A yeast that can take the heat?

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Red Rum
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A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by Red Rum »

I am "forced" to do all fermentation in the garage, and here in the midwest we are in a heat wave. Fermentor is insulated but garage temps swing from 80-100+. Temps from fermentor are holding steady between 86-90

I have a rum wash going with a SG of 1.2 (long story, I know that it is high)
16gal
2 TBL citric
few prenatal
2 can tom paste
2 gal blackstrap
14lbs brown sugar
Aerated with drill mixer

Wash temp is at 86F but no fermentation
-stirred in DADY: nothing
-Correctly picted DADY: some bubbles but nothing to move bubbler
-Pitched 1118: nothing

Wash has been sitting overnight

I'm thinking that my temperature is to high, but it seems like 86-90 would be in the butterzone. Can anyone spot the error or recco a yeast that can take the heat?
Last edited by Red Rum on Tue Jul 14, 2015 9:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by smokineod »

I'd say the problem is in your specific gravity. I use bakers yeast and keep my temps around 80 and they do just fine. Water that thing down a bit and I bet it takes off. 1.2 SG is insanely high! That's dessert mead territory and they take months to ferment out.
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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by ranger_ric »

I am having some problems with fermenting this summer also.
Looking over your recipe all I can think of is your pH is too low. But that is a guess..
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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by frunobulax »

Dady yeast is probably the best for high temps. I found 86f to be best (actual wash/beer) temp during fermentation. Molasses doesn't usually give a krausen and if your fermenter isn't sealed good, your air lock won't bubble. Half of mine don't.
Give it a whiff and see if there is any Co2. Can ya water it down to lower the SG?. Also molasses has plenty of nutrients, the prenatals would have been plenty and the tomato paste probably just lowered your PH.
Last edited by frunobulax on Tue Jul 14, 2015 6:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by rad14701 »

I have issues with a member stating openly here in the forums that they will be supplying all of the booze for a large party... :problem: That kinda goes against our rules here... :idea: "Personal Consumption"...
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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by likker liker »

Two to many things off to get a good start. sg you know, temperature also. Add cold water to get sg down around 1.080 and adjust recipe or start over or make a yeast starter with distiller yeast and a little sugar, just a little sugar plus nutrition for yeast. Know you will have flavor issue to deal with, a lot of off flavors. I would suggest trying door #1 add water and adjust recipe posted at same time as rad
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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by heartcut »

You're getting good advice. Baker's yeast thrives at 80-95 degF, might be your go-to.
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Red Rum
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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by Red Rum »

Thanks for the quick replies,

I will water her down and see if that will kick start.

I've always just rehydrated yeast. Is this the correct process for full process?
2 Cups Bakers
95F water
2 TBLS white sugar
Put in blender for a few
Then dump?
Wait time?
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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by dieselduo »

I use DADY here in Fla. and seems to work good at temps above 80. Must be the SG
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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by likker liker »

Ok I'd like to start out with a follow up from what you stated.
personal consumption rule #6 does not mean that you can give out your product freely and then post it here!

With that said back to your issue.
Blender; never !!
Wait time; when it gets going really well, sometimes a day sometimes two days. I have always used / made a starter yes it's over kill but I've never had my fermentables not start in over 25 years
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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by DAD300 »

Rehydrate the yeast with water only...just put yeast in a jar of 80F water for a few hours. The sugar during rehyd will stress it.
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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by NZChris »

DAD300 wrote:Rehydrate the yeast with water only...just put yeast in a jar of 80F water for a few hours. The sugar during rehyd will stress it.
Hours??? Lavlin recommend 15 minutes for their 1118. You don't want to be starving it to death.

Read the yeast packet or look up the website for your yeast, Red Rum. For most yeasts I do 10 minutes in aerated water at 100-104F, then give it a feed of a spoonful of the wash.
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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by shadylane »

As the alcohol content of a wash goes up, the heat tolerance of the yeast goes down.
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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by likker liker »

DAD300 wrote:Rehydrate the yeast with water only...just put yeast in a jar of 80F water for a few hours. The sugar during rehyd will stress it.
Dad300
now I know you of all people know that not true and just a mith
simple logic. then whats the difference between a sugar starter or a sugar wash.
the instructions I was giving is for a fermentation that is stuck or has not started.
The conditions in this fermenter are off and yeast will not start or will be very slow so to start the yeasts in a different container is the fastest way to get it started
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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by shadylane »

I might be wrong but what I've heard is you rehydrate the yeast in water at 100f for 15 minutes
Then start feeding them in an aeriated starter. If you wait too long the yeast will begin to start to death.
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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by likker liker »

Yep that y you should give them a little sugar. They need it to live the sugar can be from malt If you have it, I wouldn't go buy malt for a starter because of the cost, just no need
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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by rad14701 »

The difference in sugar addition is whether you are simply rehydrating or creating a starter... With a starter you are feeding the yeast in the presence of oxygen so they can multiply into a larger colony... Rehydrating is simply waking the yeast up from their dormant state and if left without sugar or nutrients for a long enough time then autolysis will take place... This is why you rehydrate for only a short period of time...
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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by biker geek »

a trick I've used to cool overheated ferments is to put to fermenter in a bath of water with a tshirt(any cloth will work) fitted over the fermenter and into the liquid. It might go too low though. Just a water bath can drop about 5 degrees. For my beer ferments I am going to set up a refrig. with a Johnson controller.
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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by likker liker »

Absolutely, that reminds me of something that I tried but that will have to wait for another day.
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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by NZChris »

Red Rum wrote:... some bubbles but nothing to move bubbler ...
I'd be guessing that it is fermenting ok by now and you should be able to smell it working.

BTW, if you have any leaks, your bubbler won't bubble. Put honey or sugar syrup on any suspect seals. I just chuck a blanket over my fermenter. Ain't makin wine.
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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by Coyote »

TWO CUPS OF BAKERS YEAST FOR 16 GALLONS"????????

I use 1/2 oz for a 7 gallon ferment. Two cups would be nearly a pound :shock: of yeast.

With 6 fermenters running nearly full time / year around, I generally don't go through a pound
Of yeast in a year.

Your chasing some really foul off flavor tastes IMHO

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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by stilldistillin »

I threw a stinky bucket of s-05 outside a few days ago because I figured it was infected. Went hiking and boating the last few days... Temp has fluctuated between 15c and 31c (65f to 88f.) I checked on it today, its bulbing away like crazy. I would of figured in 31c (88f) weather, it was dead to rights... but nope. SG went from 1.065 to 1.04 in the last few days in those conditions. Didn't take temp of wash, but it felt like 33c (about 92f).. like warm water.

I couldn't tell you if it's still s-05 at this point, or some wild yeast infection. It smelt like stink when it started.
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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by Yummyrum »

Bakers yeast at just under 40deg C will make a nice tasty Rum ....start around 36 ish ...it will creep up to 40 during the run .
Best Rums are hot and fast ....slow and cold are so so :econfused: EC1118 is great in cold times but Rum lacks

SG needs to be lower . My all molasses washes ( no sugar added) I start at no higher that 1.120 Max so if you are doing sugar/molasses then you need to be down much lower....been a while since I did these but 1.100 would be a better starting point
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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by BoomTown »

Red Rum wrote:I am "forced" to do all fermentation in the garage, and here in the midwest we are in a heat wave. Fermentor is insulated but garage temps swing from 80-100+. Temps from fermentor are holding steady between 86-90
.... Can anyone spot the error or recco a yeast that can take the heat?
You never said, have you insulated your fermentors from the ground temperature? Seems to me that while ambient air temp seems optimal, if you're sitting your fermentors on a concrete floor, in a shaded environment like a garage, the bottom of your fermentor will match ground temperature, and as heat-goes-to-cold, your ferment might actually be below 70F for the bulk of your fluid....that will crash your ferment in a day or two...and is very puzzling.

Just a thought...
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Re: A yeast that can take the heat?

Post by DAD300 »

Here's the product sheet for DADY.

http://www.fermentis.com/wp-content/upl ... 6/DADY.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

"Re-Hydration method;
Re-hydrate in a stirred vessel prior to pitching. Sprinkle the dry yeast
into 10 times its own weight of water or wort at 35C ± 3C (80F ± 6F). When the yeast is
reconstituted into a cream (15 to 30 mins), continue to stir for another 30 minutes. The yeast
cream is then ready to pitch into the fermentation vessel"

It says a total of 45-60 minutes to rehydrate. 15-30 without stirring and 30 with in water or wort.

It is 94-96% pure yeast. The other 4% is what ever they were feeding the yeast during propagation. And there will also be dead yeast that didn't survive the drying.

Any way it is easy to test...rehydrate a table spoon for two hours and you will have more than a cup overflowing.

Baker's yeast is about the same. How about we say don't over feed it...during rehydration.
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