then you go and slow them down, they don't like that so much

If you still have a backup IC then you can put that into a tub of ice water and add it to your water line prior to the plate chiller so the water gets colder first. Might be a PITA but should be able to bring your wort down to a better temperature.

 

[weirdboy]

Don't pitch immediately.

Put it in whatever you use to do fermentation temperature control, wait for it to reach the correct pitching temp, and then pitch your yeast.

My ground water is always above pitching temps from about March/April until October. I do have the capability of recirculating ice water, but it is a complete pain in the butt and I usually forget to prepare enough ice anyway.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Don't pitch immediately.

Put it in whatever you use to do fermentation temperature control, wait for it to reach the correct pitching temp, and then pitch your yeast.

My ground water is always above pitching temps from about March/April until October. I do have the capability of recirculating ice water, but it is a complete pain in the butt and I usually forget to prepare enough ice anyway.

This^

The highest temp I will pitch yeast at is the desired temp for the start of fermentation. Technically, it's 'ok' to pitch at 80 degrees, but if you wouldn't ferment a beer at a certain temp, you shouldn't put yeast in at that temp. Yeast produce heat and if they kick off before you get the wort chilled, you'll be fermenting way too warm.

 

[Pie_Man]

Same issue here in Florida, I can only get to about 80 with my water temperature. I can chill the remaining temperature difference in my ferm fridge and then pitch. Next brew I plan on cooling as normal and when I reach about 85, coiling my water supply hose in a bucket of ice water. I'm not sure if that will get me to 65, but I'm going to give it a try. It's kind of the poor man's approach to the second IC method.

 

[chezzesteak]

80 degrees is nothing. Here in AZ its at least 90 out of the hose. I use a prechiller to a CFC.. Which still isn't enough.
I put in carboy and wait till out had hit 65 then pitch. Last wed it took 5 hours but I will not pitch warm

 

[MaddBaggins]

Thats why I don't use a plate chiller. I use an immersion chiller, that I made, and I pump ice water thru it. $5 worth of ice everytime, but it gets it down to 70˚ in about 15 minutes.

My tap water has a yearly average of 77˚.

 

[Stauffbier]

I love my pond pump/ice bath for chilling. I can get down to 62F in about a half hour on a 105+ degree day!

 

[weirdboy]

Thats why I don't use a plate chiller. I use an immersion chiller, that I made, and I pump ice water thru it. $5 worth of ice everytime, but it gets it down to 70˚ in about 15 minutes.

My tap water has a yearly average of 77˚.

You know, you can use ice water with a plate chiller, too...

 

[edecambra]

Ice!

 

[MaddBaggins]

You know, you can use ice water with a plate chiller, too...

But then I would have to buy a plate chiller.

 

[cincydave]

I don't own any type of chiller at all. I just put pot in laundry tub and fill with cold tap water, and stir wort and water in tub. One the tub wter gets hot, drain and repeat as needed. When most of the heat has disapated, add ice to last batch of water. I just make sure to make extra ice before brew day, of buy a bag if needed. Never saw the need for a chiller.

 

[FirstStateBrewer]

I recommend you hook up an immersion chiller to run your tap water through first before it hits your plate chiller. Just put the immersion chiller in a bucket of ice water with some rock salt and you will have frosty cold water chilling your plate chiller!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/mobile-wort-chilling-station-328450/

Here's the setup I have with a CFC / immersion chiller combo:

 

[KISS Brew]

I don't own any type of chiller at all. I just put pot in laundry tub and fill with cold tap water, and stir wort and water in tub. One the tub wter gets hot, drain and repeat as needed. When most of the heat has disapated, add ice to last batch of water. I just make sure to make extra ice before brew day, of buy a bag if needed. Never saw the need for a chiller.

This, except in my kitchen sink. Filling ziplocs with water and sticking them in the freezer a day ahead makes plenty of ice for my purposes. I don't really want any more equipment (that is, KISS).

 

[jawilson20]

Hey fellas - Thanks for the feedback. I messed around downstairs looking at my fittings, hoses, etc and rigged up a hose that will allow me to pump ice water through my chiller next time.

So next time - what should is your ideal pitching temp for 1056?

 

[AnOldUR]

IC w/ pump, bucket, ice

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Are you running water off a faucet at a sink? If so, is there a reason why you can't plug the drain, fill the sink full of ice water and run your line through the sink before it hits the plate chiller?

 

[jawilson20]

Are you running water off a faucet at a sink? If so, is there a reason why you can't plug the drain, fill the sink full of ice water and run your line through the sink before it hits the plate chiller?

Perhaps he has an abundance of buckets and wants to show them all some love/action.

 

[Stauffbier]

IC w/ pump, bucket, ice

This is what I do but I recirculate the water from the IC back into the ice once it stops running out hot...

 

[KISS Brew]

So next time - what should is your ideal pitching temp for 1056?

I usually ferment 1056 around 68 degrees, so that's what I'd shoot for. My goal is to pitch as close to fermentation temperature as possible, preferably a degree or two under.

 

[AnOldUR]

Are you running water off a faucet at a sink? If so, is there a reason why you can't plug the drain, fill the sink full of ice water and run your line through the sink before it hits the plate chiller?

1. In a single drain sink, you need a place drain the hot water as it exits the IC.
2. By pushing the bucket to the side you have the convenience of being able to use the sink for other things like cleaning up while the wort chills.
3. I've screwed up the balance of water-in to water-out before and had the bucket overflow into the sink. Would be messy if the sink overflowed onto the kitchen floor.
4. The plastic bucket insulates better than a stainless sink, so the ice lasts longer.
5. Perhaps I have an abundance of buckets and want to show them all some love/action, but actually this bucket is dedicated to chilling. I use it to store the pump and hoses when not in use. Putting the whole bucket in the sink and hooking up the connections is a pretty simple way to go.