Hey all, I noticed there are wort coolers to cool the mix so as to add the yeast as quickly as possible. Is there a maximum time-frame for adding the yeast? I made a Muntons kit, seemed to go well, yeast activated and active for days but . . . I have the nagging question.
There is really 2 separate scenarios. One is cooling quickly as usual and delaying pitching the yeast. I've delayed pitching yeast 24 hours at least twice with no noticeable effects. A less than sanitary process will cause you to have problems. The other scenario is taking a long time to cool and then pitching your yeast later. This way is less than ideal for a few reasons, but with a sanitary process is doable. High amounts of lightly killed malts like pilsner have to be boiled to drive off DMS. And while it takes a long time to drive off all of it, 90 minutes seems to be the accepted amount of time to drive off enough to not be detected. The longer the wort sits in the high 100s and higher, it is still making DMS. but it is not being driven off by the boil. So there's that. Others will have more reasons. Bottom line, cool it quickly and pitch YOUR yeast as soon as you can. Something is going to ferment that wort. Make sure it's your yeast get to the battle early and in large enough numbers.
It's not so much that there's a timeframe for pitching the yeast. Some people even chill overnight, which I wouldn't necessarily recommend, but it can work if the wort is kept sanitary. The main reason for getting the wort cooled quickly to promote cold break (coagulating/dropping proteins out of suspension) and to get it out of the temperature range preferred by some bacteria. How long did it take your wort to cool, and how did you do it?
I held off till the morning, I mixed the wort on the 8th 21:00, and pitched the yeast on the 9th 07:00, around 6-7 hours break. That evening I tried cooling with ice cubes in the wort but it had very little effect (22 liters), so I decided to let it cool naturally. Next time I will use cooled, filtered water to get to the right temp that evening. My main concern is to learn correct / proper routine so next batch will get better! I hope to start cooking my own brews shortly, its difficult to find all needed materials locally. Thanks guys.
Just wanted to add, I have waited a week before pitching without any ill effects. This was a high sugar ginger beer in a 5gallon bucket with a air tight lock. (the air tight lock was put in the next morning as it was still cooling when it went in). 7 days later I pitched some larger yeast. That is to say I do not condone waiting but if you have rock solid sanitation you are unlikely to notice much of a difference. Of course the longer you wait the more of a risk you are taking. I don't start to worry until I get to the 72 hour mark. Pitch as soon as you can ( typically wait until the next morning). But I'd never dream of throwing out a brew because I didn't pitch as soon as I'd like. That said as always make sure to look at the health of the brew before you pitch and before you drink. My brewing mates baulk at my laxity but I've never had a ruined brew in nearly 5 years and nearly 2000 pints brewed. Your mileage may vary.
