Wyeast Bohemian Lager troubleshooting

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astroman

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I brewed my second lager on monday, but for lack of a temperature controller I was forced to use my fridge to control the fermentation temperature. It works okay, holding at between 9.5 and 10.5 degrees celsius, on the low end of the scale for the bohemian type yeast, but functional. Unfortunately, I wasn't thinking about temperature differences when I pitched the yeast and I subjected the yeast, which was between 20 and 25 degrees celsius, to a wort which was cooled to between 10 and 15 degrees.

It's been three days now, and I have seen no sign of active fermentation... did I thermally shock my yeast and kill it all, or is the lag time just extended by the cold temperatures? Can I pull the fermenter out of the fridge and keep it room temperature for a day or two to kick start the fermentation? I do not have a homebrew shop in the area, thus I can't just go out and buy a new package of yeast and re-pitch it at the correct temperature, I have to order all my yeast online.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I'm going on vacation on Saturday night and need to get this beer going before I leave!
 
10C is perfect. I also doubt you shocked the yeast to death. Perhaps you way under-pitched. Did you make a starter? It's a must for lagers and could cause a long lag. I wouldn't jack the temp up yet.
 
I did not make a starter... and am regretting it now. As stated, I'm new to brewing lager, and need to read up on it. I'm going to try to get my hands on a copy of "Brewing Lager Beer" by Greg Noonan, I'm sure that will help a lot. As for the beer, it looks like I'm just going to have to wait it out and hope for the best...
 
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