Ale yeast too cold.

[guildofevil]

Hi All,
To use up the last of my extract, before I go all grain, I decided to make myself a nice strong porter. I got a bit carried away and ended up with an OG of 1.102.
The yeast is a Gervin English Ale yeast, which is apparently capable of fermenting to 12% ABV, which would be just about perfect. That was last Tuesday.

I tested the gravity on Thursday night and it had dropped to 1.070. Happy that it was fermenting well, I wasn't worried about leaving it unattended until Monday night, while I went to a Gaming convention (yes, I'm one of those Role-playing geeks).

When I got back last night, I discovered that there had been a cold snap and as my girlfriend apparently doesn't know how to use the central heating properly, the temperature in the room where my beer is had dropped to 17C (62.6F). It is possible that it got even colder over the weekend, but I have no way of knowing. The blurb on the yeast recommends 18C (64.4F) – 24C(75.2F) BTW.

The fermentation appeared to be sluggish and the gravity was 1.046. I attached a heating belt and went to bed.

This morning, as I rushed out the door to work, I had a quick look at the beer. If anything it is even more sluggish now.

I have never had an ale drop this low in temperature before and have never used this yeast at this high a gravity before. Have I mucked it up, or do you think it'll recover?

Séan

[Trogger]

I had an ale drop to 60, even 58, before and it was fine. I decided not to do that again, and I may have been using a more temperature hearty yeast. The beer was a stout, tastes very good. I guess it all depends on the temperature heartiness of the yeast strain.
Pitch more yeast, if necessary, and keep going, I say...

[guildofevil]

Yeah, I suppose you're right. I'll check it when I get home this evening and if it's still sluggish I'll pitch more yeast.

Don't know why I didn't think of pitching more yeast myself. Too much Beamish Stout over the weekend, maybe.

Séan

[YamahaXS]

wait.... you're a self professed RPG geek and you have a gf?

!!!! ;)

seriously, just warm it back up and it will get going again. should anyway, assuming the yeast shut down due to temp.

[guildofevil]

You were absolutely right YamahaXS. I was worried about nothing. I got home yesterday evening and it was all foamy and lively.

Séan

[mlsuggs]

Had I read this earlier, I'd have seconded the above opinion--just let it be; if you're worried, pitch more yeast.

But the wee beasties are really quite hardy. A quick dip into colder-than-optimal temperatures won't hurt 'em. Those that *do* die of the "cold" are fairly quickly replaced with a new generation. (If 60-degree-F temperatures were *that* harmful, most liquid yeast vials/packs would be worthless after being stored in the fridge more than a little while...)

--Misha