I have a batch of helles in the garage in a freezer set to 54F. which is what fermentis says is Ideal. After 1 week this cold snap dropped it to 46F. briefly. I put hot water containers in the freezer to raise it to 54 again. Think this brief drop will hurt?
Colder is even better. I would have left it at 46 F. It will be fine either way.
You obviously have experience with this yeast. At what temp do you pitch it and what temp do you ferment it at?
I’ve done a couple batches of Oktoberfest, a doppelbock and a pils with Fermentis 34/70, all of them fermented in the 50-52F range. I was really happy with everything but the pils, which I felt was just not clean or crisp enough (fermentation temp is only one variable that may have contributed to that, of course).
For a helles I wouldn’t want to ferment higher than 52F, but I’ve never done it before so that’s just a product of my experience and “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” mentality 
.
FYI, the yeast has worked really well in that range for me. I just took a FG reading today on a batch of Marzen and I got about 80% apparent attenuation according to Sean Terrill’s FG calculations, which I have a lot of confidence in.
http://seanterrill.com/2010/07/20/towar ... rrelation/Coldest I can get is about 50 F so that’s where I ferment it. If I could get 47 F, I would start it there then let it warm to roughly 52-53 F towards the middle of fermentation and perhaps finish off in the 60s for a diacetyl rest if needed.
I’ve had 34/70 at 46F and it chugged along to finish below 1.010 even. I reuse it a few times and each re-pitch seems to be stronger than the last. I think I re-pitched one single packet something like 15-20 times. Great dry lager yeast from Wehenstephan.
:cheers:
[quote=“ynotbrusum”]I’ve had 34/70 at 46F and it chugged along to finish below 1.010 even. I reuse it a few times and each re-pitch seems to be stronger than the last. I think I re-pitched one single packet something like 15-20 times. Great dry lager yeast from Wehenstephan.
:cheers: [/quote]
Wow…46F and finished below 1.010. What was your OG?
No doubt about it, this is one kickass yeast. I used the White liquid version one time just for laughs (too lazy to search it now now, but I think I’ve seen some posters saying the dry version might not have been quite as good as the liquids) but to my palate the finished product was no better than what I’ve gotten from the Fermentis dry.
I used to special-order this yeast from my LHBS, and based on my insistence alone, I suspect, they now stock it. Their asking price is $6.50, which is highway robbery, but I still pay it . I see that NB charges $5, but with shipping that’s no better even if I can tack it on to a bigger order. I am happy to pay for that combination of quality and convenience either way, though…
[quote=“ynotbrusum”]I’ve had 34/70 at 46F and it chugged along to finish below 1.010 even. I reuse it a few times and each re-pitch seems to be stronger than the last. I think I re-pitched one single packet something like 15-20 times. Great dry lager yeast from Wehenstephan.
:cheers: [/quote]
How do you go about re-pitching it? Is there a way to store it? Any good books on this? Thanks.
My OG is typically only 1.040ish for many lagers.
Repitching is simple. I try to time my beers to be back to back whenever possible. After racking, collect the sediment at the bottom of the fermenter (leave a little of the fermented beer in the fermenter and swirl it to loosen the sediment and yeast). I pour it into a gallon ziplock bag sitting open in a small pitcher. Then I clean and sanitize the fermenter, rack new wort into the fermenter and pitch about half of the sediment collected. For ales, I use less (1/3rd)…if I don’t reuse the yeast right away, I repitch more or make a starter from the collected yeast. I rarely repitch or use any yeast after a few weeks, because I almost always have a fermenter that is ready to rack out at the point I am ready to brew. Also, I double strain my wort as I rack it from the boil kettle, so I don’t have a lot of trub from the boil kettle getting into the fermenter to start with. Finally, I don’t repitch from a dry hopped beer, though you certainly could do that if you don’t mind the spent hops in your next brew.
