Wort too warm

[archibeckmj]

Did my first full volume boil today using BIAB. All went well until needed to use wort chiller for the first time. I sanitized chiller and boiled for the last 10 minutes to be sure - but it gave off an odd copper odor when put into the wort and the boil stopped. Then went to chilling and could only get to high 80s after 20 min - I guess that is the temp of my hose water this time of year. Racked to fermenter at that temp and put in fridge to get to mid 60s before pitching. Is that the right thing to do - cool it off and not pitch until mid 60s for ale yeast? Is there a time limit on how long you can wait to pitch once wort in fermenter? Thanks for your advice.

 

[SDJay]

Most of what I have read is that once you get wort below 80, you will be fine. I have always pitched in the mid 70's and have never had a problem. Brew on.

 

[archibeckmj]

Thank you for the advice!

 

[dgr]

Your chiller wasn't green, was it? You need to keep the wort moving in order to get it cooled as quickly as you can. The water around each coil will get to the coil temperature and then the cooling slows way down.

I will pitch if I'm within 5 degrees of my fermentation temperature and expect my fermentation chamber will get the wort down to temperature before the yeast kicks off. There are guys that boil their wort, seal it and let it cool in the container who seem to be able to make good beer so I wouldn't worry about taking a day to chill the wort the final 10 or 15 degrees.

 

[archibeckmj]

That's what I will do then - pitch in the am. Thanks for the advice!

 

[archibeckmj]

Oh, chiller wasn't green - it was new. I just wasn't sure if I had cleaned it well enough before I sanitized. The smell made me nervous that I had screwed it all up and my beer will taste like copper tubing.

 

[dgr]

Your beer will be fine. By the way, don't run water through your chiller while you are still boiling. I don't know if you did that but it would be a reason why it wouldn't come back to a boil.

 

[stpug]

Everything about your process sounds good to me. I also prefer to wait until the mid-60s before pitching. My boil also comes to a stop for a minute or three after adding the chiller. I've never noticed a copper smell though but it's said that copper is a good nutrient for yeast so I would not worry.

 

[RM-MN]

This ^^^ except that I wait until the wort is in the low 60's or even the high 50's. Here's an article that explains why. http://www.brewgeeks.com/the-life-cycle-of-yeast.html

I want my wort to be pretty cool during that lag phase.

 

[dgr]

RM-MN,
You'll have to point us to the specific section of that article. Here is all I could find regarding lag phase and temperatures which contradicts what you are saying.
"The lag phase can be carried out at a higher temperature than the rest of fermentation because very little flavor compounds are produced. Ethanol production is also very limited, therefore ester formation is not a concern. Some brewers begin the lag phase for ales at 72-75F, and complete the fermentation at 68F. This can be done with success for lagers too, with starting the lag phase at 72-75F and lowering the fermentation temperature to 50-55F."

 

[archibeckmj]

Yeah, I wasn't running water through the chiller, but there may have been some stagnant water in it as I had "tested it out" before I put it in - so maybe it was a little "heat sync" for a few minutes. I ultimately got it up and boiling again.

Thanks again for all of the great advice.

 

[RM-MN]

RM-MN,
You'll have to point us to the specific section of that article. Here is all I could find regarding lag phase and temperatures which contradicts what you are saying.
"The lag phase can be carried out at a higher temperature than the rest of fermentation because very little flavor compounds are produced. Ethanol production is also very limited, therefore ester formation is not a concern. Some brewers begin the lag phase for ales at 72-75F, and complete the fermentation at 68F. This can be done with success for lagers too, with starting the lag phase at 72-75F and lowering the fermentation temperature to 50-55F."

It has been a while since I read the whole article and I think I misremembered the source which was probably Yooper. While the lag phase can be higher according to that article, deciding when the lag phase is over so you can reduce the temperature is tough. With that in mind plus the fact that some yeasts like to produce so esters when they get above 65, I will still continue to chill my beer to the low 60's or upper 50's even before pitching the yeast as I have had some very clean ferments that way.

 

[MarcusKillion]

I have a homemade chiller that is not really big enough . It takes an hour or two to get down to 70 or 75 in summer but then the water is 70 or so . I put bucket in a large tub and put in a big bag of ice to aid in cooling in summer .
I pitch yeast at any where from 70 to 80 . I think 70 is better and results in faster fermentations

 

[BigFloyd]

No worries. You did the 100% right thing by cooling the wort down from 80*F into the mid-60's prior to pitching. An 80*F pitch is too warm and is an open invitation for the production of off-flavors from most ale yeasts.

It wouldn't hurt at all next time to take it down closer to 60*F.

 

[BigFloyd]

No worries. You did the 100% right thing by cooling the wort down from 80*F into the mid-60's prior to pitching. An 80*F pitch is too warm and is an open invitation for the production of off-flavors from most ale yeasts.

It wouldn't hurt at all next time to take it down closer to 60*F.

With that in mind plus the fact that some yeasts like to produce so esters when they get above 65, I will still continue to chill my beer to the low 60's or upper 50's even before pitching the yeast as I have had some very clean ferments that way.

+1. After pumping hose water to get to 88-90*F, it takes me a 20# bag of ice for my recirculating chill water (via a pump in a cooler) to get a batch of wort into the 58-61*F range. That's where I like to pitch ales. Lager wort gets taken down to 44*F using 30# of ice.