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dws111 · 09-04-2012, 02:36 AM

Me and my buddy were brewing the caribou slobber brown ale yesterday. After opening the dry yeast and adding it to the wort I noticed a pretty rotten smell. My buddy brought to my attention later that besides the few hours earlier that morning, he had not unpacked or refrigerated anything from the kit. I went to check on it tonight and the airlock wasn't bubbling at all. I've read that the airlock not bubbling 24 hours after isn't a huge concern but due to the other factors I've dealt with it worries me. Before this I had only brewed Irish red ale and didn't run into any of these concerns and it turned out great. I'm still learning and there's still a lot that I don't know so I'm worried that I ruined a whole batch.

Unibrow · 09-04-2012, 03:10 AM

Was the rotten smell coming from the yeast packet or the wort? And what kind of yeast was it? Did it have an exp date?

Everything is probably fine if you had a kit and followed the insturctions

dws111 · 09-04-2012, 03:30 AM

Thank you for your help.

The smell came from the yeast packet. The yeast is danstar windsor dry yeast. I didn't see any expiration date on it but didn't look for it because I didnt think much of it at first. My friend didn't tell me until a few hours later that he hadnt refrigerated it so the pack was long gone.

kh54s10 · 09-04-2012, 03:44 AM

I have used several yeasts that I thought smelled bad. I wouldn't say "rotten" but I really didn't like the smell. The beers were great.

Unless the yeast got really hot it should be fine.

I wouldn't worry about the fermentation for a few days. Your airlock might never bubble and your fermentation might be fine. Some fermentations do not create a lot of co2, you may have a leak letting it escape without going through the airlock.

Wait about 72 hours from pitching, then if you don't see any signs, like krausen or churning yeast, if you are using a carboy and can see the wort, take a gravity reading to see if anything is happening. Then you can decide what action to take. Maybe then pitching more yeast.

dws111 · 09-04-2012, 03:54 AM

I'm going to do exactly that. Thank you for your help!

RobertRGeorge · 09-04-2012, 04:00 AM

Although I would say that with a fresh pack of Danstar Windsor yeast you may very well have finished the fermentation in 72 hours. The stuff is really fast. It usually takes off in about 3 hours or so because it is active dried. And even if it has not been refrigerated for a while (maybe a week or more) it is probably ok. Do you see any signs of a fallen kreusen in the fermenter? A ring of dried brown scum on the walls of the vessel? If not I would be concerned, and pitch a fresh pack.

dws111 · 09-04-2012, 10:40 PM

Thanks for the response

Yes i checked this afternoon and the krausen has almost completely fallen and there is that ring of scum near the top of the fermenter. From what I can see (although the airlock still isnt bubbling) everything seems to be going normally.