Pitch more yeast

It has been 48 hours with no fermentation activity in a wheat beer. Should I pitch more yeast? I ordered wyeast wheat online and fear heat may have zapped it during shipping. I thought about just pouring in another wheat smack pack.

Did the pack inflate???? If so, the yeast is fine.

Temperature is usually to blame for a slow start. Non-airtight fermenter is also a common culprit.

chanson16 said:

It has been 48 hours with no fermentation activity in a wheat beer. Should I pitch more yeast? I ordered wyeast wheat online and fear heat may have zapped it during shipping. I thought about just pouring in another wheat smack pack.

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Fermentation can take up to 72 hours to start.

Long lag time can be the result if under pitching, pitching too cold or hot, poor aeration.

If you we're not careful with any of the above you increased lag time which is also the growth phase:

Give it more time. Also, if unsure and using a bucket, take a gravity reading after 72 hours to see if the gravity changed, you could have a leaky seal in the kid and the gasses are escaping elsewhere.

I had the same issue with the wyeast american wheat. It took almost 3 days before it took off, but then it was fine. Give it another day.

Thanks for the quick responses. Just checked it again and there is some activity. I may have pitched it too warm and my gravity is fairly low so these could have been the issues contributing to a longer than normal start time.