Author: Brian Hall

Brewers give a decent amount of attention to the quickness that wort is chilled following the boil, an issue important enough to inspire the development of myriad mechanisms designed to hasten the process. Included among the various purported benefits of quick chilling is that it allows for immediate pitching of yeast into wort of a proper temperature. Unfortunately, homebrewers unable to invest in fancy glycol chilling units are only able to chill their wort to the temperature of their groundwater, which can be quite a bit warmer than ideal pitching temperatures.

While some employ the use of an ice bath to assist in the chilling process, many have taken to simply leaving the fermentor full of warmer-than-wanted wort in a temperature controlled chamber until it stabilizes at their desired pitching temperature. The time this takes is dependent on the temperature of the wort, though it’s not uncommon for brewers to leave their wort alone overnight, returning to pitch the morning after brew day.

One of the oft cited risks in leaving wort to sit un-pitched for an extended length of time is that it increases the chances of a contamination taking hold and ruining the beer. Another concern some have voiced has to do with oxidation of the wort, which is believed to lead to stale beer, whereas yeast pitched soon after chilling takes up oxygen during the lag phase.

Even living in Anchorage, I often have issues chilling wort to my desired pitching temperature, something I know brewers in warmer climates experience often. While the concerns expressed about delaying yeast pitch make some practical sense to me, I was interested to test it out for myself under more extreme conditions.



| PURPOSE |

To evaluate the differences between a beer where the yeast was pitched soon after chilling the wort and one where the yeast was pitched after a 40 hour delay.

| METHODS |

I went with a NEIPA for this xBmt, partially because of how sensitive the style seems to be to various things, but also because I was running low and wanted some on tap.

Delayed Gratification

Recipe Details Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV 5.5 gal 60 min 33.4 IBUs 5.5 SRM 1.060 1.016 5.9 % Actuals 1.06 1.013 6.2 % Fermentables Name Amount % Lamonta American Style Pale Malt (Mecca Grade) 9.003 lbs 67.93 Oats, Flaked 3 lbs 22.64 Vanora Vienna-style Malt (Mecca Grade) 1.25 lbs 9.43 Hops Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha % Magnum 7 g 60 min Boil Pellet 12 Citra 28 g 5 min Boil Pellet 12 Enigma 28 g 5 min Boil Pellet 16.5 Citra 43 g 1 min Boil Pellet 12 Enigma 43 g 1 min Boil Pellet 16.5 Citra 57 g 6 days Dry Hop Pellet 12 Enigma 57 g 6 days Dry Hop Pellet 16.5 Notes

Water Profile: Ca 117 | Mg 3 | Na 10 | SO4 84 | Cl 168 Download Download this recipe's BeerXML file

After collecting the RO water for two batches and adjusting them to same profile, I weighed out identical sets of grain.

As the water was heating, I proceeded to mill the grains.

With strike temperature reached, I mashed in on both batches to checked to make sure they settled in at a similar temperature.

The full volume BIAB mashes were left alone for a 60 minute saccharification rest, after which I removed the bags and allowed them to drip until my expected pre-boil volume was reached.

I then combined the worts in a single kettle and lit the burner to get it heating up before weighing out the kettle hop additions.

The wort was boiled for 60 minutes with hops added per the recipe.

At the end of the boil, I chilled the wort to 72°F/22°C, the temperature at which cooling slowed significantly.

The wort was split between identical Brew Buckets and placed next to each other in my fermentation chamber controlled to 66°F/19°C. Hydrometer measurements confirmed my target OG was hit.

I left the worts in my chamber while I cleaned up my brewing mess and took care of family matters. I returned a couple hours later to direct pitch a single pouch of Imperial Yeast A38 Juice into one of the batches, then did the same to the second batch 40 hours later.

Fermentation activity was observed just a few hours after pitching the yeast into either batch and proceeded similarly. At 4 days post-brew, I returned to add the dry hop addition.

I left the beers alone for another week before taking hydrometer measurements showing they both reached the same FG.

The beers were then racked to separate sanitized and CO2 purged kegs.

The kegs were placed in my cool keezer and burst carbonated overnight before the gas was reduced to serving pressure. After a few days of conditioning, they were ready to serve to participants!

| RESULTS |

A total of 21 people of varying levels of experience participated in this xBmt. Each participant was served 1 sample of the early pitch beer and 2 samples of the delayed pitch beer in different colored opaque cups then asked to identify the unique sample. While 12 tasters (p<0.05) would have had to accurately identify the unique sample in order to reach statistical significance, only 5 (p=0.88) did, indicating participants in this xBmt were unable to reliably distinguish a NEIPA where the yeast was pitched soon after the wort was chilled from one the yeast was pitched 40 hours after the wort was chilled.

My Impressions: Over a series of blind triangle test attempts, I was unable to consistently tell these beers apart from one another, they tasted exactly the same to me. For those who have asked for my favorite NEIPA recipe, this is it! I really the combination of Enigma and Citra, which the simple grist allowed to shine through.

| DISCUSSION |

Contamination is a serious concern when it comes to brewing good beer, and sugary sweet wort is a very attractive environment for spoilage microbes. For this reason, brewers are often wont to pitch yeast as soon after the boil as possible such that their pure culture can out-compete any critters that may have made their way in. The fact tasters in this xBmt were unable to tell apart beers where the yeast was pitched either soon after the wort was chilled or following a 40 hour delay seems to suggest waiting isn’t a guarantee for disaster.

While it’s possible my neurotic sanitation practices contributed to these findings, another concern occasionally expressed about delaying yeast pitch has to do with oxidation of the wort. With how sensitive NEIPA appears to be to oxygen, I would have expected to observe at least some difference appearance and flavor between these xBmt beers, which wasn’t the case at all. Both the early and delayed pitch beers tasted and looked the same throughout the few weeks they were on tap.

As validating as these findings may be for those who are unable to effectively chill their wort all the way to ideal pitching temperatures, it’d be foolish to suggest that pitching as soon as possible isn’t the better practice. Not only does it unarguably reduce the risk of potential contamination, but it means less time for the beer to be finish, even if by a little. I’ll continue pitching yeast as soon as the wort reaches my desired pitching temperature, but in those times it takes a bit longer, I won’t fret about leaving it in the chamber for some time.

If you have any thoughts about this xBmt, please do not hesitate to share in the comments section below!

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