Can I pitch yeast at higher temps?

[thejuanald]

Hi all, I made a black IPA today with a bunch of new equipment, and the brew day went alright I guess. I tried with basically a manual HERMS system on propane and I had a bit of trouble maintaining temos but that wasn't too bad. The big problem was that it was freezing outside and I got my new plate chiller clogged (though I think I may have frozen the liquid in the line because when I went in to clear the clog, there wasn't anything clogging it up). Because of that, I couldn't get everything cooled as much as I wanted. I think I went into the fermenter at 120F.

I have a chest freezer with temp control and a thermowell, and right now it's sitting at 86F. I'm planning on fermenting at around 62F with WLP007. My question is, can I let it drop down to ~70F and then let it drop to 62 overnight or do I need to wait until it reaches fermenting temp? I figure if I have temp control, if I pitch a little higher, it will still reach fermenting temps in a few hours so it shouldn't cause off flavors right?

 

[d3track]

Why not just wait until it’s down to fermentation temp then?

 

[Moriaty32]

You could, but risk off flavors and stunting the yeast as you go colder. Just wait until the am imo.

 

[thejuanald]

Why not just wait until it’s down to fermentation temp then?

With me having to disconnect the pump from the plate chiller, I'm just paranoid that some undesriable bugs got in (though I don't really see how they could have) and me pitching the yeast starter would overpower it if there was a bug. I know that's a silly thing but it would put my mind at ease

 

[parrothead64]

I agree. Wait until tomorrow.

 

[DU99]

depends on type of yeast also..read the specs on the yeast you used

 

[thejuanald]

depends on type of yeast also..read the specs on the yeast you used

Yeah wlp007 says 65 to 70 as the normal range so I'm going to wait until it hits that. It's at 74f now so I figure I can wait.

 

[RM-MN]

Unless you pitch a huge starter the yeast will have a bit of lag time as it reproduces before it starts making alcohol. During that lag time it should not be producing much for off flavors. Since you have a chest freezer and controller you have a way to get the beer down in temp fairly quickly and can keep the yeast from bringing the temperature back up. I'd pitch the yeast when the wort reached 80 and let the freezer bring the temp down.

 

[waldoar15]

I'd wait too. I usually let my lagers sit overnight before pitching because I have a hard time getting my wort down into the 50's with a chiller. I usually run the chiller till it hits 60, then put it in the fermentation chamber and pitch in the morning.

 

[brewcat]

The only risk would be shocking the yeast. But within 10 degrees should be fine. I would just pitch. Your chamber will get it to fermentation temps quick enough.

 

[thejuanald]

Thanks guys I ended up pitching it when it hit 70F. It's bubbling away now and hit temp just fine early this morning.

 

[thejuanald]

It looked like no activity for around 12 hours and then it went crazy. Glad I put a blow-off tube!

 

[Steveruch]

A couple of months ago I brewed an imperial pilsner. My wort chiller could only get the wort down to 66. I pitched the yeast at 3 pm and put it into my cellar at 50. By morning it was down to 52 and I had signs of fermentation shortly after noon. It turned out very good.