Transferring from Cube to Fermentor

[MrIrish]

I'm new to brewing and this site so sorry if this question is retarded, I have search and on this forum and cant find the answer

So....

Did my first extract brew at the weekend (American Pale Ale) and after much reading and research I decided to cool the wort in a cube, to split the process in 2 (which was lucky as I nearly ran out of time at the weekend!) and from seeing a few brewing demo's in Grain and Grape it sold it to me

My question is when I transfer the wort from cube to fermentor is it ok to pitch my yeast straight away or do I need to heat up the wort in the fermentor before I pitch the yeast?

I'm using 05 US dry yeast and plan to rehydrate it and add it to the wort (following John Palmers guidance here)

Any advice would be great

Cheers
Dave

 

[CosmicBertie]

It depends on what temperature your wort is at.

Although if your wort is around 18C then you'll be fine pitching it. Any colder (15C), and you might send it off to sleep. Any warmer (20C) and you can produce some off flavours. But if you have temperature control and its not too far out, then set that to 18C and you should be good to pitch the yeast in.

Ive pitched at 27C before and had the fridge set to cooldown with no noticeable bad results. Although im sure someone will chase me a pitchfork and burning torch for saying that!

 

[QldKev]

Can you throw the cube into the fermenting area to warm up? Then it will get to the correct fermenting temp and the yeasties are happy. If not, it won't be the end of the world.

 

[Bribie G]

With US-05, anything from 16 to 22 is good for pitching, but get it down to around 18 degrees asap. I've currently got an APA on a Wyeast equivalent of US-05 sitting on ambient at 18 degrees and it's happy as a pig in mud at the moment.

 

[QldKev]

It depends on what temperature your wort is at.

Although if your wort is around 18C then you'll be fine pitching it. Any colder (15C), and you might send it off to sleep. Any warmer (20C) and you can produce some off flavours. But if you have temperature control and its not too far out, then set that to 18C and you should be good to pitch the yeast in.

Ive pitched at 27C before and had the fridge set to cooldown with no noticeable bad results. Although im sure someone will chase me a pitchfork and burning torch for saying that!

I do this all the time, living in Qld my cubes sit around pretty warm. To me pitching warm is good to shorten the lag period, as long as it's at fermenting temp before you get to that stage all is good, and possibly better than pitching at fermenting temp.

 

[Guysmiley54]

Can you throw the cube into the fermenting area to warm up? Then it will get to the correct fermenting temp and the yeasties are happy. If not, it won't be the end of the world.

+1

This is what I do, I just pop my cube into the fermenting fridge, set the temp and strap on the temp probe. Perfect control over pitching temps.

 

[MrIrish]

[SIZE=10pt]Thanks for the responses lads[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]I don’t have a thermometer on my cube so I don’t know what temp its at (don’t want to risk opening it until I’m transferring to fermentor)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]My guess since its been 48 hours since its been in there that it will be too cold rather than too warm[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]As I’m new to this I don’t have temperature control or a fermenting area. I bought one of those submersible fish tank heaters so was planning to try using that and maybe wrap the fermentor to keep the heat in[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]If the wort is too cold when I add to fermentor, will I just heat it with that heater and then pitch?[/SIZE]

 

[Dan Pratt]

+1

This is what I do, I just pop my cube into the fermenting fridge, set the temp and strap on the temp probe. Perfect control over pitching temps.

What do you use to strap the temp probe on with? im currently using a medical bandage and some foam and that holds mine on....

 

[scon]

If you want to check the temp without opening it, tape a chunk of foam to the side (ie: like a yoga mat) and then wedge the thermometer between the foam and the the cube. Leave it there for a couple minutes then remove it and see what temp it reads. Should give you a reasonable guess to the temperature.

 

[CosmicBertie]

What do you use to strap the temp probe on with? im currently using a medical bandage and some foam and that holds mine on....

I have a velcro strap which holds a piece of polystyrene against the fermenter. Then the STC probe is pushed between the polystyrene and the fermenter.

 

[Guysmiley54]

I have a velcro strap which holds a piece of polystyrene against the fermenter. Then the STC probe is pushed between the polystyrene and the fermenter.

Pretty much the same, got an elastic velcro strap from a $2 shop. Use a piece of foam to insulate also. The results seem pretty reliable. When I first set up my STC1000 I checked the calibration of the probe by running a hydro sample and using my trusty thermo-pen to check the difference to what I was getting from the STC1000 probe. It was pretty close from memory.

 

[Dars183]

Pretty much the same, got an elastic velcro strap from a $2 shop. Use a piece of foam to insulate also. The results seem pretty reliable. When I first set up my STC1000 I checked the calibration of the probe by running a hydro sample and using my trusty thermo-pen to check the difference to what I was getting from the STC1000 probe. It was pretty close from memory.

I use an old stubby holder with the bottom cut out and a good whack of gaffa tape, works a treat

 

[Dan Pratt]

elastic $2 strap from the shop sounds better than my medical bandage which gets a bit of moisture and requires cleaning.

cheers for the handy tip.

 

[Crusty]

What do you use to strap the temp probe on with? im currently using a medical bandage and some foam and that holds mine on....

I'm using a Grunt tie down strap from Bunnings.
I have the probe against the fermenter & a piece of stubby cooler over the probe.