I Just Pitched The Wrong Yeast!

[devo]

Prepped a healthy 2ltr starter few days ago and just pitched it into 40ltr of German pilsner wort that I brewed and cubed month ago. This sounds normal but I noticed as I was pouring the culture into my wort that the yeast smelt very much like a wyeast beligian ale rather than the pilsner yeast I had labeled on the vial!?! WTF!!!! :huh:

So I guess I better make sure I keep better track of my yeast supply in future! :wacko:

So this brings me to the next question....what the hell have a just brewed? Should I try brewing it at lager temps rather than ale???

recipe below: <_<

Fermentables
BB Galaxy Pilsner Malt 10.00 kg 97.8 %
Dark Munich Malt 0.220 kg 2.2 %
Hops
NZ Green Bullet 13.6 % 45 g 33.8 Loose Whole Hops 60 Min From End
German Tettnang 2.2 % 40 g 2.9 Loose Whole Hops 20 Min From End
German Hallertauer Mittlefruh 2.6 % 20 g 1.0 Loose Whole Hops 10 Min From End
German Tettnang 2.6 % 20 g 0.0 Loose Whole Hops At turn off

yeast: wyeast 1214 Belgian ale

OG:1.048

My other thought is that if I keep it at 10 c the Belgian yeast will stay dormant and pitch a lager yeast over the top and see which one wins out??? :unsure:

 

[reVoxAHB]

So this brings me to the next question....what the hell have a just brewed? Should I try brewing it at lager temps rather than ale???

My other thought is that if I keep it at 10 c the Belgian yeast will stay dormant and pitch a lager yeast over the top and see which one wins out??? :unsure:

Whooops. Slaps forehead. I did exactly the same with a 3068 and APA, a few years back.

I would follow your hunch and ferm at lager temps to reduce the esters and overall character of the strain. Not sure what the lower temps will do for the phenolics. And I would probably do a diacetyl rest after fermentation.

Not a bad idea to pitch a lager yeast over the top - frankenbrew it even further :wacko:
I have a feeling 10C will drop the 1214 to a crawl where the lager yeast can take over. Low end of recommended ferm temp on the 1214 is 14C approx.

Best of luck and let us know how it comes up.

reVox

 

[sah]

Don't worry about it. You'll have yourself a Belgian speciality. Like a belgian pale but a bit more bitter.

It'll be tops.

Good luck.
Scott

 

[Ross]

Devo,

May just have been a little funkiness coming off your lager yeast, it does happen.

What's your proceedure when labelling your yeast cultures, would have thought it hard to mix them up unless you were doing both at the same time?

cheers Ross

 

[devo]

Hi Ross

I'm thinking I used a previously labeled vial that I didn't get around re-labeling as the belgian. Then again you quite possibly could be correct with the funky lager yeast idea. Although I swear it was pretty certain it was the correctly labeled....that smell has really thrown me!?

...I may just let it sit at 10 c for the next day or so and if the airlock starts to bubble then it maybe the pils yeast all along.

 

[pint of lager]

Keep the fermenter at 10.

Pour a litre into a mini fermenter vessel, keep it at 20. Pour another litre into another mini fermenter and keep it at 10. You should quickly see if it kicks at ale temps or lager temps.

Always label everything. When yeast farming, have only one yeast on the bench at a time. If in doubt, chuck it out.

Same with hops. Label them when you recieve them or transfer them into another container. Make sure the ink will not run when wet. One brewer I know put his hops in jars in a freezer and carefully wrote on them in texta. But it was a water soluble texta and it ran when there was some condensation on the outside of the jars. Include the name, source, date into freezer and of course AA rating.

Same with grain. Label it and date it. That way when you find 300gms of some dark grain in 2 years time, you can safely use it or chuck it out.

 

[sah]

Another tip for starters - I always taste a starter before pitching. If it doesn't taste right I won't use it. And by "doesn't taste right", this doesn't just mean infected. If I'm not happy with the ester profile I'll also toss it.

regards,
Scott

 

[devo]

Devo,

May just have been a little funkiness coming off your lager yeast, it does happen.

cheers Ross

Looks like this is the case Ross. Airlock activity late last night @ 10c so I figure it was the "as labeled" pilsner yeast i originally intended.

 

[devo]

mmmm well I'm now starting to think that it was the Belgian yeast after 10 days in primary at 10 degree with a gravity that has only shifted from 1.048 to 1.039 in that time. <_<

Now I thinking whether I should just sit tight and let it sit in primary for another 2 to 3 weeks or raise the temp?

 

[warrenlw63]

Temp up I reckon before some unfriendly critters try and invade.

Anyway why should I be the only one with a highly fruity Melbourne weather lager? :lol:

Warren -

 

[devo]

True about the critters but the thing is there seems to be enough krausen and present C02 activity to indicate that it's fermenting along OK but the sugar conversion is just taking a hell of a long time. The thing is that the yeast itself may have been a tad older than I would like it to have been so I'm also thinking that this could be a big factor!

 

[Doogiechap]

True about the critters but the thing is there seems to be enough krausen and present C02 activity to indicate that it's fermenting along OK but the sugar conversion is just taking a hell of a long time. The thing is that the yeast itself may have been a tad older than I would like it to have been so I'm also thinking that this could be a big factor!

It will be interesting to see what the attenuation will be like if it is a Belgian. Is diacetal production an issue with colder fermentation or just a yeast strain characteristic ?
Sounds interesting anyway Devo !
Cheers
Doug

 

[THE DRUNK ARAB]

Hey Devo, I would be for turning the temperature up and then learn to label you yeast in future.

I brewed a beir de garde once with a lager yeast (WY2308) at 18c and it fermented out well. Certainly you will have some fruity flavours but at 18C they should be somewhat restrained.

Good luck.

C&B
TDA

 

[devo]

OK after wrestling with this particular brew for just over a month(5weeks) I have finally tapped a keg and had a sample taste which I can report back as being surprisingly bloody drinkable. :beer:

The best way I could describe this "beer of mystery" is that it similar to a kolsch only slightly fruitier, spicier and notable noble hops. (it was originally intended to be a pilsner)

It is a tad cloudy but I put that down to the additional windsor yeast i pitched in secondary to help move thing's along. In retrospect I should have used the Nottingham.

I'll be buggered if I'll ever manage to reproduce this baby again so I'm planning to savor every last drop. :chug:

 

[joshuahardie]

Just out of curiosity,

If you did pitch the wrong yeast, before fermentation got started, could you, take the entire wort and put it in a pot, raise the temp on a stove (or burner) to a point where the yeast dies. cool the wort. transfer back into the fermenter, re-airate and repitch the correct yeast.

would this work?

 

[devo]

Just out of curiosity,

If you did pitch the wrong yeast, before fermentation got started, could you, take the entire wort and put it in a pot, raise the temp on a stove (or burner) to a point where the yeast dies. cool the wort. transfer back into the fermenter, re-airate and repitch the correct yeast.

would this work?

mmm interesting idea and I really don't know the answer?! From what I know I can't see why this couldn't be done but again from "what I know" can at times equate to absolute squat.

maybe some one else here could shed some light!?

BTW this beer appears to be clearing up quite well.