Fermentation chamber got too cold

[duffbeer71]

I finished an IPA (1.061 OG) last night and put it into a chest freezer that I use as a fermentation chamber with a temperature controller. Unfortunately I forgot to check the temperature the controller was set to. That was at about 8 o'clock last night. I woke up this morning about 5:30 and for some reason realized I forgot to check so when I did the temperature control was set at 37 degrees and the beer was at 40. So I took the carboy out and wrapped it in a carboy warmer and will get it back up to the desired 68 degrees. So will the yeast be ok? I figure that yeast can be refrigerated which will put them to sleep and when they warm up they will start doing their job. But I want to ask if there's anything I should be concerned about?

 

[Mike_kever_kombi]

Maybe some off flavor from lag, but I doubt it.

May have used up some stores to go in to "hibernation", but I wouldn't worry about it.

If you followed a solid recipe and sanitation practices I'm sure you will end up with a very respectable beer.

Who knows, you may have just invented the next big craze in brewing.

The cold crash before fermentation starts method!

 

[duffbeer71]

Ha! I needed a good laugh this morning. I did I nice big yeast starter and the yeast (Wyeast 1056) was pretty fresh out of the homebrew store (was packaged on October 15). This is the 3rd time I'm doing this recipe, so I will see if there's any off flavors I haven't had in previous batches. It's only been 10 hours since pitching the yeast, so I'm thinking if I can get fermentation going by tonight or by the morning, I think it may be okay. But I definitely like to get everyone's input.

 

[duffbeer71]

Wanted to give an update to this. Once I got the temp of the wort up to 65 degrees, I removed the heating belt from the carboy and set in the fermentation chamber with the temp controller set at 67 degrees. The next morning the fermentation was vigorous and everything looks normal. So in the end, the yeast just got a little nap before I set them off to work. If there are any off flavors I will post my findings.

 

[str1p3s]

So it's been over a year and no findings!

I was curious what happened with your beer... I brewed the other day and forgot to turn the space heater on that is attached to my temp controller in a chest freezer. I got up to check in the morning and saw that the wort had dropped to 55 overnight and had developed a thin layer of foam on the top, so I'm assuming fermentation started. I warmed it up to 64 throughout the day and I'm going to step it up to 67 over the next day or so. Do you think this whole ordeal will stress the yeast and mess up the beer?

 

[kristiismean]

it will not stress the beer, and will not mess up the beer. 55 is nothing, and fermentation might of still been happening...

 

[Oldskewl]

I just did this to a Belgian Tripel I was brewing using WLP500. I did a 1.5L starter and put the fermenter in my ferm chamber. I adjusted the temp on the STC-1000 to 66F and woke up in the morning to find it at about 40F. I had put a keg in there too chill a couple weeks prior and when I set the temp on the STC-1000, I forgot to hit the power button to set the chosen temp. It took about 10 hours for the temp to climb, but I saw bubbling as the temp neared 60F. I check the FG 2 days ago and it took it down from 1.080 to 1.010. So I am pleased. I was worried putting the yeast to sleep might affect the attenuation. I am bottling tonight, so I wont have a taste review for a couple months.