4traindays

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I brewed a dubbel the other day, pitched wyyeast Belgium liquid yeast, after the smack pack had started to inflate, waited 24 hours, and no signs of fermentation. Had a pack of safale a-04 in the fridge is case of a situation like this. Pitched it and its looking good. My question is will I still get a traditional Belgium style beer with this yeast? Thanks!

peterj

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Yeasts can take longer than 24 hours to show signs of fermentation, especially if you didn't make a starter. The lag time between pitching and the start of fermentation is when the yeast reproduce and increase their population to a size that is big enough to consume all of the sugars in the wort. So if they are starting with a lower population then they should have, it will take them longer to multiply to the right population. You basically just used a mixture of the two yeasts so you will get a mixture of Belgian and English characteristics. I'm sure it will taste just fine, but maybe not as Belgiany as you might have hoped.

Suggestions for next time:
1. Make a starter when using liquid yeast according to this calculator: http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html. This will decrease the lag time and won't stress the yeast and cause them to produce off flavors due to under-pitching.
2. Be patient and wait at least 36-48 hours before you start worrying about your beer not fermenting.

AmandaK

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So you pitched a smack pack with no starter into a higher gravity beer and didn't see signs of fermentation? I would expect lag time for that situation to be around 48 hours.

Safale S-04 (a-04 isn't a yeast name that I'm aware of) will not give you a Belgian beer. It is an English strain.

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bknifefight

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My first suggestion: calm down. Instead of getting worked up that something isnt going exactly as expected, and adding more yeast, you should stop and ask questions first.

My second suggestion: if you are going to use liquid yeasts, start making starters and pay attention to suggested pitching rates.

To answer your question: There is no way for us to know which yeast took hold and is now fermenting your beer. If it was the Belgian, then your beer will be Belgian, if the SA-04, then your beer will not be Belgian.

One more thing, say Belgian, not Belgium. You wouldnt say you are making a Germany Heferweizen, would you? England Porter? No, GERMAN, ENGLISH, BELGIAN.

4traindays

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Thanks for the replies, and the always appreciated English lesson! Two for one I guess. This was my first experience with liquid yeast, thought it might take off like the dry yeasts I've used in the past. Obviously more patience is needed.