Can I Pitch At 11c?

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Truman42

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I've just run a brew through my plate chiller into my fermenter and it's come out at 11c.
My yeast starter has been sitting in the garage while I brewed and it's at 12c.
Is there any reason why I couldn't pitch at this temp and let my ferm fridge warm it up to ferm temp of 20C overnight?

Or should I wait until morning once it's warmed up and then pitch?
 
Agreed, You have both wort and starter at the same temp, just about, so no shock issues. IMO you would ideally be pitching a few degrees under the fermentation temp your aiming at but you have nothing to gain by waiting for this given the equally temps.

Whether or not the slow start will cause any issues I don't know. I'm going to read up on that now though.
 
why was the starter at 12'c? Its a lager yeast and brew yeah? how long has the starter been active?

Reason I ask is that Ive had a starter inside over the last 24 hours (way too cold in the shed) and I rekon I might not get the growth Im after so might extend by a day and then let ferment out.. but I have the luxury of aiming for next sat to pitch too..

Yob
 
why was the starter at 12'c? Its a lager yeast and brew yeah? how long has the starter been active?

Reason I ask is that Ive had a starter inside over the last 24 hours (way too cold in the shed) and I rekon I might not get the growth Im after so might extend by a day and then let ferment out.. but I have the luxury of aiming for next sat to pitch too..

Yob
I guessed it was an ale given he has a ferment temp goal of 20c.
 
why was the starter at 12'c? Its a lager yeast and brew yeah? how long has the starter been active?

Reason I ask is that Ive had a starter inside over the last 24 hours (way too cold in the shed) and I rekon I might not get the growth Im after so might extend by a day and then let ferment out.. but I have the luxury of aiming for next sat to pitch too..

Yob

Good question Yob.

I pitched the starter at 18C on Friday night and held it at 20C on my stir plate until this morning. I didnt see any further activity so left it in the laundry for the day. I was surprised that it had dropped to 12C, especially as the missus has had the heater cranked all day and the house is like a bloody oven. I put it in the shed while I was brewing and surprised that it had dropped to 12C.

Even more surprised that my wort came through the chiller at 11C as it usually doesn't drop that much. My last two brews Ive had it come out at 30C still and had to pitch the next morning. The water in my water tank that I use on the chill side must be bloody cold.

And even more surprised that I managed to get that original post out on my Iphone as Ive had 3 of my Raison Detre clones and at 8.3% its really knocked me on my head.. :D

Ive pitched my yeast and its in the ferm fridge with the heater going to bring it back up to 20C. Another sucessful brew day.

Thanks for the advice gents.

EDIT: No its American Ale yeast 1272. Im brewing the Epic pale Ale clone.
 
should be fine as long as the yeast and wort are no more then 10deg apart. The yeast will kick off when they reach higher temps so no need to worry.
 
If you are able to warm up the nearly fermenting wort relatively quickly you may be just as well off as the wort at 12* will absorb oxygen more readily helping the yeast growth
 
It took all night to get my wort up to 19C this morning before I went to work. Seems to have some Krausen forming so all is good.

Thanks again..
 
Even more surprised that my wort came through the chiller at 11C as it usually doesn't drop that much. My last two brews Ive had it come out at 30C still and had to pitch the next morning. The water in my water tank that I use on the chill side must be bloody cold.

Any chance that your chiller is a little blocked up?? I don't use a plate chiller, but I can imagine hops and what not could clog up the plates and reduce flow, leading to a colder run down temp. Just food for thought, I could be way off..
 
Any chance that your chiller is a little blocked up?? I don't use a plate chiller, but I can imagine hops and what not could clog up the plates and reduce flow, leading to a colder run down temp. Just food for thought, I could be way off..


No it isnt blocked, Ive tested it and water flows through it no problems in either direction. I always use a hop sock and get a good trub cone that I dont pull through the chiller either.

But certainly could have been a possibility.

The main problem was airlocks as I found out in another thread on this. Im going to position my plate chiller differently and test run it.
 
The main problem was airlocks as I found out in another thread on this. Im going to position my plate chiller differently and test run it.

Sounds like your on the pulse!

Good luck.
 

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