Possibly stuck, possibly killed the yeast. ??

I took my kit over to my cousins on Saturday to do a brew at his.
All went to plan.

I left him with a digital thermometer and told him to pitch the yeast when the temperature was down to 20.
A few hours later, he called to say that when he put the yeast in, the temperature rose to 33.
I suspect the thermal probe was in a cold spot, and when he stirred in the yeast this agitated and equalised the temperature.
He said that he managed to cool it down to low 20's within an hour.

Now we are on Wednesday and he says that there's no activity from the airlock.
I've asked him to send me a picture of the wort this evening.

There could be a number of reasons why there's no activity from the airlock I suppose.

1. The vessel I lent him was one i'd inherited and it turns out that the hole for the bung was a bit big, I'd had to build up the bung with cling film, so maybe it's not air tight.

2. Maybe he didn't snap the lid on the vessel when he pitched the yeast, so it's not air tight.

3. Maybe 33 degrees did in fact kill the yeast.

Of course, if either one is the case, then there's potential to have ruined it, but considering it's only a few quid for another sachet of yeast, the only additional thing to lose from here on, is time itself.

Now in all honesty, in almost 30 years of brewing in one form or another, I've never lost one due to infection, and i've taken some real short cuts and made mistakes etc.
Based on this, I'm happy to proceed and see what he gets.

Until I see the pictures of the wort tonight, I'll not know the outcome, in the mean time, I'm wondering what your thoughts might be on this.

I think some yeasts would be okay at that temp as you can rehydrate

I am more likley to think the fermenter is not air tight

Can he see any signs on teh side walls which would suggest krausen.

How the hell did the temp rise to 33 after yeast was put in.. ??

If you have been homebrewing for 30 years you will know that you can't rely on an airlock to indicate the state of a fermentation. The seal between the FV and it's lid often leak and CO2 bypasses the airlock rendering the airlock next to useless.
So I suggest someone takes a peek, that's it, a peek/quick look, under the lid to see if there is a krausen formed (good sign) or if it is clear (bad sign). And don't post photos on here with the lid completely removed or you will have the 'don't remove the lid' police reprimanding you ;-)
Otherwise hope its going fine.

I'm hoping just an air leak. I did tell him to lift the bung out and peer inside to see if it had kraused. And to have a decent sniff see it it had a kick in the back of the head.
I should know more in an hour.

I don't think 33 is high enough to kill the yeast, it certainly wouldn't be too happy, but due to the fact that he got the temperature down pretty quickly I reckon it'll be fine.

He has a good crust and a kick in the back of his neck when he took a lung full of air. told him to seal the bung better if he can

Brill. :thumb:

Just a heads up, we bottled it late last night.
Initial tastings proved satisfactory indeed.

Bottled pretty clear too, probably the clearest one I've seen.