It's a yeast nutrient bought it at the local beer and wine hobby shop. I am concerned about my must temp its only at 60 degrees. It's sitting in my hallway it's a little cold in new england right now outdoor temp is low 60s. Should i be concerned about 60 degrees?
I rehydrated the yeast in 100 degree water then slowly poured it into a cup of must (same volume as the yeast) then sprinkled it over the top of must. Then I was told to let it sit on top for 20 hours then stir it in. what do you guys think?
I don't know what strain of yeast you are using.
I would say 60 F is going to be too low to "start" the fermentation. See if you can raise the temp to about 72F to get it started. Then you can lower the temp if needed. However, 60 is very cold, depending on the yeast, of course.
When you added the hydrated yeast to the cup of must, you should make sure they are each near the same temperature. It sounds like they might have been 30 or 40 degrees different. That is an issue and could have shocked the yeast. However, people do this all the time and somehow the yeast survive... just don't count on it
Also, you should have left the re-hydrated yeast on the cup of must for at least a couple of hours before you pitched it. That way they would already be eating away and acclimated to the must. Within a couple of hours, the starter would have been happily bubbling away, indicating the yeast were healthy. This lets you know ahead of time that the yeast are viable.
Check the SG and if it is not fermenting, warm it up, stir in some air, and give it another 12 hours. If it has not started by then, I'd get some more of the same strain of yeast and make another starter.
Typically you use a yeast energizer in the yeast starter and use a yeast nutrient later in the fermentation process. However, it would not have hurt anything up front.
