Yeast Problem, Please help!

[RJRobb2]

So tonight was my first brew day. Everything was going well up until it was time to chill my wort. As of right now, my water and word (5 1/4 gallons) is sitting at 125 degrees and has been off the stove for over an hour. It will not chill, I am getting ready to stick it in the bathtub with a ton of ice and cold water. Its been in my sink with ice but it hasnt done a damn thing to chill it.

Anyway, from what I have read that shouldnt be a problem. The problem I think I have is with my yeast. I stuck in a 3/4 cup of boiled water while my water was still boiling and it has been sitting there waiting for a wort to chill below 70 degrees which has taken waaaaaay longer than expected. What do I do?

Can I...

1) Get another packet of yeast tomorrow and add it?

2) Add the yeast I have?

3) Am I screwed?

Please help!

Also, suggestions on the wort cooling would be appreciated. I never expected it to be the most difficult of the whole process. People made it sound easy but this **** wont chill for nothing!

 

[Yooper]

go ahead and chill your wort and pitch the yeast when it's below 75 degrees. It'll be fine!

Wort chilling is a bit of an art- use the ice in the sink, but stir the ice bath and keep adding ice, and gently stir the wort. It'll chill in 20 minutes if you do both!

 

[gresc]

Don't pitch the yeast at that temp. You really need to wait until it cools. I can't tell by your post but what do you mean that you think the problem is with your yeast ?

 

[RJRobb2]

I think it might be dead. How long can it sit in a glass measuring cup like that. From what I have read, it is very fickle and can die easily.

Next time I brew I am going to preboil water and put it into some containers for chilling. This is ridiculous, I thought this would be the easy part!

 

[Yooper]

No, no, Your yeast is fine. Next time, wait until your wort is under 80 degrees to rehydrate, but trust me- the yeast will be fine.

 

[RJRobb2]

No, no, Your yeast is fine. Next time, wait until your wort is under 80 degrees to rehydrate, but trust me- the yeast will be fine.

Good to hear. I was concerned. I was really pleased about the way things were going until my wort wouldnt go down.

I already have a list of thinks I would do differently so I guess it is good I am learning from my mistakes.

 

[Yooper]

That's all we all learn- from our mistakes and some of the other people's mistakes. When you get a chance, look around, and in a few places we list our stupid mistakes. Pretty funny stuff, actually. If it's not happening to you, that is!

 

[splat]

I am only doing extract batches,and am only boiling 2.5-3 gal or so....I use an ice bath to cool it, and I can get it cooled down pretty fast...but since you are doing over 5 gallon boils you probably should get a wort chiller.....That way you can get it cooled faster and have a better cold break... Good luck..

 

[RJRobb2]

Well, here I am over three and a half hours after taking it off the boil and the wort is still over 100 degrees. Will it be okay to sit overnight? I dont have much of a choice. I would like to get some sleep!

 

[Yooper]

Oh, I missed the part where you said you had over 5 gallons of hot wort. sorry about that- Splat is right. It'll be very difficult to chill that much wort quickly as you found out. For that size boil, a wort chiller is pretty much a necessity. It'll give you a good "cold break" and help clear your beer as well as get it cooled fast so that you can pitch yeast and avoid infections. Sometimes if you don't have a wort chiller, it helps to cool it in two pots.

Well, I'm sure it's cooled down now. You can pitch your yeast when it's 75 degrees or less, and it should be ok.

 

[RJRobb2]

I woke up a 4AM and it was cool enough so I went ahead and added the yeast, put on the airlock which I filled halfway with some rum and its sitting.

BUT, now I have another problem. I bought a bottling bucket that has a spicket on it. Apparently I didnt tighten it enough and it has a slight leak. I dont think their is anyway to fix it because that would involve me sticking my hand along with a dirty wrench all the way down into the wort which I am sure would ruin the entire batch.

 

[RJRobb2]

Oh, I missed the part where you said you had over 5 gallons of hot wort. sorry about that- Splat is right. It'll be very difficult to chill that much wort quickly as you found out. For that size boil, a wort chiller is pretty much a necessity. It'll give you a good "cold break" and help clear your beer as well as get it cooled fast so that you can pitch yeast and avoid infections. Sometimes if you don't have a wort chiller, it helps to cool it in two pots.

Well, I'm sure it's cooled down now. You can pitch your yeast when it's 75 degrees or less, and it should be ok.

I actually had it in several pans because the biggest I have is 2 1/2 gallons which is the pan that actually had the wort in it. The others were just water I boiled to give me the total of 5 1/4 gallons. I then added them all into my bottling bucket to chill.

 

[Yooper]

Ah. Well, next time cool your boiled wort to 90 degrees or so in the sink with the ice/water bath. Then, put your boiled top-off water in the fridge early in the day. So you top off with cold water. Some people even put their top off water in the freezer, so that it's good and cold. Mixing boiling wort with warm water will take forever to cool, as you found out. But if you cool the wort first and then add cool/cold top off water, you'll have it chilled in less than 20 minutes.

I don't need a wrench to tighten the nut on my bottling bucket. It's just a plastic piece that I hand tighten. If it's only a very slight leak, I'd put the fermenter into a bigger plastic bucket/bin/basin and ignore it.

 

[Joker]

Welcome to homebrewing isn't it great?

Get a wort chiller and the rest of the problems you know to look out for while setting up for your next brew.

 

[jmiracle]

If it makes you feel better I did the same thing with my first brew and it turned out fine. You gotta figure beer was made before they had ready access to ice baths or wort chillers.

 

[RJRobb2]

If it makes you feel better I did the same thing with my first brew and it turned out fine. You gotta figure beer was made before they had ready access to ice baths or wort chillers.

Thats a good point.

I was able to tighten the spicket without any problems.

I will let you know how it goes!

Thanks for the advice!