I find myself with ~80 b cells instead of the recommended 175 - 190 b cells, for 6 gallons of a 1.043-ish saison. I am currently boiling the wort, so making a starter or waiting to brew are no longer options. My first thought is to chill the wort, pitch the amount that 80 b cells will comfortably brew, and keep the remaining wort in the fridge or freezer for 24 hours. Is this OK? Do you have a better idea?
Brew the beer. Take a small running of finished beer and make a small starter. Pitch that starter the next am.
Thank you! I have the extra wort in sanitized containers. Am I better off refrigerating them, or is it safe enough to leave them at room temp?
Rock and a hard place: The last thing you want to do is give your yeast a major shock of temperature, particularly lowering the temp, as this may cause them to go dormant. The next to last thing you want to do is leave the wort at prime temp for any unwanted bacteria to make their entrance. Ideally you would chill wort to mid-30s, then miraculously raise to ferm temp right before pitching. Unless you have some high powered refrigeration this will be difficult to impossible. For 5+ gallons you're talking a day+ to drop 30 degrees and several hours for it to rise (at room temp). I would tend to leave temp as-is . . . but would lose sleep either way.
Honestly, I may be in the minority, but I would say pitch what you have, and call it a day. it may not be ideal, but if the rest of your process is good, you'll be fine. It may be a bit longer lag phase as they build up numbers, but plenty of people pitch liquid yeast directly with no issues.
I agree, it is a Saison. The time it takes to double the yeast number is 90 minutes. You might end up with more yeast driven character, but it is a Saison.
Thanks everyone for the responses. In the end, I chilled half the wort, and pitched it on top of the fermenting wort the next day. Please wish me luck :-)
