What time adn what temp to pitch Lager yeast

Yeast & Fermentation
1

So a buddy and me just made an Oktoberfest and just put it in my chest freezer which is set to 40F. The wort is at 75F (even after going through a plate chiller). I’ve heard to pitch the yeast when the wort is with in the right temp for the yeast (I believe 45-50).

Would it be better to wait until the wort is of the correct temp and then pitch the yeast (how ever long that may take, I do have a stopper in the carboy) or pitch the yeast in now at 75F to get the yeast going?

This is the first time we’ve both done a lager.

Thanks for help!

-b

2

Haha same with me! I made my first Lager on Tuesday.
I had the same question and all said to wait to pitch until
wort is at 50F

3

So you’re saying that you’re still waiting to pitch… :slight_smile:

4

it was a hot day and I cold not get wort past about 80F so moved it into the chest freezer and it took 7 hours for the two carboys to get to 48F then I pitched and set temp to 50F. It is now Friday at 6PM and still no noticeable activity or krausen yet :roll:

5

Wait until it get in the 50-55 range. Then set the freezer to 50. IMO 45 is going to be to cold.

If you pitch it now at 70, when fermentation starts it will generate heat. Making it harder (longer) to get the temp down.

With the air lock on, be careful that it doesn’t suck the liquid into the fermenter as the wort cools. Use vodka.

Have you made a large starter?

6

Update…
So we finished brewing the wort around 4:15 Friday afternoon. The temp finally got down to pitching temps at 11:15 Friday night. So I pitched the yeast (dry). I took a pic of what it looks like now and put it on in my dropbox account.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/49999833/brew.jpg

As you can see it looks like the yeast just jelled together and are just floating on top or it’s something worse. The freezer chest is set at 50F. So here are the usual questions you see here on the forum.

  1. Is the beer done for.
  2. Should I pitch another packet of yeast and if so when? Should I wait a little longer?
  3. If I do repitch should I take the better bottle out and give it another good spin to get oxygen into the wort.
  4. Also if I do repitch do I rehydrate this pack of yeast?

Thanks again for the help!

7

1.) no
2.) no
3.) leave it alone
4.) leave it alone

At low temps, it takes a while to get started. Be patient.

8

Im on day 5 and still no activity?
Should I pitch some more yeast??

I took some out for a gravity reading… still waiting for it to come up to room temp to take the reading
so don’t have that yet but I tasted it and it tastes just like it did the day I made it I can tell not much fermentation has taken place yet if any

9

[quote=“bw447”]Update…
2. Should I pitch another packet of yeast and if so when? Should I wait a little longer?
4. Also if I do repitch do I rehydrate this pack of yeast?

Thanks again for the help![/quote]2. what kind of yeast and how much did you pitch? Lagers need twice as much yeast as ales.
4. depends on 2.

10

Wow everyones doin a oktoberfest/lager for the first time…did ours last night and waiting to pitch the yeast starter…it has been almost 12 hours and the wort is around 60…guess I will wait a bit longer to pitch the yeast…I wonder if there are any ill effects to waiting soo long to pitch the yeast (any off flavors)??

Did your oktoberfest start fermenting? Do Lagers ferment more or less than an Ale?

Some interesting stuff…hope we have a good oktoberfest this fall to enjoy!

Cheers…

NewbieJM