repitching yeast

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rightwingbrew

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I have brewed my first batch of brewers best american cream ale. its been 17 hours and I am not seeing any activity with the yeast. I want to know if I can repitch the yeast? Any help would be great! Really looking forward to many more batches in the future.
 
today is labor day and I am afraind that none of the stores will be open. how long can I go and still repitch?
 
today is labor day and I am afraind that none of the stores will be open. how long can I go and still repitch?

You can go 72 hours or so if you have to, but I would try to repitch at 36 hours if you have NO activity at all.

Tonight, I'd open the fermenter and inspect it to see if any foam at all is forming and if there is any bubbling at all. Or is it in a carboy, where you can see it? Sometimes signs of fermentation are very subtle, and it's happening even if it's not obvious. I would not worry at all if it took 24-36 hours to get going, unless you added the yeast when the wort was way too hot or used really old yeast!
 
I think that I might have pitched when the wort was still to warm. The thermometer had a reading of 76 to 78. I had hydrated the yeast and then pitched it then aerated the wort. I noticed that the temp went up alot. When I reptich the yeast can I just sprinkle it on the wort and then stir it up?
 
It is too soon to even begin to worry....after 72 hours is when you take a gravity reading and see what's going on. It's quite common for yeast to take 2-3 days to get going, it's called lag time.

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 means gravity reading

It IS a sticky at the top of the beginners forum for a reason, afterall. ;)

"Activity is irrevelent." Just gravity points on a hydrometer.
Airlock bubbling (or lack) and fermentation are not the same thing. You have to separate that from your mindset. Airlock bubbling can be a sign of fermentation, but not a good one, because the airlock will often blip or not blip for various other reasons...so it is a tenuous connection at best.

Fermentation is not always "dynamic," just because you don't SEE anything happening, doesn't mean that any-thing's wrong,, and also doesn't mean that the yeast are still not working diligently away, doing what they've been doing for over 4,000 years.

That's why you need to take a gravity reading to know how your fermentation is going, NOT go by airlocks, or size of krausen, or a calendar, the horoscope or the phases of the moon (those things in my mind are equally accurate). :rolleyes:

The most important tool you can use is a hydrometer. It's the only way you will truly know when your beer is ready...airlock bubbles and other things are faulty.

The only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in....

So wait til you hit the 72 hour mark THEN take a gravity reading. I predict that like 99.5% of ALL the threads like this, you will have a drop in gravity indicating fermentation is happening.

:mug:

I've been brewing for years and I've never had to repitch......and I doubt you will either....Modern yeast doesn't really not work anymore.....
 
Thanks to everyone for their great advice. I repitched the yeast yesterday and I have great activity this morning!
 
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