No Activity after 8 Hrs.
 

I brewed my 3rd batch last night, an IPA. My yeast was an American Ale from Wyeast. The pack expanded while I was brewing and I thought all was OK. However when I went to pitch the yeast I saw that the activator hadn't popped. The little plastic bag had a big bulge in it. I went ahead and popped the activator and let it sit in the bag for a few minutes. It was pretty late, so I went ahead and pitched it in the carboy. I get up this morning and nothing is happening. The bottom of the carboy has what looks like the normal trub in it, but no fermentation. Any suggestions ??

Relax, have a homebrew. :)

Seriously...you should be ok. Just because you didn't burst the insides good enough doesn't mean that you won't get a ferment... just not active right off the bat. Leave it alone for a couple of days, that means no opening up your fermenter and peeking. The yeast just did not get fed off the start and need a little more time to get things going.

loop

Its hard to find that bulge in the Wyeast packets that they cliam you must break - how do you find it exactly? I kept smacking one around and it started to leak out of the top so now its ruined.

Shake it and you'll feel it. Trap it in a corner and smack it hard until you feel it break, then sh-sh-shake it like a Polaroid picture.

I had the same worry with my current brew. I used my first "smack-pack" It buldged up in a few hours and I pitched it right away. I didnt get a good fermentation for 36 hours. I hear 1-3 days to really get them rockin and rollin. Also try [itching at 75-80 degrees, and once fermentaiton is rolling, cool it down to 65-70 for the long haul.

~mix

Cheesefood has the best method of finding the inner pack. I do the same thing. I feel for the inner pack, push it to one end, and slap firmly. Works every time.

I have found that WYeast packs I get different expansion times. American Ale II seems to always swell within hours. My London Ale took a full day to swell, and no matter whether its hours or a full day, I have always had great sucess. In fact, the London Ale that took a full day to expand fermented more furious than any other Ale yeast Ive used so far.

I've had ferments start in 2 hours and as long as four days. Don't forget, in the first stage after pitching, the yeast is multiplying. As long as there is oxygen, the yeast will continue growing. It isn't until this growth cycle ends that the yeast shifts to making CO2.

I'm using Special London (#1968) for my Pumpkin. I thought I had smacked it last night, but appparently I didn't break the bulge. So I used my method (listed previously) and within 3 hours I had a bloated pack. I let it keep going. It's been about 13 hours and the thing is ready to burst.