hefe weirdness

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mjm76

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brewed a hefeweizen on Friday 12/15. No real yeast activity that I can tell yet. I have seen a couple of bubbles randomly in the airlock but nothing to speak of. It also has developed some white floaties on the surface. I have been told these could be yeast colonies but they have not grown much in two days since they appeared. Maybe I am being overly worried but they appear moldlike to me. The yeast (wyeast weinstephan was pitched around 80F and the temperature is around 68F......should I toss it or repitch yeast or just keep waiting.
 
I would still wait, as I said before. I've seen this in the past. If it would make you feel better about the issue, you could re-pitch with the same yeast---it certainly wouldn't hurt anything. Again, this is why I make a starter for these things.

If you don't see hyphae, or fruiting bodies, I doubt it's mold, although without a picture, I can't make an ultimate decision.

As long as your sanitizing practices were ok, I doubt you have anything to worry about, even at this stage.

--Matt
 
That said, I've NEVER encountered mold. . .

EVER.

Think how long it takes for bread to grow mold.

Usually longer than 3 days, right??

The same species will invade beer, and at the same rate.

I think you are just in the log phase of yeast growth.
As I said before, I had a fermentation that took almost a week to start.


I doubt I'm wrong, although its possible. (no guarantees here)
 
We shall see.....I can say it is a pretty unnerving experience. I think I will be going with starters from here on out.
 
They don't realy have hyphae as I am familiar with. I would be looking for little tentacle like growth hanging down into the liquid. Like I said it is very unnerving....all these gnarly little islands and very few bubbles.
 
mjm76 said:
it fluctuates between 63-68F

Yeah, that's perfect for the Weihenstephan strain.


Like I said, if it makes you feel better (don't worry, I've done this several times), pitch again with the same yeast.


Remember your yeast is probably going at it. Your yeast will obey the law of competitive inhibition, and the numbers you pitched will far outweigh the numbers of bacteria.

A starter will increase your numbers and alleviate your fears, but you are probably OK.
 
You said you pitched from 80F and the temperature, I'll assume the wort, was 68F. I'm a beginner, but do you think you might have shocked the yeast????
 
That is always a possibility. I'm a beginner too, so I was hoping somebody else may have seen something like this and could give me some insight.
 
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