Yeast starter (female) disaster!

[dean_wales]

Hi Guys,

Oh my darling girlfriend how I love her so...not!

To cut it short I left a 2l starter made from pale spraymalt and White Labs wheat yeast next to the airing cupboard.

Girly, in her wisdom, "tidies" it up and lodges it next to the hot water pipes to "keep it warm"!!!!

It was 35c when I found it..... and started yelling!

I presume that will have killed the yeast????? It seems to have dropped out of suspension as it was before???

Thankfully it was only half a vial as I was saving the other half for future brews. I will just have to start again.

Say it aint so guys??

Dean.

[Eadweard]

You should be fine. 35 degrees C shouldn't kill ale yeast. The high temperature would make the fermentation very fast though, so I suspect it's dropped out of suspension because the ferementation has finished.

[gnutz2]

A lot of the kits advise re-hydrating yeast with water around 35c, so you will be fine.

[Shadowknight]

Knowing, ( a little) how a woman's mind works...

It was probably your fault anyway.
You should buy her some shoes to make up for the distress she has gone through in this traumatic time.

(Or is that just mine?)

[Wolfy]

If it's an ale yeast the starter should be fine up to temps as high as 37C (maybe not if it's a lager yeast), some dry yeast can be rehydrated at 41C.
iF the starter is behaving differently after being so warm, its probably due to the yeasts metabolism increasing and getting things finished much quicker. If that's the case you could even thank her for helping you be more time-efficient, just make sure you decant the spent wort and pitch only the yeast, you'd get some interesting flavours and esters at that temperature.

[dean_wales]

I think its alive and well with some fresh yeast.

I am worried now that the heat will have damaged or changed the yeast somehow and that my wheat beer wont turn out right? Or am I being silly? I read about temperature shock etc but didnt understand it!

One more note, when stepping up and eventually pitching a wheat yeast do I still cool and tip off the spent 'wort' as this yeast stays in suspension?

Thanks,

Dean.