Bet I Killed My Yeast

[HamiltonBrian]

So, long story short, brewed this morning. Ran wort through my plate chiller, added some to my mason jar of Burton yeast which I have been coveting (hard to start, made for a good yeast for my Christmas Ale, etc). Poured that slurry into the carboy and began filling the carboy from the kettle.

Touched my carboy...wow! Was it ever hot! Realized I hadn't turned my hose on and there was no cold water running through my plate chiller. So, I filled it up to my 6 gallon mark and through a cap on it.

I've got a blow-off tube running off of it, in the hopes I didn't kill my yeast.

If after a couple of days I don't get any fermentation happening (I turned on the water in time to fill my 2nd carboy and am using a 3rd gen California Ale yeast), could I just grab another vial of Burton and pitch that?

It sounds like a new-brewer question, but it's the first time in I don't know how many years I've done this.

 

[aspiffymofo]

I don't know how hot you got it, but it sounds like you killed most of your yeast. I would re-pitch.

 

[HamiltonBrian]

I don't know how hot you got it, but it sounds like you killed most of your yeast. I would re-pitch.

It was pretty close to boil...around 190-200F. I am surprised the carboy didn't crack since we're in the single digits celsius today.

 

[max384]

If you pitched at that high of a temperature, assume that you killed all of your yeast and repitch as soon as possible. If fermentation starts, it's likely from wild yeast and/or bacteria contamination.

 

[LLBeanJ]

There's no way the yeast could survive those temps. Definitely re-pitch.

 

[Epimetheus]

From experience - Don't wait to see if some yeast survived, just re-pitch.

I did something similar and waited a few days to see if the yeast survived. There were some tiny mold rafts developing. I brought the wort to a boil again to kill the spores then re-piched with a good starter. It worked but next time I will be careful with the starter.