Hour 25 and no fermentation

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itsernst

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So i just made the White House Honey Ale and it is sitting in primary currently but there is no activity. Recipe calls for Wyeast 1332, which and the ferm temps say they are 65-75F. I have it right around 64 right and there is no activity whatsoever. Being the first liquid yeast brew I have done, I proactively purchased some White Labs WLP041, Northwest Ale which seems like a similiar yeast strain. White labs says you don't need to create a starter with their yeast, however from searching this board I know it is very much a best practice.

I know 36 hours is the standard rule for allowing yeast to kick off, but do you think I could just pitch the white labs or should i get a starter ready? In addition, I am topped off at 5 Gallons right now, so what is the recommended starter size to create be? Would .5L with about 2oz of DME be acceptable?
 
All I ever use is white labs and never make a starter. I just pitch right out of the vial. And have never had any problems out of 12 carboys with liquid yeastI had issues with a high gravity boch and under pitched. But other than that. They all took about 36 hours.
 
I would always do a starter with liquid yeast but people have been fine without one. What is your OG? The higher the OG, the more yeast you would need, which would warrant a starter. In any event, you're not even close to the point where you should start worrying. Fermentation can take as long as 72 hours to show signs. But if you are looking for bubbles out of your airlock then stop right there. Airlocks are vents for CO2, not gauges for fermentation activity. The only way to know fermentation is occurring is to take a hydrometer reading.
 
How can you tell there is not fermentation taking place?.... What was your og? Have you take a hydrometer reading today? And last but not least "an airlock is not a fermentation indicator.

Sorry all the questions I have seen Revvy and many other members ask on similar threads. I figured I get the out of the way in one post.
 
Thanks for the replies. I couldn't sleep so I went and took a look at it and finally seeing some krausen around the bucket. OG was 1.061 just under what they stated, 1.062
 
You're fine. At day 3, then you can start to be worried. Though a starter will help alleviate this problem, as it helps prove viability and gets the yeasts primed for the big job ahead of them.

edit: if you have questions about yeast pitching rates/starter sizes, etc. go to mrmalty.com. There are lots of nice tools and a lot of good info there about our little buddies.
 
Check mrmalty.com and yeastcalc.com for information on making starters. At 1.061 you should use a pretty large starter. The lag time increases with the degree to which you underpitch.

The yeast will first reproduce to cell counts needed to ferment then do the fermentation.
 
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