cold fermenting

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400d

400d

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hi there,

I have a batch of english bitter that I want to be as clean as possible, low in esters and quite hoppy...

that's why I pitched the nottingham yeast in cooled wort at 68 F, and then moved the fermenter in cool place where ambient temperature is 57 - 60 F.

I pitched the yeast some 20 hours ago and I still can't see any signs of fermentation (not even the signs of low krauzen forming...)

so, should I move it to a warmer place to get it started, and then store it in a cool room, or just wait with it where it is and hope it'll start?

It's quite cold, I know, but I read that nottingham is really resistant to low temperatures, and that it produces great clean ales at low temps....

but how low is too low for it to start?
 
I've used Nottingham in the upper 50s before with great success. More than likely, you just have to be patient. There's been some problems with the Nottingham label printing recently (causing slow starts and other issues), so I suppose you could have one of those. Check out the Notty threads to see if you have one of the affected batches.
 
Just remember, that no matter whether you are warm or cold fermenting your beer, https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/fermentation-can-take-24-72-hrs-show-visible-signs-43635/, and by visible signs we don't necessarily mean a bubbling airlock.
It IS a sticky at the top of the beginners forum for a reason, afterall. ;)

Wait 72 hours and take a hydro reading..

It's even more likely it is going to take longer to get going, the colder it is, the more sluggish the yeasts are going to be, as they are closest to their dormancy point.
 
Revvy said:
Just remember, that no matter whether you are warm or cold fermenting your beer, https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/fermentation-can-take-24-72-hrs-show-visible-signs-43635/, and by visible signs we don't necessarily mean a bubbling airlock.
It IS a sticky at the top of the beginners forum for a reason, afterall. ;)

Wait 72 hours and take a hydro reading..

It's even more likely it is going to take longer to get going, the colder it is, the more sluggish the yeasts are going to be, as they are closest to their dormancy point.
Click to expand...

I completely understand what you're trying to say. With all due respect to you Revvy, taking into account that I am really a newbie here. I just want to say that if you expect a storm in your area you're looking at the clouds, horizon, leaves on the trees, ants going north or south etc....

By now, I always knew the fermentation is coming - not only by the bubbles from the airlock, or krauzen forming on top of the beer, but by yeastie smell cloudiness of the wort, warmer carboy than ambient....

today I have none of these... If I have to make a comparison - I have a still smelly, backwater pond in comparison to a streamy clear water underground lake that is about to spring from the ground.....

That is why I posted. I always had other signs of fermentation than bubbles and krauzen, but today, nothing.....
 
Move it to a warmer location. 57 F is right at the lower end for Notty. Ambient air temperature is not the important temperature, it's the temperature of whatever it is sitting on. If it's a cold concrete floor, the wort temperature could be much lower than ambient. Heat transfers much more readily through solids and liquids than through air (that's why we cool with water rather than just leaving a fermenter sitting in the air). Don't know you have to ferment that low to get a clean beer from Notty.

Too late now, but you could have used a lower ester forming yeast such as 1056 or US-05.
 
Calder said:
Move it to a warmer location. 57 F is right at the lower end for Notty. Ambient air temperature is not the important temperature, it's the temperature of whatever it is sitting on. If it's a cold concrete floor, the wort temperature could be much lower than ambient. Heat transfers much more readily through solids and liquids than through air (that's why we cool with water rather than just leaving a fermenter sitting in the air). Don't know you have to ferment that low to get a clean beer from Notty.

Too late now, but you could have used a lower ester forming yeast such as 1056 or US-05.
Click to expand...

It's been more than 40 hours since I pitched the yeast. Still no signs of fermentation - I just pulled the sample and took a reading - it's my OG that I had after boiling, it's not changed....so now I have a proof that nothing is going on.....

I'm afraid a little bit that I might have notty from a bad batch.....

the fermenter is in a warmer place (64 F) for last 15 hours....

don't know what to do. I have a pack of US-05. Is it time to pitch new yeast, or should I wait more?
 
400d said:
don't know what to do. I have a pack of US-05. Is it time to pitch new yeast, or should I wait more?
Click to expand...

Well you shot down my answer last time, but I'll say it again, the reason we have Sticky that says fermentation can often take up to 72 hours to start, is BECAUSE, fermentation can often take up to 72 hours to start.....

You don't want to hear it, and keep asking....but that really is the answer. Sometimes it takes up to 3 days for fermentation to start....

Just because your OTHER beers acted in a certain way, doesn't mean ALL your beers will act the same way. When dealing with living micro-organisms, there's always a wild carb factor that comes into play. And therefore comparing one batch to another doesn't usually work. I've been brewing for years and the yeast never ceases to surprises me, but it has never let me down.

But the main point is that over and over, it has been shown that yeast can often take up to 72 hours to start.....

Your choice is to wait or not...but the simple fact is it can often take the yeast 72 hours to start.....The yeast don't know whether you are an experienced brewer or a newb looking for advice...they behave how they behave....
 
Revvy said:
Well you shot down my answer last time, but I'll say it again, the reason we have Sticky that says fermentation can often take up to 72 hours to start, is BECAUSE, fermentation can often take up to 72 hours to start.....

You don't want to hear it, and keep asking....but that really is the answer. Sometimes it takes up to 3 days for fermentation to start....

Just because your OTHER beers acted in a certain way, doesn't mean ALL your beers will act the same way. When dealing with living micro-organisms, there's always a wild carb factor that comes into play. And therefore comparing one batch to another doesn't usually work. I've been brewing for years and the yeast never ceases to surprises me, but it has never let me down.

But the main point is that over and over, it has been shown that yeast can often take up to 72 hours to start.....

Your choice is to wait or not...but the simple fact is it can often take the yeast 72 hours to start.....The yeast don't know whether you are an experienced brewer or a newb looking for advice...they behave how they behave....
Click to expand...

thanks Revvy, I'll just wait more

p.s. I didn't shot your answer down, I just said what I thought. no offence please....
 
just to let you know that it's been more than 80 hours and nothing started. gravity didn't change, so I pitched one pack of US-05 yeast.

After pitching the second yeast fermentation started in less than 2 hours.
 

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