WLP029 fermenting too cool... thoughts and suggestions welcome!

[scoundrel]

Ok, so I decided to make 10 gal of Kolsch for a fantasy football draft party. I went through my normal process and everything went flawless. The OG was 1.053. My old reliable freezer went up in smoke, so in a panic I bought a new one from Wal-Mart (which BTW, if you live in MD, you can get a $75 rebate from BGE since it's Energy Star qualified).

I didn't have long to test the freezer with my A19 controller but in the few hours I had before brewing, I seemed to have it under control. I was wrong. I woke up today and the wort was at 53 degrees! I know this yeast is finicky at low temps and I'm debating what to do next. There are a few things working in my favor. First, I made a 1 1/2 gallon stepped up starter slurry from 3 viles. Second, the wort was oxygen rich since I used pure O2 as opposed to shaking. Lastly, the yeast is already fairly active and it's only been 8 hours from pitch to discovering the temp problem.

For now I'm at 55 and slowly ramping it up to 62 while I'm away from home. I could pitch more yeast but I'm tempted to let it ride. Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[mjohnson]

I'd let it ride. It will probably be the best Kolsch you've ever had. Later you can recommend the "Scoundrel Method" of Kolsch fermentation to everyone else and seem like a beer wizard.

... I'll know your secret though ...

Seriously though, in my limited experience, I've never had anything but good results when I started on the low end and ramped up.

 

[scoundrel]

I'd let it ride. It will probably be the best Kolsch you've ever had. Later you can recommend the "Scoundrel Method" of Kolsch fermentation to everyone else and seem like a beer wizard.

... I'll know your secret though ...

Seriously though, in my limited experience, I've never had anything but good results when I started on the low end and ramped up.

Haha, thanks buddy. I agree and generally ramping up does make great beer. It's my lack of experience with WLP029 and it's history of crapping out at cool temps that got me wondering. It's at these times when you need a bit of encouragement from people in the know.

 

[schoellhorn82]

Let it ride man! Let us know how that method works and I may use it when your beer turns out great. Thats not low enought to kill it. Plus i think that yeast is rec'd that you lager it at 35 (or so) for a few weeks for improved taste after primary fermentation.