When will fermentation start?

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Kmcogar

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So, it's been a while since I have not made a starter. I was strapped for time. (due to some things that came up) my brewing schedule got messed up. I realized Sunday that I had to brew Monday night to get my brew done by the date I originally intended it for. I smacked my wyeast Irish ale pack around 7am Monday morning. I came home.... The yeast pack was full......Brewed my peanut butter porter and pitched my yeast around 11. I woke up this morning to no activity whatsoever. I'm so used to my yeast starters going crazy in a few hours.

Although I'm sure I'm fine. But......it's ok right? Just pay me on the back and tell me "it's gonna be ok"
 
*also....why is there a difference between a yeast pack and a starter? More yeast cells? Or because the yeast has well......already started?
 
You're probably fine. Just taking some time for the yeast population to grow. Oxygenation, temperature, gravity, viability and other things will have an impact on lag time.

The smack pack isn't a starter because the pack isn't growing your cell count, simply waking your yeast up from their dormant state. A starter actually gives the yeast food and an environment to reproduce and build a population.
 
*also....why is there a difference between a yeast pack and a starter? More yeast cells? Or because the yeast has well......already started?

A yeast pack is nothing more than a certain qty of yeast and a nutrient pack. At date of manufacture they are to contain approximately 100B cells, however through shipping and time cells begin to die off decreasing overall viability of the pack. This is the reason why starters are highly recommended for all strains of liquid yeast. Even at a perfect 100B cells the average beer over 1.030 is still underpitched.

Visit: http://www.yeastcalc.com or http://www.mrmalty.com and plug in the numbers including the date on package and you will be able to see value of viability as well as proper pitching rate calculation for your batch gravity.
 
Kentunkel said:
You're probably fine. Just taking some time for the yeast population to grow. Oxygenation, temperature, gravity, viability and other things will have an impact on lag time.

The smack pack isn't a starter because the pack isn't growing your cell count, simply waking your yeast up from their dormant state. A starter actually gives the yeast food and an environment to reproduce and build a population.

Thanks. Just an FYI. I pitched at 78 degrees F. The gravity the 1.060. I use an aeration stone and pure oxygen for about 30 seconds.

The yeast was an older pack I needed to use up. I bought it in April. But the pack activated so I figured it was fine
 
duboman said:
A yeast pack is nothing more than a certain qty of yeast and a nutrient pack. At date of manufacture they are to contain approximately 100B cells, however through shipping and time cells begin to die off decreasing overall viability of the pack. This is the reason why starters are highly recommended for all strains of liquid yeast. Even at a perfect 100B cells the average beer over 1.030 is still underpitched.

Visit: http://www.yeastcalc.com or http://www.mrmalty.com and plug in the numbers including the date on package and you will be able to see value of viability as well as proper pitching rate calculation for your batch gravity.

Looks like I'll be digging in the trash when I get home.

Worst case scenario? Buy another yeast pack? How long should I wait?
 
Looks like I'll be digging in the trash when I get home.

Worst case scenario? Buy another yeast pack? How long should I wait?

According to Yeastcalc the viability of a pack from April 1st was only 10% so you severely under pitched and the yeast is definitely stressed. I would give it a solid 48 hours before considering any action. If you have a LHBS nearby you can certainly pick up a fresh pack, make a starter and pitch it at full krausen:)
 
Last week I pitched an older (mfg date of mid april) wyeast smack pack into a belgian dubbel with an OG of 1.060 without a starter. It took off after about 2 days. My LHBS Guru said as long as you're not much over 1.060 you don't need a starter.
 
grey487 said:
Last week I pitched an older (mfg date of mid april) wyeast smack pack into a belgian dubbel with an OG of 1.060 without a starter. It took off after about 2 days. My LHBS Guru said as long as you're not much over 1.060 you don't need a starter.

That's good to hear. I'm at work right now. So I guess I should get something done. Also help me get my mind off this brew.

It's my last brew session for about a year. Go figure.....
 
grey487 said:
Last week I pitched an older (mfg date of mid april) wyeast smack pack into a belgian dubbel with an OG of 1.060 without a starter. It took off after about 2 days. My LHBS Guru said as long as you're not much over 1.060 you don't need a starter.

IMHO your LHBS guru is not such a guru if he's not recommending starters with liquid yeast:D
 
I got home and I have some airlock action. I also have some krausen. Hell yes

image-4284916626.jpg
 
Last week I pitched an older (mfg date of mid april) wyeast smack pack into a belgian dubbel with an OG of 1.060 without a starter. It took off after about 2 days. My LHBS Guru said as long as you're not much over 1.060 you don't need a starter.

This info is accurate but I would still make a starter for anything close to 1.060 or over
 
* Update: my brew is going nuts now. Fermenting like crazy. A different krausen then usually but I'm sure it's all good.



image-3923746546.jpg
 
*update: krausen is gone. There's still action in the wort or I guess technically beer now. But it seems to be a fast fermentation.



image-2927104695.jpg
 
*update: krausen is gone. There's still action in the wort or I guess technically beer now. But it seems to be a fast fermentation.



View attachment 72870

It seemed to me that my dubbel did a rather quick fermentation also. I expected more airlock activity. However, its been in the primary now for 2 weeks and I pushed the lid down to release some vapors and it smelled amazing. I am going to take my first post fermentation gravity reading this weekend and figure out if it has stopped fermenting all together.
 
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