Beer Forum

Last night I finished brewing around 5 pm, got my wort down to 60F, oxygenated with pure o2, pitched yeast slurry from my previous batch according to mrmalty calculator, stuck the temp controller thermometer to the side of the bucket, put the bucket in the fridge right before super bowl kick off. This morning at 7am I went to check the temp controller and it read 69F. I forgot to turn the fridge on! Realizing my mistake I turned the fridge on and made sure the set point was 50F.

The beer is a lighter version of an octoberfest with an OG of 1054 and the yeast is Wyeast Munich Lager. Is there anything special I need to do with this batch from this point forward to correct my temperature mistake?

At this point I would just get it down to fermentation temperature as as soon as possible. You will also want to do a d-rest at the end to clean up any diacetyl.

Going forward I would recommend getting the wort down to pitching temp (or even a few degrees lower) before pitching the yeast. I start mine at 45F and let them free rise to 50 and hold there.

TheDarkSide wrote:At this point I would just get it down to fermentation temperature as as soon as possible.

Within reason.

Sounds like you are doing a lager that Jon Plise/Chris White way... Within that time frame, it shouldn't have thrown much in the way of undesirable characters.

+1 to the diacetyl rest if you pitched above 50F. This should help to reduce any buttery aroma or flavors produced by the yeast during their growth phase.