Directions that say to pitch at 100 deg?!

So my buddy bought some “Starter kit” somewhere on one of those “today only deal” sites. In side the starter kit was a “brown ale” recipe kit. Before his brew day I gave him a number of pieces of advice but a majority of them focused on pitching and fermentation temps.

Well I talk to him today and ask him what temp he pitched at. He said “100 degrees, that’s what the directions said”. I told him he likely made rocket fuel with all he fusels that will be in it. I asked him to make sure he wasn’t confusing the yeast rehydration directions with the beer directions and he said he was sure.

Anyone have any idea who sells kits out there with directions that say to pitch at 100 degrees?! That’s just ridiculous. He said he doesn’t remember the name of the brand. I’m tempted to write them a nasty letter.

don’t even get me started on the directions that come with kits. The manufacturers should be giving beginner homebrewers and their friends/relatives free growlers of commercial craft beer for all the vile beer they are putting into circulation.

And its not limited to “today’s special” kits.

It just really bothers me cause it’s exciting to have friends join the hobby. And if he makes 5 gallons of crappy beer, there’s a good chance he’ll lose interest.

This also leads to the word ‘homebrew’ having a negative connotation with most beer drinkers who don’t brew.

You should brew with him and show him the right way, or better yet, have him over when you are brewing and have him bring his gear.

Yeah, I have had several people who told me that they have tried other home brew and were surprised that my beer actually tastes like beer. I am not exactly an expert or anything. I have made plenty of mistakes and my temperature control hasn’t been great, but people are still blown away by how good it is compared to what they have had before. I guess a lot of people are pitching at 90F and fermenting at 75 ambient. I came on here and read a bunch of n00b threads before I started.

If you look at all of the Northern Brew extract kit instructions, they all say to “cool the wort to approximately 100° F as rapidly as possible. Use a wort chiller, or put the kettle in an ice bath in your sink.” Then, after sanitizing everything, they say to “Fill primary fermenter with 2 gallons of cold water, then pour in the cooled wort.” Next, you’re instructed to add the cooled wort to the primary and then top it off to 5 gallons with cold water. This should, in theory, bring the water temperature down to the 70’s prior to pitching. Many people will say that is still too warm, but it’s a far cry from “the instructions said to pitch the yeast at 100 degrees.”

I don’t recall exactly what my sources of information were (word of mouth, internet, kit directions, etc.), but when I first got started about 8 years ago, I thought it was perfectly acceptable to pitch the yeast as soon as the wort dropped below 90°F and then proceed to ferment for 5 days at 75°F before bottling. :shock:

I think you’d be hard pressed to find instructions that say “pitch at 100F”.

The instructions most probably say cool the wort to 100F and add cold top off water to bring the volume up to X gallons while lowering the temperature even further.

I have yet to find anyone who has given evidence of instructions that actually say “pitch at 100F”.

Was this a dry yeast? A lot of them say to rehydrate at 100, could this have been mistaken for pitch at 100?

[quote=“jd14t”]I think you’d be hard pressed to find instructions that say “pitch at 100F”.

The instructions most probably say cool the wort to 100F and add cold top off water to bring the volume up to X gallons while lowering the temperature even further.

I have yet to find anyone who has given evidence of instructions that actually say “pitch at 100F”.[/quote]

This sounds like the most reasonable explanation. After I talked to him this past weekend, he did say it was a northern brewer kit.

I am new, and I can tell you how confusing this is for someone new to the whole thing! But, if you’re like me, you probably read and read and read again to fully understand directions.

When I see “cool wort to under 100 degrees” soon followed by “add two gallons of cold water to primary fermentation vessel,” that means that the wort will be cooled further by mixing it with the cold water (implied). My first brew was about two weeks ago and I know for a fact I pitched a bit warm and ran fermentation temps a bit high for about 24 hours. When I looked at the temps, I said, “Uh oh,” and I grabbed a towel, some ice water, and a fan. I was able to bring mine down to about 66 that way!

Unfortunately for me in North Carolina, my water is lukewarm even when set to cold. Therefore, I bring my wort down to about 65 or 70 degrees with an ice bath, then mix with the water. It usually stays about the same, so if needed I will cool more by capping the fermenter and putting it in the chest freezer to knock it down a few more degrees before I pitch.

Try adding blocks of ice made in sanitized zip lock bags. Sanitize the outside of the bag before you cut it open to extract the ice. Freezing with a string partially in the ice can aid getting the ice block in the wort without splashing.

The string idea was from someone else. Can’t remember who or which forum.