Wyeast 1272 slow starting for anyone else?

This is now my second run-in with this yeast strain, and I'm seeing the same warning signs as I saw the first go round. The first time I actually used the WLP equivalent, but I assume they are similar. I brewed a pale ale with the WLP first, and made a starter for it. I didn't see any activity in the starter for 3-4 days prior to brewing. I brewed the wort to spec and tossed in the starter anyways, figuring that if I didn't see any signs of fermentation within the first few days, I'd go grab a vial of 001 from the LBHS and salvage at least a drinkable beer. Well, it took nearly three days to start to ferment and it was very slow going. The end product was drinkable, but had a noticeable pungent "noble hop" scent to it (I added only fruity American hops), almost sulphury. I looked up the flaw, but I can't remember the culprit at the moment. I'm almost certain it wasn't infected.

Two days ago I whipped up another starter to pitch into a blonde ale on Saturday. I removed the pack from the fridge, smacked it and noted a noticeable swell by the time I pitched to the starter. Now, 36 hours later, not a peep from the starter. I'm experiencing deja vu, and I've purchased consdierable hops for this recipe (not characteristic of a blonde, I know). I don't want to waste them on a sub par beer.

Has anyone else run into this scenerio? Is it the yeast? Anyone with more experience with this yeast care to shed some light?

Did you get your wort temp down before pitching the yeast, if not you could have shocked them causing a delayed reaction? What temp are you fermenting at...basically I would assume it has more to do with temperature than anything else.

SD-SLIM said:

Did you get your wort temp down before pitching the yeast, if not you could have shocked them causing a delayed reaction? What temp are you fermenting at...basically I would assume it has more to do with temperature than anything else.

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That may be one explanation. I got the wort down with an ice bath, but I wouldn't say that I got it down to fermentation temp.

Will shocked yeast perform poorly like I saw the first time? Should I pitch something else?

Many people don't see activity in the starter. You can tell by yeast at the bottom, taste, smell & hydrometer readings. Some well regarded brewers pitch cold yeast/starters direct from fridge into wort and have no issues at all. It's not my normal practice but I have done the cold pitch and it worked fine. Pitching into warm wort should have shown a faster start with possible esters from an already fruity yeast.

It is a slow fermenting strain - patience grasshopper.

samc said:

Many people don't see activity in the starter. You can tell by yeast at the bottom, taste, smell & hydrometer readings. Some well regarded brewers pitch cold yeast/starters direct from fridge into wort and have no issues at all. It's not my normal practice but I have done the cold pitch and it worked fine. Pitching into warm wort should have shown a faster start with possible esters from an already fruity yeast.

It is a slow fermenting strain - patience grasshopper.

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I was actually wondering this, and planning on tasting the starter wort right before I pitched. No krausen, couldn't tell if the airlock activity was from me rousing the yeast bed constantly. Thanks, I feel better.

Try swirling the starter (if its not on a stir plate) and if its going you should see some white krausen appear briefly. I use 1272 exclusively for my american ales and I dont really notice a slow lag time. I think the cuprit, as mentioned above, is the temperature. I like to pitch a little colder than my intended ferm temp and let the fermentation raise it to where I would like. Just be patient. Just let the beer go for a week and take a hydrometer sample to see how things are progressing before you do anything

coypoo said:

Try swirling the starter (if its not on a stir plate) and if its going you should see some white krausen appear briefly. I use 1272 exclusively for my american ales and I dont really notice a slow lag time. I think the cuprit, as mentioned above, is the temperature. I like to pitch a little colder than my intended ferm temp and let the fermentation raise it to where I would like. Just be patient. Just let the beer go for a week and take a hydrometer sample to see how things are progressing before you do anything

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I've noticed this several times. It must be churning away, ninja-style.

Daparish said:

I've noticed this several times. It must be churning away, ninja-style.

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lol, I suppose. It's a really good yeast though

So, pitched on Saturday. The fermenter is currently churning away at 66 degrees and the airlock smells great. Thanks for all the kind words of encouragement.

I used this strain a couple months ago on a Diamond Knot IPA clone. I pitched 2 pkgs into 66^ wort. It may have taken a bit longer to get going, I usually wake up to a full kreusen on a batch I pitched the night before and it was later in the morning/early after noon when this guy started churning. But it took off just fine and brewed a great beer. Really let the hops shine thru and gave a nice clean malt flavor. I'd brewed the DK IPA clone a few times before using notty, and it was good beer, but I'll definitely use the 1272 again next time I order that kit.

I use 1056 a lot and the 1272 has a much cleaner fermentation than the 1056. I am fermenting with 1272 right now and had a very fast start, 2" krausen at 6 hours. I pitched this one a bit warmer than I usually do because I was lazy. Pitched at 72 and fermenting now at 68, usually I try to pitch at 66 for a 68 ferment. My smack pack inflated in 4 hrs and the starter had thin krausen and foamed up like crazy when swirled. The beer is a 1.056 OG pale and will sit on the cake in primary for 3 weeks. It appears most of the active fermentation was done in about 4 days. This is my second beer with 1272, the first one seemed to display the slower ferment traits that you mention here, but I also fermented that beer at 62 degrees.

Wlp051 is one of my go-to yeasts for APAs, IPAs, american wheats, etc. I find that it adds a nice, subtle but complex fruitiness, especially after conditioning for a while. It can be a nice change of pace from 001. I usually see slightly longer lag times with it, but once it gets going it really goes!

Anyway, I wouldn't worry - I'm sure you're fine.

Daparish said:

Two days ago I whipped up another starter to pitch into a blonde ale on Saturday. I removed the pack from the fridge, smacked it and noted a noticeable swell by the time I pitched to the starter. Now, 36 hours later, not a peep from the starter. I'm experiencing deja vu, and I've purchased consdierable hops for this recipe (not characteristic of a blonde, I know). I don't want to waste them on a sub par beer.

Has anyone else run into this scenerio? Is it the yeast? Anyone with more experience with this yeast care to shed some light?

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I use 1272 all the time and it is always showing life after 12 hrs, lots of krausen and finished up on the stir plate before 24hrs. My last starter was made with 3 month old washed yeast and a 1000ml starter boiled out of my 2000ml flask.

Like others have said here the temperature of the wort may be shocking the yeast. Sanitize a thermometer and check your temp before you pitch, make sure you are not above 72f and not below 60f. Also make sure you are using the proper amount of DME for the size of your starter.

I'll chime in here again. I pitched a healthy starter (6 liters decanted) of 1272 into a 1.080 OG IIPA on Sunday. The wort was 67* at pitch and has been fermenting at 68*. It had thick krausen within 4 hrs, and was into the blow-off tube within 24 hrs. It has slowed a bit now and is steady gluggin. My fermenting freezer smells of pure heaven.