Add more yeast?

[JEM]

I just added rehydrated cider yeast to my pear wine must and realized the temperature was still close to 110! Yikes! How will I know if it i killed it?

If I wait 24 hours to see activity will I have to reheat my must (no campden here) to kill off any possible wild yeast?

Will it hurt to add more yeast (at the right temp this time) even if it’s a white wine yeast (I have no more cider yeast)?

 

[JEM]

And will reheating it hurt the nutrients, pectin enzyme or acids?

 

[franc1969]

You shouldn't reheat your must. Just add viable yeast. I would not wait, myself. This wasn't a short heat time, I am assuming that the yeast died while waiting for the large volume of must to cool. If it didn't die completely, I am not sure the colony size is going to be large enough, fast enough. I use wine yeast with most cider I have done. Don't know what you have - if you think the cider yeast might survive, use something without killer factor.
I am not sure why you heated at all, most people skipping any sulfite pitch yeast immediately upon pressing to avoid wild yeast, unless that is the goal. You may have set the pectin as well, and need to add lots of extra pectinase enzyme to counteract that. Add that now as well, works better with no or lower alcohol.

 

[Rice_Guy]

110 is on the high side/ dry yeast has already been shocked therefore have had a major stress. Like @franc1969 i would reinoculate, normally I would take a small portion of the juice in a quart jar and build a starter, but your post is old so everything has cooled down. ,,, An organic process note; a factory pasteurize cycle would be 150 F for 45 minutes. A low treatment might not have killed all the potential wild growth.

See a Lalemand tech person going through the best process for dry yeast. A Course on Wine: INDUSTRIAL WEBINARS by suppliers

 

[salcoco]

I would wait a few days 110 is not to hot if you view the protocol for hydrating yeast this is the nominal temp for the liquid.

 

[JEM]

This is only my second batch of wine and the learning curve is steep! Following a book recipe that states to heat between 125-135 for 5 mins if not adding campden.

So it was bubbling away last night which I would assume is active yeast. But this morning; nothing. Should I add more yeast at this point? I only have 1/2 a package of the same yeast or I have a white wine yeast.

 

[franc1969]

If you have the same yeast, use that. You don't say batch size, but I have not had an issue with adding a bit extra. For small batches I just put in the whole pack.of yeast, unless I have two to split it. Yeast is cheaper than a failed batch. I don't think I have paid over $4, most $1.25.

 

[JEM]

It's a 3 gallon recipe but the fermenter is full to the 5 gallon mark (I swear I followed the recipe). I added a whole package of yeast and I have a 1/2 package left (It's Thanksgiving and I won't be able to get more yeast until tomorrow). I am going to add the 1/2 package and see what happens. I'm hoping a don't ruin the batch. These were pears from our ancient pear tree in the yard...sentimental wine.

 

[JEM]

It's cider yeast and the package says up to 85 degrees....which is lower than wine yeast, correct?

 

[franc1969]

Temperature tolerance depends on the cider or wine yeast, there are charts. I use ScottLabs online catalog, it covers most yeasts that I use. It also is great for reading about what the adjuncts are for, what everything does, etc. Highly recommend downloading it as a reference.
Making sure I have enough nutrients tends to be more important to me than temp. I can't do much about temp. I doubt that you have ruined anything, just getting education! I am sure it will be fine, I just don't like to wait for things to work. I prefer to know that I am doing all that I can.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Following a book recipe that states to heat between 125-135 for 5 mins if not adding campden.

* if you look at a yeast chart you will note high temperatures for different yeast types as 20 to 35C/ 65 to 95F. This means that most of the yeast will stop functioning at that temperature, given enough time as a week a cultured yeast can be killed at the high limit. Your recipe would be pasteurizing the juice, that is knocking out enough wild growth that the commercial strain has an advantage similar to adding campden. Campden/ metabisulphite does not remove all organisms but gives the added type an advantage so it can dominate the fermentation. We can treat with campden > age the juice a week and still have enough residual yeast to start a wild fermentation or a bacterial infection in non inoculated juice.
* adding metabisulphite has another function besides giving the cultivated yeast an advantage. The free SO2 acts as an antioxidant on the finished wine/ peary. Not using meta will shorten how long your batch tastes good. If your goal is organic, most organic brands seem to use some sulphites. If the goal is allergy reduction I don’t see any choice but to accept the shelf life.
* commercial strains of yeast will produce SO2, it is part of their metabolism that lets them out compete microbes native to the juice.