Need Help ASAP with inactive lager.

this is my first time making a lager and I pitched WLP830, didn't use a starter which I have found is my first strike, at 29C. I waited to see airlock activity and began to lager at 10-11C. Since I've dropped the temp I have seen no airlock activity. Is this because I only used one vial of yeast without a starter? If i let it sit in the primary a month or so will it ferment properly. Need to know what to do. I have a dry yeast (US-05) as a backup if I need it. I want to wait a week check the gravity and see if its lower, and repeat until FG is reached. My bock was at 1.086 and shooting for a final of 1.016. Any suggestions?

Take it back up to 15C until you see krausen start to form, then drop it back down to 10C.

okay I'll raise the temp to 15C. I have a primary I can't see into, so how can I tell when when enough Kruasen has formed I don't want to open the primary during fermentation if possible. Roughly how long should this take? If i see airlock activity resume is it safe to lower?

Thanks!

Can you peek through the airlock hole? That's what I do, plus shine a light at the side and see the thickness of the krausen since my primary lid is a PITA to get off.

Do not take it to 15C. Fermentation is optimum between 10-13C
Lager yeast are not nearly as active as ale yeast and you may not see any airlock activiy for quite a while.
You don't say when you pitched. You want to start it cold (below 10C ) then work your way up to 11 or 12C. There may not be much activity. The only sure way to tell if fermentation is happening is to do a gravity check. Leave it at 11C and check the gravity in a week, if it's at the FG leave it another 3 days

Or, if want to do a diacetyl rest, check the gravity Saturday, if it's at least 75% of final gravity raise the temp to about 17C for a week then slowly chill it to below 5C and close to 0C

You really need to research how to brew using lager yeast before you dive in and do it.

jetmac said:

Do not take it to 15C. Fermentation is optimum between 10-13C

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I disagree. Since he didn't make a starter, he needs to get his cell count up at the start of fermentation. 15C (~60F) will stress his yeast much less and throw fewer esters during the propagation phase. He does need to drop it back down as soon as fermentation is apparent.

A .086 lager without a starter is a lost cause anyways, you could use it for pancake syrup.

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wildwest450 said:

A .086 lager without a starter is a lost cause anyways, you could use it for pancake syrup.

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I missed the 1.086 part.

Yeah dude. Toss 2 packs of US-05 in there and ferment it out at 16C.

What's the gravity now?

a lost cause? wont it just take longer to ferment? I mean, the yeast isn't bad. I pitch the yeast (at 29C) and waited to see airlock activity. Once I saw that I brought it down to lager temperature. Since the yeast is viable won't it just take longer to work. I rose the temp to 13C (to see if i get airlock activity). I was also told by the LHBS that not making a starter was a mistake but if i did get airlock activity that it would be fine. Is checking the OG every 3 days or so to often for fear of contamination?

I was at 1.086 before adding the yeast(Tuesday night) the fermentation began Wednesday around noon @RT. I put the beer in the in fridge (set at 10C) when I got home from work at 5. Airlock activity was not present after 8pm.

Brounds24 said:

a lost cause? wont it just take longer to ferment? I mean, the yeast isn't bad. I pitch the yeast (at 29C) and waited to see airlock activity. Once I saw that I brought it down to lager temperature. Since the yeast is viable won't it just take longer to work. I rose the temp to 13C (to see if i get airlock activity). I was also told by the LHBS that not making a starter was a mistake but if i did get airlock activity that it would be fine. Is checking the OG every 3 days or so to often for fear of contamination?

I was at 1.086 before adding the yeast(Tuesday night) the fermentation began Wednesday around noon @RT. I put the beer in the in fridge (set at 10C) when I got home from work at 5. Airlock activity was not present after 8pm.

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It might take off, but it might not. Underpitching that severely might mean that the yeast will be so stressed that even if it does ferment it will create some off flavors. Fermenting lager yeast at a higher temperature tends to create some esters and sulfur besides.

I would check the SG. If it's dropped, I'd leave it alone and keep it at the correct temperature. If it has not, I'd repitch with a better quantity of lager yeast- probably about 6 packages without a starter. If I didn't want to do that due to the expense, I'd go ahead and use the ale yeast and keep it in the mid 60s.