Very cold first day of fermentation

[glanville]

I brewed up a Belgian Pale Ale with 1 package of Safale T58 last night and put it in the closet I usually ferment in. It happens to be in a cooler room of the house.

As you probably heard, the midwest has been blasted by cooooold temperatures.... When I checked the temp this morning it was at 41 degrees in that room. I've moved the fermenter to a warmer part of the house.

Am I at risk for killing the yeast or making them too dormant to do their job?

 

[Rockn_M]

Once the yeast warm up they should be fine. Better to be to cold than hot.

 

[TallDan]

get it back in to the preferred temp range for that yeast and you'll be fine. At 41F the yeast is almost certainly dormant, but not dead.

 

[jrsdws]

The spec sheet for your yeast specifies 53.6 to 77F temp range with ideal being 59 to 68F so I would assume there could be some problems. I'm a newbie so I don't know for sure what will happen.

I would try to get it into that ideal range ASAP and maintain that for a day or two and see if fermentation kicks in. Maybe the yeast never really started and it'll be ok.

 

[glanville]

Thanks, it's already warming up in the other room.

 

[hamburgerfan]

The same thing happened to me, but the temperature was probably lower than 41. Warming up now. How cold does it have to be to kill the yeast?

R.I.P. My Stout (unless it can be saved)

 

[Rockn_M]

Unless the beer freezes for a long period of time the yeast will just go dormant. Once it is warmed up they'll get back to work, they are hardy little creatures.

 

[hamburgerfan]

The beer didn't freeze, but the airlock did. I switched out the airlock real quick when I moved the beer. The vigorous bubbling from yesterday stopped though.

 

[drchris83]

Fermenting too cool is rarely a problem. Expect longer fermentation times and a subdued ester profile.

 

[Rockn_M]

I wouldn't worry about it. Nothing sounds terrible. Check the gravity in a few days and if it has decreased from the OG that will let you know that your fermenting.

I think everyone here can tell you a few stories of how they thought they messed up but the beer turned out great! I had an Oktoberfest last year that I thought the temp got to high but turned out to be one of my best brews yet. I'm going to try and replicate again this year.

 

[VadimTheConqueror]

When you worry about your yeast getting too cold, it's worth remembering that you store it in the fridge until you're going to use it.

 

[hamburgerfan]

Not to hijack the OP's thread, but my beer turned out alright (so far). The Kreaueusen (which had dissipated when it got cold) has returned and the bubbling has resumed.