Been 15 months....now I remember why I hated the 1st 72 hours

Haven't brewed in ~15 months. I had 3 different kits sitting around (8-9 months old) and finally decided I had the time to make a batch. Old LME + old grains + old dry yeast + cold house + plus no evidence of yeast starting = worried camper. And my JAOM (started yesterday too) isn't showing signs yet either.

Sorry everyone....just whining.

Did you do a yeast starter? The old lme & grains wont make a difference. What temp did you pitch at?

75F was the temp of the wort when I pitched. It was nottingham dry yeast. I followed the starter instructions on the pack: 100F water for 15 minutes. By the time I pitched the yeast & water had dropped to 80-85F but had not shown any signs of activity (which I think I've seen some sort of foaming before...but that was well over a year ago).

Anyways...I am not concerned yet. My original post was really just me whining (had a bad morning). I would have deleted the thread but I haven't found the delete thread thingy.

Was there a date on the yeast packet? If it was a bit old when you got it, it could've been in bad shape by the time you pitched.

Dry yeast should last about a year. He should be good if it was only 8-9 months old.

Hmmm....so its nearing 72 hours and absolutely no activity at all (no bubbles and nothing on the top of the wort). Do I just re-pitch with newer yeast (will buy some today)? Or is all hope lost?

Never used anything but dry yeast before. If this beer has a chance would I be better off with liquid yeast?

JoeBronco said:

Dry yeast should last about a year. He should be good if it was only 8-9 months old.

Click to expand...

Yeah, but kits often show up with yeast that's 8-9 months old already.

Eves said:

Hmmm....so its nearing 72 hours and absolutely no activity at all (no bubbles and nothing on the top of the wort). Do I just re-pitch with newer yeast (will buy some today)? Or is all hope lost?

Never used anything but dry yeast before. If this beer has a chance would I be better off with liquid yeast?

Click to expand...

If you use liquid, you're gong to want to make a starter with it. I'd just get new, fresh dry yeast and pitch it in if there's still no activity. If you come back from the LHBS and have activity, then you have an emergency packet of yeast for next time.

Oh, and take a hydrometer reading to make sure. The yeast could be working, but you might still not see visible activity.

ChshreCat said:

Yeah, but kits often show up with yeast that's 8-9 months old already.

Click to expand...

Good call, thats why i always go to my LHBS and get the freshest one...

Update:

So I finally found a LHBS that was actually on my way home (Romeoville, IL Brew and Grow...was open only a month last time I brewed), picked up some new dry yeast, pitched it the moment I got home (this was last Wed).

The next day I asked my wife while I was at work if the fermenter was bubbling, sadly she said no. When I got home the airlock was indeed quiet. I came back an hour later again it was quiet...then again quiet. Then finally I realized the airlock was out of water. So I filled it up. Immediately the airlock went nuts and most of the water was shot out of the airlock right away. So I filled it again. Then again.....this went on for a while.

I have one of those Cooper's 7+ gallon fermenters and only had a 5 gallon batch with plenty of space between the liquid level line and the lid. So I've never considered the need for a blow off tube. So I just put up with the constant need to re-fill the airlock all evening long. By the time I went to bed the airlock was still shooting out the water but much much slower. When morning came I filled it up once and left for work. When I came back hours later...had to fill it up. This went on til Saturday.

Never experienced anything like this before as far as I can remember. Maybe I just have a boring life but I was thought it was pretty exciting.


On a side note: My mead I started that same day that had been quiet (was beginning to worry me) happened to start with constant airlock activity about the same time the beer stopped blowing out all the water in the airlock. Its been steadily active ever since. So now I am a happy camper.

I'll remember to use fresh yeast every time in the future. Thanks everyone

I always go blow off tube for the first 3-5 days. I've had way too many batches blow foam out the airlock.