Has anybody done this ....

Zefram said:
My summer tap water makes it tough to chill below 80F so I do something similar. I use an immersion chiller to get close to 80, transfer from brew kettle to fermentor, then toss that into an old fridge set to 60F overnight. A little care is needed with the blow-off setup so it doesn't get sucked up into the fermentor as it cools. By morning it's pitching temperature.

I primarily use dry yeast, so there's no need for aeration. If I am using liquid or repitching, then I add it right before pitching when the temp is in the mid to upper 60's. I boil the stone and sanitize the wand... no issues with infections... yet, anyway :D

I've not experienced any off flavors from this technique compared to my non-summer technique. I haven't noticed a big difference with haziness either, although I don't focus too much on that anyway personally (Irish moss + cold crashing mostly).

Cheers!
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I know exactly where Franklin, TN is. I spent the better part of 2 years (except weekends) in Columbia/Spring Hill while the Saturn plant was under construction. I know how hot it gets there. I'm farther south, blessed with slightly warmer temps.

You reiterate the no aeration needed for dry yeast. How so? Never heard this concept until today. Even most of the packets say to aerate. Without aeration, how can there be sufficient O2 dissolved in the wort? Boiling and then cooling will deplete water of dissolved air. Simple science to that. What's the yeast going to feed on (efficiently)?
 
Had me worried for a minute. I thought I'd already screwed up a LOT of beer without knowing it, LOL. Several recipes I've done use dry yeast pitches, and only once have I reactivated (before I knew better and after I found it made no real difference). Aeration with dry yeast is "not necessary", but it doesn't hurt to aerate. I'm gonna say it can't hurt propagation, which was my initial point. I wasn't surprised to read aeration is necessary on re-pitch of harvested cultures from dry yeast. After all, it's no longer dry yeast, is it? In those two articles, one simply says pitch what you need, the other says reactivate (just like bread yeast) in lukewarm water to increase viable cells. First and foremost, I've heard "lukewarm" all my life, and still haven't found that on a temperature scale. If you're at the arctic circle, lukewarm means something totally different than it does below the 35th parallel. Again, that temperature reference thing that keeps rearing its ugly head, but I've long since decided to just try something, and if I don't like it, try something different to see what changes. The real discipline is not changing too many variables so that you have no clue what you actually did to the brew. I've reactivated (again, before I knew better), I've used two packets in the same recipe I've used one packet in before, I've made cultures with DME. So far, the best performance/attenuation I've seen has been from using cultures made from starters, whether dry or liquid yeast. Have I been able to taste it? MAYBE, but I still haven't cultivated the connoisseur's tongue yet, so anything I taste can be for any reason. Still slowly educating myself on tasting while I keep trying things to see what I really like. There are worst learning curves than tasting beer. It's certainly a lot more enjoyable than learning calculus.
 
I haven't rehydrated dry yeast in years. I just open the pouch and sprinkle the yeast on the wort as the fermenter is filling. The bready aroma starts soon enough, and I give it all an unnecessary swirl to complete the mix at the end, just because. That's for 3 gallons in the fermenter. Not sure that I would change anything for 5 gallons or more.
 
Megary said:
I haven't rehydrated dry yeast in years. I just open the pouch and sprinkle the yeast on the wort as the fermenter is filling. The bready aroma starts soon enough, and I give it all an unnecessary swirl to complete the mix at the end, just because. That's for 3 gallons in the fermenter. Not sure that I would change anything for 5 gallons or more.
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Other than maybe add another packet for bigger pitch. However, if the flavors from the propagation are what you're after, a lighter pitch and longer ferment might be smarter?
 
The advice to pitch straight started appearing once the manufacturers were more comfortable with the amount of cells that would die when rehydrated in wort as opposed to water. It used to be enough that they would encourage people to rehydrate before pitching. It's now low enough that they don't believe it matters (the wonders of exponential growth).
 
RoadRoach said:
I keep seeing discussions about no-chill, so naturally, I'm intrigued and curious about 'no chill' techniques.

I read where some just basically stop at flame-out and do nothing for X hours until pitching temperature is reached. That's great if you live in a cooler part of the country, or if you're using a more temperature tolerant yeast. But even in Autumn in Alabama, you could be waiting a couple days for a 'no-chill' batch to cool enough, if it ever actually does get cool enough for some yeast strains.

So my question is, if I have (and most of you know I do) a temperature controller, a freezer for controlling fermentation temperature, and an urge to keep the process moving a little quicker, would it be OK to put the hot batch in the freezer, set the temperature controller for pitching temperature, and then just let it sit overnight to pitch the next morning? How different is this to a real 'no-chill' technique? How/will it affect the final product? Is it still better to chill if I can? Our water temps are still a little high, though that should be changing soon. It takes a lot of water to cool a batch, and unfortunately, I'm not set up to capture it and re-use it for gardening, etc. We have plenty water, but if I don't have to waste something, I prefer not.

Has anyone else used such a hybrid 'no-chill' method?
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I live in GA so Temps are a out the same as yours. I am also on a well. In mid summer using a homemade immersion wort chiller, I can normally get my Temps into the upper 70s in about 20 to 30 minutes. I pitch my yeast at slightly higher Temps than normal and have never had a problem with ales. In the past I did use a refrigerator and allowed the wort to chill over night. No problems with good sanitized equipment.
 
RoadRoach said:
I know exactly where Franklin, TN is. I spent the better part of 2 years (except weekends) in Columbia/Spring Hill while the Saturn plant was under construction. I know how hot it gets there. I'm farther south, blessed with slightly warmer temps.

You reiterate the no aeration needed for dry yeast. How so? Never heard this concept until today. Even most of the packets say to aerate. Without aeration, how can there be sufficient O2 dissolved in the wort? Boiling and then cooling will deplete water of dissolved air. Simple science to that. What's the yeast going to feed on (efficiently)?
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I think you might be one of the few who worked here that didn't stick around, lol!

I've loaned out my White/Zainasheff book on yeast, but I'm pretty sure that's where I first read about it. There's something about the sterols in the production process that provides the same advantage as O2 (which is why you should aerate when repitching... that advantage is no longer there). It doesn't hurt to also aerate, but I like to simplify the brew day when I can.
 
Zefram said:
I think you might be one of the few who worked here that didn't stick around, lol!

I've loaned out my White/Zainasheff book on yeast, but I'm pretty sure that's where I first read about it. There's something about the sterols in the production process that provides the same advantage as O2 (which is why you should aerate when repitching... that advantage is no longer there). It doesn't hurt to also aerate, but I like to simplify the brew day when I can.
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I guess maybe I feel a need to stir the yeast in and separate the clumps that invariably form. It just looks wrong to see it all floating on the surface, too, but what do I know. However it’s good to know it doesn’t hurt anything if I ju do stir/agitate it out of habit.
 
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