What happens if you add yeast too early

I am making the Irish Red Ale and made a silly error – when adding the liquid malt extract I added dry yeast alternative (Danstar Nottingham Ale Yeast). Then boiled the wort, adding the hops as necessary. Now realizing that the yeast comes later and I have the recommended Wyeast 1272 anyway.

a) If I added the dry yeast before boiling wort for an hour, is the batch a throwaway?
b) Is there any point in adding the 1272 afterwards anyway? What happens if you have too much yeast in your beer?

Many thanks yall.

ok. your danstar noty is DEAD. It was killed when boiled. After you boil and cool the wort down to pitching temps, then pitch your activated wyeast pac. Your beer will be fine.

Namaste!!!

Boiling the yeast killed it. The dead yeast has become yeast nutrient. Finish the boil, cool to upper 60°F range and pitch the 1272. You are going to have beer.
It is very hard to over pitch live yeast.

You guys rule – now I know why you’re called master brewers. I had a hunch but now I’m off to the races. First batch ever by the way which explains the rookie mistake :slight_smile:

Thanks!

Welcome aboard, Caveman!! This forum is full of helpful and knowledgeable people. Now, go make beer!!!

Keep your fermentation temps in check. The two best pieces of advice I can give is :

  1. proper sanitation of all equipment
  2. Keep your temps regulated. I will usually cool the wort down to the low end of the yeast’s temp range, add water that is just a little bit cooler and pitch the yeast. Then keep it within the recommended temp for your yeast.

I understand that we must cool the wart down so we don’t scald and kill the yeast but is there any other reason? If you just put the wart in a fermentor and let it cool to room temperature would you get the same results as using a ice bath to lower the temp quickly?

I am sure this will get several different answers and opinions. I normally cool and pitch the yeast as soon as possible and I have also on several occasions put the wort in my fermentation cooler and pitched the yeast the next day and as long as 3 days later. I have not noticed any difference in any of the above and some of them were beer that I brew consistantly and keep in my rotations.

Pitching at higher than optimum temperatures can cause all sorts of off flavors that you probably won’t want, depending on the style of beer, the type of yeast, and the particular pitching temperature.Also, if your room temperature is, say, 70 degrees and your wort is, say, 78 degrees and you pitch your yeast, there’s a good chance the yeast will get going before your wort temperature ever gets down to 70 degrees. Then, since the action of the yeast produces it’s own heat, your wort may actually stay in the mid, maybe even in the high, seventies, which you don’t want, except for a very select few beer styles.

One of the long held beliefs in homebrewing is that you need to achieve ‘cold break’ by cooling your wort as quickly as possible. I think the target is under 100 in less than 20 minutes. Otherwise you risk off flavors from DMS, sulfur and fusel alcohols. The cold break also supposedly helps with beer clarity.

Lots of brewers believe this is a myth. Australians for example have a severe water shortage and most won’t waste water on chilling their wort. They practice no chill brewing and just seal up the wort to cool naturally.

I personally use a plate chiller to chill my wort as fast as possible but mostly so I can pitch the yeast and move on after the brew day is done.

“room temperature” may not be the best temperature for fermentation depending on the temperature of said room. Most will tell you it’s best to ferment closer to the lower end of the particular yeast’s optimal temperature range.

edit: And also what ^^ those guys said while i was typing!