beer temperatures

[ttax]

for a five gallon batch when I drain my wort through my plate chiller I'm getting it down to 90 degrees only. question is is it okay for my beer to set until the temperature drops to 70 degrees so I can pitch the yeast?

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

yes as long as its cold, I put mine in a below zero freezer all the time in the summer, I can't get below 80 with mine unless I set up a prechill bucket, remember though steam will still need to escape sometimes so don't seal it up completely

 

[The Brew Mentor]

Better to wait than to pitch warm.
Brian

 

[EvanAltman36]

What would happen if you pitched really warm, like 90? Would it kill the yeast, or cause other problems? Not that I'm planning on doing it, just wondered.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

do not pitch at 90 unless its on its way down to 70ish, it will cause off flavors

 

[Brew1]

Could you slow down the rate of flow of the wort through the heat exchanger?

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

it might or might not kill yeast, some but not all but will defiantly not be as good as 70
on that note I'm building my own system that uses a loop of antifreeze sealed, got an old keg i will be putting in my zero degree freezer, not using the pipits but using 2 weld-less fittings one in the top and one in the bottom of the side, use silicone tube wrapped with pipe insulation running out of the freezer to a pump then to the plate chiller then back to the top, fill the keg 1/2 full with a standard water antifreeze blend

should keep the temp at a constant 20 or so offset to 180 or so will average right were I need it

 

[The Brew Mentor]

^ The yeast won't be hurt by pitching warm but if they reproduce while warm they'll produce off flavors in your beer.
They actually love the warmer temperature but we don't love the results.

Get down to or slightly below the optimal fermenting temperature prior to pitching.

Brian

 

[Nosybear]

90 degrees definitely won't kill the yeast - they love it warmer than we ferment. What it will do is cause them to be more active and the more active they are, the more off-flavors they produce. That's why we ferment cool, to keep the yeast in check, not because they themselves prefer our cooler temperatures. If you're doing an ale, the likely result of pitching too warm will be a bit of diacetyl, which sometimes actually makes them taste better (if you get the butterscotch rather than buttered popcorn). So let it go, see what you get and next time, get your wort cooler. I keep some frozen soda bottles of water for that reason - sanitize them and throw them into the wort to bring the temps down to pitch range.