10 Gallon Fermentation Issue

Good evening all, I brewed 10 gallons of a blonde ale 4 days ago (Thursday 4/19) - I created a yeast starter the day before in a 1/2 gallon growler. The starter doubled in size and bubbled over once which let me know the yeast was good to go.

I put 5 gallons of the blonde ale into 2 buckets, one of those buckets had 8 ounces of Pomegranate juice in it (pomegranate blonde) the other bucket did not. I shook the growler well and poured half of it into each bucket at about 75 degrees. 4 days later, the one without the pomegranate hasn't started fermenting yet. I thought it was a bad seal on the airlock/o-ring in the lid but I changed airlocks and taped it so it is definitely sealed.

The non-pomegranate batch was the second pour from the growler (does the yeast float at the top?) or is the other one fermenting only because of the sugar from the pomegranate. Also what should I do? Pitch more yeast in there? The temperature has been steady and if one can ferment in it, I'd assume the other could. Any/all insights are appreciated. Thanks in advance!

4 days is a long time without fermentation with or without more accessible sugars. Was the wort thoroughly mixed prior to separating into 2 batches?

Even though you checked the airlock are you sure the bucket itself sealed properly?

I'd open it up and see if there is any evidence of krausen first.

Otherwise I'm not quite sure.....

next time you might try adding the juice after fermentation is complete. how do you know the one bucket is not fermenting? no bubbles? you might be losing CO2 from under the bucket lid. pry the lid off and have a look see if there are signs of fermentation, like a krausen.

I dont know if you have already dont this but I have had many batches where it appears there is no bubbling but a gravity reading is the ONLY real way to see if your beer has had any fermentation activity. Do this and if you find that there has been no activity I'de re-pitch some yeast. Hopefully its not too late and you did not get an infection. Good luck!

Wow thank you for all of the responses guys! I went out to buy another packet of yeast earlier because my local brew store is closed on Tuesdays. I watched the airlock for a while to be sure nothing was happening when I looked away, then I popped open the lid and there were signs of krausen. I double checked the temperature of the room again and pitched in another half pack of yeast (S-05) just to be safe.. It has been about 2 hours and the airlock is bubbling every minute or so now. I will post an update tomorrow, hopefully it picks up.

ksharpesays said:

Wow thank you for all of the responses guys! I went out to buy another packet of yeast earlier because my local brew store is closed on Tuesdays. I watched the airlock for a while to be sure nothing was happening when I looked away, then I popped open the lid and there were signs of krausen. I double checked the temperature of the room again and pitched in another half pack of yeast (S-05) just to be safe.. It has been about 2 hours and the airlock is bubbling every minute or so now. I will post an update tomorrow, hopefully it picks up.

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FYI and IMO, if there were signs of Krausen there was no need to pitch any additional yeast, it was just a matter of time.