To shake or not to shake

Had a few friends over for a brew day this past Saturday. I basically supervised them and let them do everything. I was present but not paying attention when the wort was aerating (I was focusing on the yeast and prepping the swamp cooler). My friend claimed to have aerated well so I went ahead a pitched the yeast. Almost 36hrs into the primary and no krausen yet. I'm afraid the wort wasn't adequately aerated. Any opinions on whether or not I shake the crap out of the fermenter to stimulate things? It was about 73F when I pitched and I put it in the swamp cooler immediately after (68F ish). I have since taken it out of the cooler to let it warm up a bit to get this going.

(WLP 029 / didn't have time to make a starter)

someone will post the link... it can take up to 72 hours for visible signs of fermentation.

you will be fine.

Arkador said:

someone will post the link... it can take up to 72 hours for visible signs of fermentation.

you will be fine.

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I'm very aware that it can take that long, I was just asking for some opinions about shaking the fermenter since I didn't actually witness the aeration of the wort. I've never shaken the fermenter after pitching so I have no clue if this is a good or a bad thing, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't aerated adequately. I plan on waiting the 72hrs before doing it, but would like to get some input/opinions on the matter.

shaking it at this point can do no harm... go for it.

Do you have an air stone?

My back likes the air stone trick as opposed to shaking the carboy. I don't think we can shake the carboy enough to get an appropriate level of O2 in solution.

Your only starving the yeasties in their critical growth stage.

jtrainer said:

Do you have an air stone?

My back likes the air stone trick as opposed to shaking the carboy. I don't think we can shake the carboy enough to get an appropriate level of O2 in solution.

Your only starving the yeasties in their critical growth stage.

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I wish I did. I'm on a soft layoff notice at the moment, so I can't afford to buy anything new for my growing hobby addiction. In fact, this will probably be my last brew day for quite a while. Applefein doesn't count. I have 2 gallons of that happily bubbling away as we speak.

Think I'll just shake the crap out of the fermenter as best as I can to get things going. Suppose it can't hurt anything (other than my back).

WLP029 is slow to get started. Since you didn't make a starter, just give it some more time and it should get going. The first time i used the Kolsch yeast, i was worried that it wasn't working in my starter, but it finally kicked off.

JMSetzler said:

WLP029 is slow to get started. Since you didn't make a starter, just give it some more time and it should get going. The first time i used the Kolsch yeast, i was worried that it wasn't working in my starter, but it finally kicked off.

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I was just doing some research on it and they said that it prefers to ferment under 70F (65-69F). I took the fermenter out of the swamp cooler last night to let it warm up some to kick start the yeast. Should I put it back in and just leave it alone? I had the fermenter at a steady 66-68F in the cooler. I think I got spoiled from the quick fermentation of WLP351. Pitched that in at 76F and it pretty much took off in a couple of hours.

Yup... don't fret it

Just called my brother to see what the OG ended up being (supposed to be in the neighborhood of 1.052) and it turned out to be 1.034. Ooops. Oh well...it's still gonna be beer. I hope. Never missed the mark by this much before. This should be an educational experience.

SmugMug said:

Just called my brother to see what the OG ended up being (supposed to be in the neighborhood of 1.052) and it turned out to be 1.034. Ooops. Oh well...it's still gonna be beer. I hope. Never missed the mark by this much before. This should be an educational experience.

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Sounds like you've learned to make a starter.... now go get more grain, re-do it and use the yeast cake from this batch...