Possible fermentation/yeast issues.

I brewed a honey wheat yesterday and pitched at 81F using 1010 American WHT WYEAST slap pack. Unlike other brews I've done this one is lagging if doing anything at all. My last brew was a british brown ale with WYEAST 1945 pitched at 79F. It took forever to become active. Am I pitching at to high a temperature for yeast in general or could it be a dud slap pack? When I racked the BBA to secondary yesterday my readings indicated a FG of 1.020 adj and an ABV of 2.3%. Thanks for the help.

Two things , are you making a starter ? and whats the fermentation temps ? Starters are a good way to go to know if your yeast is viable. second is different yeast like different ferment temps. it should say on the pack.

Those temps do seem a little high, but if anything I would have imagined the yeast to take off with a bang in the warmer wort.. I would def try to stay in the lower half of the temp range listed on the packaging.

What temp is the yeast when you pitch approx? If it's cold from the fridge, could it be getting shocked?? Just a thought.

Did the slap pack swell fully?

If you are not making starters I would not be surprised to see no action for 2 or 3 days.

When you under pitch, the first thing the yeast do is to reproduce to numbers sufficient to ferment the beer. The higher the gravity the longer the lag time might be.

kh54s10 said:

If you are not making starters I would not be surprised to see no action for 2 or 3 days.

When you under pitch, the first thing the yeast do is to reproduce to numbers sufficient to ferment the beer. The higher the gravity the longer the lag time might be.

Click to expand...

This

agentEhrman: The yeast sat outside of the refrigerator for roughly 3 hours before pitching. I slapped it the day before and left it outside of my fridge to ensure viability. After it started to swell slightly I did place it back in the fridge until a few hours before brewing yesterday. I keep my home thermostat at 78F. Surprisingly thats cold in middle GA considering the 100+ days we are having. I did move the primary fermentor closer to an AC vent and dropped my thermostat 2 degrees. Would that also contribute to fermentation issues? What exactly do you mean by shocking yeast?

IFMracin: The slap pack did fully swell but took longer than previous packs. Packaging states full swell is not necessary for pitching. The manufactured date was May 24 2012 well within the time WYEAST states the yeast is viable.

kh54s10: Under pitching? I have yet to make a starter for any beers brewed. To date none had a recommendation for a starter. I am planning on purchasing a starter kit and making them for future beers regardless of OG.

BronxBrew: No yeast starters were made. Wort temps at pitching were average 80F on the last two brews.

mrward83 said:

What exactly do you mean by shocking yeast?

Click to expand...

Ever jump from a hot tub into a pool? Thats what shocking yeast would be like. Going from one temperature to another in a matter of seconds.

kh54s10 said:

If you are not making starters I would not be surprised to see no action for 2 or 3 days.

When you under pitch, the first thing the yeast do is to reproduce to numbers sufficient to ferment the beer. The higher the gravity the longer the lag time might be.

Click to expand...

Definitely this.

search for 'swamp cooler', 78F is too hot for anything not belgian. even then you should be pitching <70F