Good Day all how long can I wait before pitching my yeast. I brewed a 10 gallon Belgium Lager. I noticed a pin hole in my 15 gallon fermenter lid , so o had to split the wort into 2 carboys but both don’t fit in my kegerator. I ordered a new lid I just don’t know if I can wait for it to get here.
I would go 4 days, max. That’s the incubation period for botulism spores, so after 4 days you have the possibility of toxin present in the unfermented wort.
Chances of something else getting into the wort before that and spoiling it or starting fermentation are pretty high, though, so you really want to get your yeast in there as soon as possible. But due to food safety issues, don’t risk it if you can’t get yeast pitched and fermentation started in 4 days.
I think you’d be fine fermenting it with the pinhole in the lid, and just swap it out with the new one when it gets there. The positive pressure from fermentation will keep out any airborne microbes. Most buckets aren’t very well sealed anyways, so it wouldn’t be much different. A little bit of duct tape could close the hole off for a few days if needed. As far as risk goes, I think this would be a much better option.
I can’t get two buckets in my fermentation chamber with airlocks so one I leave the airlock of and cover the bung hole with foil and cover that with a paper towel soaked in star San. Done it a ton of times never a problem. Just pitch it