13 hours, no bubbles

Hi I pitched WLP005 (British Ale Yeast) into my wort, OG 1.042 (session bitter) and i'm not seeing anything, I even used a starter prepared 24 hours in advance per white lab's website.

How long should I wait with this yeast? Anyone use it before? Being a mead guy, I'm used to tons of bubbling when I wake up in the morning and look at my carboy.

Go to the beginners forum and read the sticky's, please. This has been covered at least 5,000 times.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/fermentation-can-take-24-72-hrs-show-visible-signs-43635/

This thread is of particular interest. Don't worry, it will likely be just fine!

sorry, feel free to delete I apologize

badmajon said:

sorry, feel free to delete I apologize

Click to expand...

No apology necessary! Its a very common question - comes up all the time. Its very hard to not get concerned when you see nothing happening!

I've been thinking about doing a mead, but I can't imagine waiting for a year or more to be able to drink it!

And don't forget, by visible signs, they don't mean airlock bubbling. Plenty of beers ferment with little or no airlock activity.
Read this for more info as well. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/stuck-fermentation-160919/#post1857328

Pappers said:

No apology necessary! Its a very common question - comes up all the time. Its very hard to not get concerned when you see nothing happening!

I've been thinking about doing a mead, but I can't imagine waiting for a year or more to be able to drink it!

Click to expand...

Not all of them take a year, I did a great one by adding 12 lbs grocery store honey to 3 gallons of water, added some ginger and a few cinnamon sticks, fermented with Premier Cuvee and in one month, I had mead that I was drinking. It was strong as sherry too, 18%. Look up Ken's Ginger Mead on this site.

40 hours, no gravity change or visible signs. Last time I buy liquid yeast in summer. I'll give it another day before dumping it... uninspiring first try with beer brewing.

Dpn't dump it!! If anything, repitch with another yeast.

badmajon said:

40 hours, no gravity change or visible signs. Last time I buy liquid yeast in summer. I'll give it another day before dumping it... uninspiring first try with beer brewing.

Click to expand...

40 hours is STILL not 72 hours, is it?

And I take it you didn't make a starter for it?
And why would you consider DUMPING the beer? After 72 hours you would simply add more yeast not dump the beer.

I did make a starter, just the way white labs told me to... but yeah I am going to wait 72 hours. Oh and I don't have any more yeast... rookie mistake I guess. The nearest lhbs is 100 miles away and shipping quickly from the online place would cost as much as two more whole batches.

No worries, it will be fine.

What temp is your wort at? If its lower than 70, you might raise it up to 70 or so, just until the fermentation starts.

If after 3 days, there is no sign of fermentation (krausen, bubbles, swirling yeast, CO2 venting, gravity change), then it is possible that, somewhere in the process, the yeast died. The next step would be to pitch a packet of Safale US-05 dry yeast into the wort. No starter needed.

But for now, patience is the best course of action, imho.

Thanks for your mead suggestion - what is the difference between meads that require long aging and those that don't?

The wort has been at a steady 70-71 since I pitched it the day before yesterday, so we'll see. However like I said repitching isn't an option b/c i am out of yeast and i have no lhbs. Next time i will definately try dry yeast. that's what i used for the meads.

regarding the meads, the more stuff you put in a mead, usually the earlier you can drink it b/c it covers up young flavors and sweeter mead is also imho more drinkable young.

ps. would re-areating the carboy hurt?

Have you even taken a followup gravity reading yet? If there's even the slightest fermentation happening then shaking up now is not a good thing.

Importantly, what did your starter do? Did you see signs of fermentation there? If you did, your yeast is fine and your brew will eventually go off. If your starter didn't show signs of fermentation, that MAY be a cause for concern. Yes, brews can take longer than you've experienced to show signs of fermentation, but IMO that would be unusual with a proper starter.

If you're using a bucket and the airlock is not moving, take a quick look inside for a krausen or krausen ring. Could be that you have a leaky lid seal. If using a carboy with a proper bung and good seal and there's no airlock activity, I'd personally believe it.

Edit: re-read and saw you're using a carboy.....starter question and statement stands!

Good news... about three hours ago I checked it and lo and behold, swirling movement. Now there is a good krausen building up! It started. Boy, I feel kinda silly now, but live and learn I guess. Now that it is fermenting, should I try to lower the wort temp to 68 or should I leave it at 71.5 for now?

if the wort temp is currently at 72 and it's just getting rolling, i'd personally try to control it a little before it really ramps up. you just don't want to plummet the temps on it, so go kinda slowly. if you can put your fermenter in a bath of water that's more or less your temp goal, that'll do the job.

BuzzCraft said:

if the wort temp is currently at 72 and it's just getting rolling, i'd personally try to control it a little before it really ramps up. you just don't want to plummet the temps on it, so go kinda slowly. if you can put your fermenter in a bath of water that's more or less your temp goal, that'll do the job.

Click to expand...

yeah, thats what I've done, put it in a big tupperware of water with a wet blanket over it and the fan blowing on it... i have to invest in a used fridge with an external temp controller. maybe for the next batch

Mid 60s is a good target. Lots of us use coolers full of water and frozen liter soda bottles to control temps.

And congrats on your beer!