Another "Fermentation has not started" question.

Yes, its another "oh no my Ferm has not started yet" question by a noob. I am looking at over 4 days now with no activity. Ordinarily I would not worry much and just except the slow start but I think this one may be self inflicted. When I got my ingredients from Midwest, the box said to put yeast in the fridge. Well, the wife was trying to be helpful and put it in the freezer. Its just the regular old dry yeast. Will this cause a slow start? Should I run to the LHBS and grab some more yeast and try to save the batch?

i keep an extra pack of dry yeast on hand always, but before you repitch i would take a gravity reading to see if it is fermenting. sometimes you can't really tell by looking at it. if it doesn't take off then new yeast is fine. if you sanitized everything correctly then i wouldn't worry too much. take the reading and repitch if you gotta.

+1. If you have a carboy and have seen no activity or evidence of Krausen, you might be able to worry. If it is in a plastic fermenter and you are going by airlock activity, don't. Take a look inside for krausen evidence. Could have a leak in the bucket, or it might have fermented when you weren't looking.(Yeasties are sly little devils) rycov is right, take a gravity reading if you don't find any evidence of fermentation.

Both rycov and bluemoose are giving great advice.
Hell, I've had a brain fart and put liquid yeast in the freezer overnight, and it turned out OK. Dry yeast in the freezer is not an issue.
If you threw the yeast in the wort cold, they may take a little longer to get started.
Gravity readings are the only way to truly know what's going on.

MCasper said:

Yes, its another "oh no my Ferm has not started yet" question by a noob. . . . . .

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Same answer, gravity readings and patience.

what type of dry yeast? i've had my safale 05 take 3-4 days to start showing signs if it's been in the freezer for awhile. i wouldn't' worry about it, take a 'drometer reading and see if it's dropped at all

It was just the Muntons yeast that came with the kit.

How bad can I screw something up to repitch if it does not need it?

MCasper said:

It was just the Muntons yeast that came with the kit.

How bad can I screw something up to repitch if it does not need it?

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Repitching shouldn't hurt it.

Repitch, if you're not sure on the yeast you can make a starter to ensure its good before pitching.

I don't know what you're brewing but if it's a regular ale, just throw a pack of Nottingham or US-05 in there. They come in 11g packs (~200 billion cells) which is plenty to make standard gravity beer. Just pour it in dry and watch it take off. The sooner the better! The longer you wait, the greater the risk of infection.

Did you take a gravity reading or look for Krausen activity as was suggested? I would do that before doing anything else. Otherwise, you are just guessing.

I put Nottingham in there yesterday.

A major part of the problem is that I lost my Brew notes and do not remember what the OG was. Maybe was drinking too much of the last batch during brew day. I got a new 'drometer today and it is looking at 1.011 gravity...so I'm thinking it was Fermenting and just didn't register in the airlock.