possible wort temp mistake

[prbffd28]

Hi All,
I am new to the home brewing deal, brewing only one batch so far, luckily successfully!
I wanted to try something different for my second batch and chose Coopers Mexican Cervesa. I am wondering if I damaged my yeast by pitching it before my wort temp had cooled enough. I made the mistake of using warm/hot tap water to top off the batch thinking that it would be around 80 degrees or so but it went higher. It was close to 100 and I had no way of cooling it other than letting it sit, which is bad too I know, rookie mistake!. So I pitched the yeast hoping that it would be ok. My airlock started bubbling some the next day but not real heavy, once every second or so. it never got any more aggressive, did I kill off the yeast? Any thouhgts?

 

[TopherM]

Yeast start being dibilitated around 120F, and start to die around 140F.

Yeast are actually quite happy at 100F, BUT they are so happy that they start secreting esters that create off-flavors in your beer.

So worst case, you are going to get some undesirable esters in your final beer. The good news is that esters break down over time, so if you notice an off-flavor in your final beer, just give it 4-6 extra weeks of conditioning time at room temp, and it'll turn around nicely.

And next time, definitely be sure get down to 60-70F before you pitch

Good luck!

 

[BigFloyd]

And next time, definitely be sure get down to 60-70F before you pitch

This^^^^.

For the off-flavors that you're likely to get from pitching that high, a few extra months of bottle conditioning might do the trick. If you managed to produce an excess of fusel alcohol as well, that, unfortunately, does not condition out with time.

 

[prbffd28]

I appreciate the feedback so quickly, it's encouraging to say the least, I would hate to screw up and waste a whole batch of beer!! So now we wait! Thanks!!