A "what if" question about fermtation never happening.

Hypothetically speaking, if i were to pitch yeast into the primary and everything was done right, and over the next 3 days there was no activity at all, meaning fermentation never took place, would it be possible to buy more yeast and salvage the beer to get it going or is it pretty much ruined if nothing happened?

A certain someone, we'll call him "Dad", made some beer for the first time, day after Thanksgiving, with me present. i made sure everything went the way it should have. He said he checked on it everyday since then including today and said there was no bubble action what so ever. NONE!!!! WTF!?!?

I know. Im puzzled. Maybe bad yeast? It was dry yeast. I think the regular ale yeast i believe.

For your info: Brewers Best Kit - American Amber
Everything was sanitized very well.
Kit was bought about 2-3 months ago. (Bad yeast maybe)

You could repitch but be sure fermentation just isn't slow to get going. What was the original gravity and what is it now? Are you fermenting in a cold place?

First, take a hydrometer reading. No bubbles does not mean no fermentation. Second, take a peek and see if there's a nice layer of Krausen on top (though it could be gone already if it was done last week). If there's krausen then your yeast is/has been working.

If your hydrometer reading says that you're still at or near the original gravity (OG) then you could in theory re-pitch if it's not some infection preventing your fermentation.

More than likely you'll find that you're somewhere near your expected final gravity (FG), and you'll be ready to bottle in a few days to a week.

"What if I don't have a hydrometer?" They're ~ $5 at your local home brew store (LHBS).

Yes the yeast was probably expired.

Did you rehydrate it and mix it in well? If you just throw dry yeast in on top of your wort it is possible it could just sit on top of the head and never submerge.

I actually had this happen to me a few weeks back, and took a hydrometer reading and still had the same reading from when I brewed it! Under the advice from the guys at austin homebrew (where I purchased the kit), I pitched some nottingham after rehydrating it, and viola! I had fermentation within 12 hrs. I had bad yeast in my kit (which AHB gave me a store credit to replace!). That beer is in bottles now, should be carbed in a week or two!

johnnyspade said:

You could repitch but be sure fermentation just isn't slow to get going. What was the original gravity and what is it now? Are you fermenting in a cold place?

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The basement was about 65 degrees and the hydrometer broke before we got a chance to use it. It was black friday and i wasnt heading out to buy one in the traffic. especially since the LHBS is about 45 min away.

kuelhof said:

I actually had this happen to me a few weeks back, and took a hydrometer reading and still had the same reading from when I brewed it! Under the advice from the guys at austin homebrew (where I purchased the kit), I pitched some nottingham after rehydrating it, and viola! I had fermentation within 12 hrs. I had bad yeast in my kit (which AHB gave me a store credit to replace!). That beer is in bottles now, should be carbed in a week or two!

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glad something good came out of it. happy to hear to salvaged the beer.

turns out, it was just a slow start. i guess the basement, which, when i lived home was around 60-64 degrees. i suppose thats what would do it eh?