24 hours, no fermentation [Thermal Shock and WLP051??]

I brewed a 5 gal batch of Honey Brown Ale yesterday with Bottled Water. Im using the pitchable liquid WLP051 without having made a starter. I left it out for a good 6 hours to warm up prior to use.

Anyways, I cooled the wort to 80 degrees and pitched my yeast into it. Then i poured it into the carboy. Stupid me, i didn't realize that i left the bottled water on my porch which was probably 60 degrees and poured it into the carboy. The temperature was 65 degrees when i did the gravity reading.

Did dumping the cold water into the carboy shock my yeast? I checked today and there was a large layer of sediment on the bottom of the carboy. I stirred it, and the temp is still 65 degrees.

Should i be worried?

You probably shocked the yeast, but it will recover. Give it another 48 hours.

You may have shocked the yeast, but 24 hours is typically the minimum time it takes for my ferments to take off, patience is key in brewing.

It will be fine. I'll bet by tomorrow this time it will be bubbling away happily. Did that honey brown actually contain honey or is that just a name? A lot of honey can slow a yeast down a bit.

Took 36 hours before I saw any activity using WLP300... I did the same as you and didn't make a starter.

You'll probably be fine, keep this thread updated though. I'm interested to know when it starts and how long it takes to ferment.

Yeah, starting in the mid 60s will stun the yeast for awhile, but they'll recover. Absolutely nothing to worry about for the first 2-3 days. If it's still inactive, pitch another vial.

seefresh said:

Took 36 hours before I saw any activity using WLP300... I did the same as you and didn't make a starter.

You'll probably be fine, keep this thread updated though. I'm interested to know when it starts and how long it takes to ferment.

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I just pitched some WLP380 on Sat and didn't see the activity till Sunday night. Now it's really taking off. I think you'll be fine.

Yeah, the recipe has 1.5 lbs of honey in it. I didn't realize that could actually slow it down. I think i'm going to wait and see what happens. If all goes well, i'm going to wash and reuse the yeast from this batch for future use.

OK, it's been 48 hours and no activity in the airlock.

Eureka! At 5 today when i got home from work i checked the carboy. We have yeast! It was bubbling away, although not as furiously as my last batch with Windsor Dry Ale Yeast. From what i've read on this board it's a common thing since liquid yeast has a lower cell count.

The SG of this beer was 1.065, so we'll see how the ferment goes. I hope i can get this one down to 1.014. My last two batches ended at 1.02 and 1.024.

I used a vial of WLP051 pitched directly (with no starter) into an all grain IPA OG 1.058 and it took exactly 50 hours to show any sings of life. It's bubblin' away now but I was sure worried for a few days. I'm very thankful to all the posts about slow starts and the advice to not get worried. I've been brewing for 3+ years and never had such a slow start.

This is typical for WLP yeast. This is why I switched to dry yeast, no starters and no lag.

I would say tentative +1 to the above statement. Although, there are many special circumstances where liquid yeast is needed to impart certain characteristics.

I've been using Nottingham ale yeast almost exclusively for the past 6 months (about 10 batches) with no problems. Always quick to start and tears my typical ale worts apart in a day or so, whether I use 1 or 2 packets, re-hydrated or not. I'm branching out using this WLP051 since the new Surf Brewery just opened here in town and they had it in stock in their homebrew shop. I certainly learned my lesson and will always make starters with liquid yeast from now on - just to save the stress of that initial 50 hours of watching and waiting.

All that being said, I'll probably pitch my next batch right on top of this yeast cake to get my money out of it.