I planned poorly for a one gallon batch this morning (no ice). Needless to say, the cooling down the wort portion took about 2 hours. Is it better to pitch ~80 after an hour of cooling or wait two hours and pitch at ~70?
I’m assuming the rapid cool down is to reduce the chance of infection?
Better to wait 2, 3, or 12 and pitch at 70.
+10
I have not pitched yeast on the same day as brewing in a couple years now. there have been no issues related to that. those first 36 hours after pitching are the critical time. that’s when they yeast will or won’t make large amounts of esters, fuesel alcohols, and other unsavory flavor compounds. I would take it farther and wait till ~64 (or as cool as you can get it) to pitch. stick it in the fridge for few hours.
2nd that
+1 to 64F. A sanitized, frozen water bottle would cool that gallon from 80 to 64F pretty quickly if you stir. No pitching @ 80 F !
I recently pitched too soon (call impatience, error, or something else) – won’t do that again… I think I cooked the yeast… Just don’t let anything that is not sanitized come in contact while waiting from 140 to 70
The next batch was allowed to cool to the mid-sixties in my 35 degree backyard – and it took a while without a chiller… But this one is right on gravity targets and is safely undergoing carbonation as of last night.
Birthday is in a few weeks - hope my wife will get the wort chiller I have on my list.
+1 to that one. Way too easy to keep a few in the freezer all the time just for these types of situations. … plus it is only one gallon. I’d do a water bath in the sink then add a bottle or two to finish it off.
That’s good to know going forward. I hate to do this, but may just dump it and start again next week. I’m fairly certain it was pitched right around 80 and my past experience doing that spells disaster. Live and learn.
As others have stated, better to wait and pitch at proper temp. Even in my commercial setting, I have times where I have to wait to pitch the next day. It has - literally - never been a problem. Ever. Not once.
Best to try to get it pitched in under 12 hours from flame out though.
For those of you who said they wait to pitch…are you still oxygenating the wort prior to pitching, or waiting to oxygenate after pitching?
I aerate right before pitching. Cold liquid holds more dissolved gasses.
I aerate right before pitching.
Always before. I use a drill and paint-stirrer to do it. Whether it matters or not it feels like I’m beating up my yeast if pitching before aeration.
If it’s late at night and the wort is at 80 then I’ll go ahead and pitch and stick it in the fermentation chamber, especially if it’s a small batch. The wort gets down into the 60s within 30-60 minutes.
Aerate right before for me.
Chill by immersion in cool water of the stainless kettle or a plastic (not glass) container. This will get you down to pitching temperature in about an hour, especially if you change out the immersion water after ~30 minutes.
Chill to 60s and ferment in the 60s. Your beer will be better the cooler you can ferment. 70 F is kind of warm for most styles except maybe for Belgian ales.