Chimay no activity

Pitched 1.5qt WLP500 starter 22 hrs ago with no activity yet. According to AHB kit instructions if no activity after 24 remove lid and stir. So I did that. This is an extract kit, OG was 1.089 which is right on.
I have an extra vial of WLP500(I bought the double pitch option but opted to make starter).
I've read some yeasts take longer to work but just want to make sure I taking right precautions.
How long should I wait to take corrective actions if needed and what actions should be taken?

Thanks!!

That's a big beer!
Hopefully the starter was nice and active before you threw it in, and hopefully you aerated the wort very well (pure O2 would be best for that OG).
I also hope and assume you didn't pitch the yeast at a high temperature.
If you did all that, you should have activity within 24 hours.

Otherwise, I still wouldn't get too worried until 72 hours have passed with no activity.

If that's the case, I'd then make a new starter with your additional vial of yeast, and re-aerate the wort well. Pitch and re-commence trying to be patient.

Thanks wolfman!! I made the starter a couple days before and put in the fridge. I took it out and decanted on brew day and let it come to room temp swirled and pitched into 72 degree wort.
I will try to be patient and I'll take your advice about the 72 hrs.

Thanks again!!

Just checked it out. It's been about 32 hours and no signs. No krausen, no airlock activity.
If the yeast is working should there be krausen forming?

I'd pitch the other vial. Or make another starter & pitch that, but that'll take longer. You want to get fermentation started ASAP before baddies take hold...

Have you used a stir plate on the 1st starter?

What's the temperature of the fermenting bucket/carboy?

No stir plate for the starter just shaking. Right now temp on bucket is 68.
Make new starter or pitch other vial?
Or something else?

Have you taken the starter straight from the refrigerator into the wort? (a thermal shock would have killed some)

what the vial best date?

I let the starter come up to room temp
And the best by date on yeast is 12/24/12

You should be fine. you used extract, right? So you most likely don't need to worry about the success of your mesh....

What has your starter OG?

have you tried shaking the fermenter? Maybe the yeast has sunk and it dormant...

I heard of people getting action immediately after repitching (which would mean lag phase never happed) but in reality it was the shaking that jump started it.

I stirred it last night pretty good
OG was 1.089
Repitch the one vial I have of WLP500 or make another starter and repitch

Not sure what starter OG was. I used 1500 ml water/ 150g DME

I stirred it up past night pretty good and I just brought it upstairs since the temp was falling to 66 on the fermenter

Was there activity in your starter?

I did the same thing (make starter and refrigerate) for my batch this past weekend. After 4 hours of no activity post pitching and seeing things settling on the bottom I swirled the fermenter and IMMEDIATELY it foamed up and shot a bunch of crap out of the blowoff tube. It was the craziest fermentation start ive ever seen

I had th starter sit for 24hrs. There was a nice yeast cake on the bottom before I put in the fridge.
It's been 30+ hours and nothing yet. Shook it real good before I left for work.
I'll check it after work.
Is it too soon to take a gravity reading to see if it dropper at all?

My plan is to check gravity after work. If its coming down I will let it ride. If not I'm going to pitch my xtra vial of WLP500. Is this reasonable?

Thanks everyone

Sounds like a plan... Shake it again also

If you've seen no activity, then I doubt there's been much change in gravity. It can't hurt I guess, and will reaffirm what your eyes are telling you, but may not be necessary.

Also, if just going to pitch the vial, make sure you let it warm up to room temp prior to pitching & shake the hell out of it...

Checked gravity still at OG.
I just pitched the other vial. Hope it starts

This yeast is a slow starter, make sure to give it a good shake, oxygen is important for this brew too. Shake it until it starts everytime you check.

I doubt the issue is yeast volume but rather insufficient dissolved oxygen plus a slow moving strain. Give it some time and leave it alone. You have pitched more than enough cells.

This morning I noticed a slight bulge in to bucket lid and if I push on it I get airlock bubbles. So it must be finally starting to take off

I would say just wait and see. Patience is a virtue. Just had a brew that we made and it was around 40 hours after pitching that fermentation started. And when it did it went crazy. So, keep a close eye on the airlock and make sure you won't need a blowoff. That's a high of, so when it finally gets going it might overtake your airlock.

I put a blow off on from the start so I don't run into problems. Hope it's going good when I get home

She's bubbling away like crazy. Thanks everyone for the tips!!

Thanks again!!

Update. It has been fermenting for 7 days. Went from 1.089 to 1.024. Needs to get get down a little more to 1.017. I'm going to leave it in primary for at least another week before I transfer to secondary. Sound good?

For a gravity of that size, I'd leave for at least 3 weeks before transferring. Give the yeast plenty of time to clean it up. If you move it too soon, you risk losing attenuation & cleanup of byproducts.

Sounds great, cheers! 🍻 I think it will be a couple of months until it maturates...

I brewed mine chimay blue here. The 2L wlp500 starter was on the stir plate for some 50 hours, I pitched it in Sun night and by Monday afternoon it had already blown off the hose I had in there....

But I messed up the crush, it was the first time with the new Cereal Killer I got and I got a lousy 35% efficiency, ie my OG was way off...

35% efficiency?? Won't be much of a Chimay Blue clone! It'll still be beer & plenty drinkable, I'm sure - and that's all that matters in the end. Like a small table beer from the monasteries of days gone by....

jmd1971 said:

35% efficiency?? Won't be much of a Chimay Blue clone! It'll still be beer & plenty drinkable, I'm sure - and that's all that matters in the end. Like a small table beer from the monasteries of days gone by....

Click to expand...

yeah, it will come in at 4-4.5%... should've checked the mill setting.... never mind, this will be ready quicker, and I still have the ingredients for another batch next weekend...

So your saying 3 weeks in primary. Sounds good to me. How long should I keep in secondary?

I'd probably leave another 2-3 weeks but really all depends on gravity readings. Once it reaches the desired FG, I'd leave another few days & bottle/keg. Just my opinion....

Keep it in primary until it's done! Chimay can take a while to floc out. I secondary for 3 weeks or so. After 1 week I start dropping the temp a couple degrees a day to help out. Might not be so critical with a dubbel.

5 days ago gravity was at 1.024. Today it's at 1.022.
Is it normal to drop really slow near the end of fermentation?
Recipe calls for gravity to be at 1.017

Thanks everyone

Nikeirons said:

5 days ago gravity was at 1.024. Today it's at 1.022.
Is it normal to drop really slow near the end of fermentation?
Recipe calls for gravity to be at 1.017

Thanks everyone

Click to expand...

Yes, some strains take awhile to chew down those last several points

How's brew going? I'm currently brewing a partial mash AHB Chimay Blue.

The brew is coming great. Bottled it last week. When I sampled it it tasted great just a little strong which should mellow. How is yours?

Tasted it 11-1 when I brewed it and it tasted good. The fermentation is going crazy had to put on a blowoff tube. It's at about 67 degress but I'm thinking about putting it by my water heater for a temp of around 75 today. Seems that gradually ramping up the temp. is the way to go for this brew.