Yeast problem, how long do I wait?

So I finished brewing my fourth beer last night and I think I killed my yeast or they were dead or something cause there is no activity. How long should I wait and should I throw out the batch or re pitch with fresh yeast? I am using a british ale yeast.

You know I hate being a noob.

Jon

Howdy,
It takes till the next day, or even two to get visably 'going.'
If I brew a batch at 3 am , it takes a day or even two,
till I can see foam on top of the wort.
I'd say don't worry, have a homebrew.

J. Knife

Yeast can take as much as 48 hours to complete their growth phase. It depends on the amount of yeast you pitch and how much oxygen is in the wort. Once they are done growing, they start making CO2 and alcohol. I never repitch before 48 hours.

recordsmith said:

So I finished brewing my fourth beer last night and I think I killed my yeast or they were dead or something cause there is no activity. How long should I wait and should I throw out the batch or re pitch with fresh yeast? I am using a british ale yeast.

You know I hate being a noob.

Jon

Click to expand...

Hey Jon,
Tell us just what you did... Did you aerate the wort? What temp was the wort when you pitched? How long has it been since you pitched? Dry or Liquid yeast? Did you make a starter? What was your OG?

If you pitched a vial of White Labs with little aeration and no starter it can take up to 24 hours or longer to see any results... Aeration and Starters are your friend!!!

The more info you can give us, the closer we can dial in on what may have happened...

mikey

Hey guys thanks for the responses. Here is what I did. Wyeast #1335 is the yeast that I used. I did Aerat but I did not use a starter. The tempeture might hae been a problem it was around 87 degrees. I pitched it yesturaday at about 5:30pm and the OG was 1.040.

I hope this helps. I guess I am just worried that the temp was to high.

thanks
Jon

I did the same thing. Temp was too high. Three days later the bubbling started. Beer turned out fine. I learned to get the temp down, and to not be ridged on when I did things. Oh, let the beer age some before drinking, flavors will blend.

lergnom

This os one of my peeves with brewers in a situation such as yourself...no starter and then you wonder what's wrong???

Here's a simple brewing rule #1: Don't brew unless your starter is good and active...PERIOD!!

recordsmith said:

Hey guys thanks for the responses. Here is what I did. Wyeast #1335 is the yeast that I used. I did Aerat but I did not use a starter. The tempeture might hae been a problem it was around 87 degrees. I pitched it yesturaday at about 5:30pm and the OG was 1.040.

I hope this helps. I guess I am just worried that the temp was to high.

thanks
Jon

Click to expand...

Hey again Jon,

That is a bit high, but not high enough to croak the yeasties... might shock them somewhat if they were much cooler than the wort... But Hell, I pitched my starter of WLP565 Saison I yeast today at around 85 F... but then I WANT this one to ferment that warm!!! All them good Belgian flavors... yummie

I would recommend making a starter though... it can be a PITA, but it really does help fermentation... here's a good article on why you should make one... I bought a magnetic stirrer after reading this one:

http://www.maltosefalcons.com/tech/MB_Raines_Guide_to_Yeast_Culturing.php

I aerate for a minimum of 30 minutes with a air pump and filtered 2 micron stone (I smoke too much to keep O2 nearby LOL)... I really think that aeration/oxygenation and making a healthy starter goes a LONG way towards making better beer!!!

I also use either Servomyces or WYeast Nutrient (and sometimes both) to make sure things go as fast and strong as they can... I love it but again YMMV and all that...

So any signs of activity yet???

later,
mikey

The batch I did Friday had nothing Saturday night.. I decided to wait until Sunday morning to re-pitch..... It was going nicely.

Update on the Saison I pitched at 85F... about 4 hours later and the krausen is beginning to form and the air lock is bubbling nicely... :rockin:

Starters are your friend!!!



later,
mikey

Well it is almost 11pm and no activity. I will be patient and wait till tomorrow. Now about the starter. I guess this is really the first time i have heard about using a starter. So i tried to go to the link above and it was not working, but I will do a search on starters to try it out next time. i will keep you posted tomorrow, here's to hopin'.

Thanks Jon

Seems the Maltose Falcons site is down... that's the first time I've ever hit their link and it didn't work... give it another try tomorrow

later,
mikey

Thanks again guys for all the help. I will use starters from now on. The yesties are finally working. All is well. Another question should I let it ferment for 7 days after it starts to bubble then rack or seven days from when I pitched. Or wait till it stops bubbling? Anyway thanks!
Jon