How long should I wait to see evidence of fermentation?

I made a batch of Hefeweizen about 4 hours ago and have yet to see any evidence of fermentation. The recipe said that fermentation would be vigorous and would require a blowoff tube so I figured I should be seeing some action by now? A couple things to factor in that may have an affect are that I made a yeast starter in the carboy that I am using for fermentation so I poured the worst onto it before aerating it/adding cool water. Also I have accidently knocked over the glass that the blowoff tube is in several times allowing oxygen to get in. Lastly I did not thin to mark my carboy before adding the wort and so I had to estimate based off of research online how high 5 gallons should be. Could any of these things be causing a problem or do I just need to be more patient? I've also noticed that it looks fairly dark for a hefeweizen, an opaque brown almost like a gallon of arizona tea.

approximately what was the temp of the wort when you added the wort to the yeast? and four hours isn't nearly long enough. don't even think about panicking until 72 hours

4 hours is nothing. 12-24 hours is a good time frame, but may be even longer. In fact you don't really want 4 hours - this would mean you over pitched and may end up with fewer yeast-derived flavors.

read this i usually find my lag times to be from 2-8 hours, but it can take a lot longer than that.

aldubya said:

I made a batch of Hefeweizen about 4 hours ago and have yet to see any evidence of fermentation. The recipe said that fermentation would be vigorous and would require a blowoff tube so I figured I should be seeing some action by now? A couple things to factor in that may have an affect are that I made a yeast starter in the carboy that I am using for fermentation so I poured the worst onto it before aerating it/adding cool water. Also I have accidently knocked over the glass that the blowoff tube is in several times allowing oxygen to get in. Lastly I did not thin to mark my carboy before adding the wort and so I had to estimate based off of research online how high 5 gallons should be. Could any of these things be causing a problem or do I just need to be more patient? I've also noticed that it looks fairly dark for a hefeweizen, an opaque brown almost like a gallon of arizona tea.

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Get yourself some crime scene tape. Tape off the area where your fermentation bucket/bottle is at, and place a sign on it prohibiting anyone from coming into the area for one week. After the week is over, take a hydrometer reading. Everything before that (visible fermentation activity or none) is relatively meaningless.

Or, put a chair near your fermentation bucket/bottle. Every half an hour or so, come sit and watch it. Be one with your fermentation. Edit: It is "normal" for no visible signs of fermentation in the first 12-24 hours.

Edit: Myself, I'm between these two schools. I did a batch this morning and will check the temperature (see below) and see if I have the magic bubbles going. Whether there is (visible) activity or not, I will try to get a good nights sleep and check again in the morning.

Edit: Much more important is to know what temperature your fermentation vehicle is at, and to ensure it is in the proper range for the yeast being used.

akimbo78 said:

approximately what was the temp of the wort when you added the wort to the yeast? and four hours isn't nearly long enough. don't even think about panicking until 72 hours

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I don't know the exact temperature because I do not have a thermometer yet but the pot was cool to the touch and there was no steam coming off the top.

I've yet to ever witness one of my fermentations precisely for this reason. I feel it keeps me from freaking out. I don't even go in the basement to check my beer until at least two weeks.

aldubya said:

I don't know the exact temperature because I do not have a thermometer yet but the pot was cool to the touch and there was no steam coming off the top.

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Be careful you don't ferment at too high of a temperature. When the yeast eat sugar they produce alcohol, carbon dioxide, and HEAT. For instance, with something like S-05 yeast, I have found the beers taste better when fermented at 64-65 degrees than at 70 degrees.

Buy a thermometer and hydrometer. Temperature control and measuring specific gravity are two cheap ways to make better batches.

gcdowd said:

I've yet to ever witness one of my fermentations precisely for this reason. I feel it keeps me from freaking out. I don't even go in the basement to check my beer until at least two weeks.

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I've heard that when fermentation is going strong it's very cool to watch so for that reason I am interested in witnessing it. It's definitely going now with about a centimeter of krausen and and a bubble every 2 seconds or so. The recipe said that it would ferment violently so I figured it would be more active but maybe it will pick up?

aldubya said:

I've heard that when fermentation is going strong it's very cool to watch so for that reason I am interested in witnessing it. It's definitely going now with about a centimeter of krausen and and a bubble every 2 seconds or so. The recipe said that it would ferment violently so I figured it would be more active but maybe it will pick up?

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It is cool to watch. I just checked on my 2nd batch of brew last night and the krausen was about 2 inches thick and I could see a few leafs of hops(i didn't use a hop sock like I should have) swirling around really fast. Each bubble was coming through the fermentation lock about every 3-4 seconds.

That being said, I didn't have ANY action for 2 and a half days. I was super worried, but I realized it can generally take up to 72 hours to kick in to gear. Like all the veterans on the site will tell you, be patient.

Weizer said:

Like all the veterans on the site will tell you, be patient.

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+1
In fact there are entire threads on just that, waiting, being patient and RDWHAHB. (but then this being your first brew you can't quite do that just yet)

Hang in there, give it some time and report back how cool it is when your sipping on your concoction!

Hey! Its been 11 years. Did the fermentation finally start??

aldubya said:

I've heard that when fermentation is going strong it's very cool to watch so for that reason I am interested in witnessing it. It's definitely going now with about a centimeter of krausen and and a bubble every 2 seconds or so. The recipe said that it would ferment violently so I figured it would be more active but maybe it will pick up?

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I also observed this at my grandfather's. It's fascinating. Now I'm going to try it myself, I have everything for it. I will share my first steps.

francomay3 said:

Hey! Its been 11 years. Did the fermentation finally start??

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Yes it did, apparently. About 6 hours after he started the thread (at 4:58 pm)he wrote this (at 10:46pm):

aldubya said:

It's definitely going now with about a centimeter of krausen and and a bubble every 2 seconds or so.

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Patience is a virtue...