Beer Forum

Hey,

I just started a batch of Hefeweizen and pitched yeast yesterday. Problem(maybe) is that as I pitched the yeast the temperature was cold. I used the bag of ice as the last gallon of water method of chilling the wort and got tired of waiting for temp to rise. Temp was about 60 degrees when I put the yeast (Wyeast starter pack) in the wort. Fermentation has yet to begin.

Is this typical of my situation or have I killed off my yeast? How much longer should I give it before I do something?

60F will probably be just fine. Wait a few days before doing anything drastic.

If you don't get any notable fermentation in another day or so, it's most likely your yeast packet - either it might have been tainted or possibly old. If by tomorrow you still don't see any fermentation, grab another fresh yeast packet and repitch. The temperature, as codewritinfool said, shouldn't be a problem at all. If you have your fermentation vessel still stored at 60F, though, I'd raise the temperature of the environment up to about 68F, swirl your fermentation vessel (to re-suspend any yeast that might have fallen out), and give it a bit more time to activate.

Most likely, though, it's probably an issue with whatever yeast pack you got (if you continue to see no results). Have a back-up on hand in case you need to reteach.

Cool ... sounds good .... Thanks!

Jack

Depending on the hefe strain your using though, the pope recommends fermenting around 64ËšF for an ideal flavor profile...

Just something to keep in mind!

I have actually brewed this same recipe a couple of times already so I believe the fermentation temp isn't the problem. I will swirl it if it doesn't start up sometime soon and then try another pitch if that doesn't work.

Well, it looks like I had it all wrong! I opened the bucket to see if anything happened and there was evidence that fermentation had going on all along. I will have to check to see if there is an air leak in my bucket or lid or something but the beer seems to be cruising along fine. Might have to upgrade to all carboys.

With these strains, many times a higher temp (66-70 deg F) can lead to production of more banana/bubblegum flavors than clove. While banana (isoamyl acetate) is nice in a hefe, too much and it becomes like banana bread which is overpowering. The clove (4 - vinyl guiacaol) is gotten at lower temps esp. with the use of a feryllic acid rest @ 113 degrees in the mash for 10-15 min.