Slow-to-no activity... Re-pitch? Wait it out?

Brewed the stout from this thread yesterday: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/feedback-idea-christmas-fruitcake-stout-340227/ ... First time using a starter, which did about ~ 30 hours on the stir plate. Wyeast CA Lager 2112, 1 smack pack. Didn't settle out the yeast, just pitched the whole 1L of wort straight from the stir plate.

Woke up this morning expecting some activity as I've seen in previous no-starter pitches, and this is what I currently have at about ~11 hours after pitching. Having a bit of a "is my beer ruined?" moment.

Common HBT advice would be to wait it out, but I'm just curious how long I should wait before I consider re-pitching?

Hellosluggo said:

Brewed the stout from this thread yesterday: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/feedback-idea-christmas-fruitcake-stout-340227/ ... First time using a starter, which did about ~ 30 hours on the stir plate. Wyeast CA Lager 2112, 1 smack pack. Didn't settle out the yeast, just pitched the whole 1L of wort straight from the stir plate.

Woke up this morning expecting some activity as I've seen in previous no-starter pitches, and this is what I currently have at about ~11 hours after pitching. Having a bit of a "is my beer ruined?" moment.

Common HBT advice would be to wait it out, but I'm just curious how long I should wait before I consider re-pitching?

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48 hours, minimum. Lager yeasts can take a bit to really get going.

I understand the lager yeast issue... I know this it a very, very noob question to ask, but I can't resist: Do the "clusters" in the photo look like normal early activity? Like I said before, I'm used to pitching straight from the vial/packet and I usually see pretty vigorous activity early on. Having used a starter, I was hoping that the yeast was already going.

Here we are at ~36 hours in... It has about a .75" krausen, and no "explosive" activity—not sure if I should have even bothered with a blowoff hose, but it's in place. Definitely still seems slow. Temps are in the 66-or-so degree range.

I'll take a hydrometer reading tonight and see how it looks. Any and all suggestions appreciated!

Hellosluggo said:

Here we are at ~36 hours in... It has about a .75" krausen, and no "explosive" activity—not sure if I should have even bothered with a blowoff hose, but it's in place. Definitely still seems slow. Temps are in the 66-or-so degree range.

I'll take a hydrometer reading tonight and see how it looks. Any and all suggestions appreciated!

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That looks like.....fermentation. Completely normal and I'll insert the mandatory RDWHAHB.

Dont worry! It look fine!! lager yeast does not ferment the same as ale yeast, i have found it much more docile then ale yeast.
By the way what yeast did you go for?

Kraussen=fermentation. Bask in the glory of the beasties, and drink beer to pass the time while you wait.

That looks perfect. I would say to NOT take a gravity reading tonight. Why add the chance of infection. Wait until the krausen drops or when final gravity should be reached (min 7 day or better about 20 days) then check.

ALWAYS start with a blow off tube, why risk having to clean krausen off the ceiling?

kh54s10 said:

That looks perfect. I would say to NOT take a gravity reading tonight. Why add the chance of infection. Wait until the krausen drops or when final gravity should be reached (min 7 day or better about 20 days) then check.

ALWAYS start with a blow off tube, why risk having to clean krausen off the ceiling?

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Spoken like a man with some experience in the area! It is amazing what a mess it makes - blow off tube for every batch for me as well.

Thanks for the input, y'all! The yeast was Wyeast California Lager 2112. First time with a lager yeast, and first time with a starter so yeah, noob affliction. All my previous experience has been with ale yeasts, so I guess they like to get crazy right off the bat.

I'll put off taking a reading until the weekend at the earliest, just depending on how things look.

One minor question—there's absolutely no activity going on thru the blowoff into the bucket (as one would see with a regular airlock). Would this simply be because of the lager yeast and the extra headspace created by the 1" hose?

Yep, and the fermentation could be slowing down, could be a slight leak in the bucket lid where the gas prefers to escape, etc. You have/had krausen, it's fermenting just fine. Since you just brewed this weekend, you may even want to wait another week before checking the gravity.

kh54s10 said:

That looks perfect. I would say to NOT take a gravity reading tonight.

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Amen.

Just let the beer do its thing, & rack to a secondary after 10-14 days.

I've found if you can, drop the temp in the secondary. If not, relax, dont worry, have a beer.

Yeah, I was planning to do secondary (though I know some would disagree) mainly 'cos the chocolate addition made the wort appear pretty muddy/opaque. Even though it's meant to be a fairly heavy stout, I still want to try to clear the muddiness from it if possible. I did use Irish moss at the end of the boil as well.

Hellosluggo said:

Yeah, I was planning to do secondary (though I know some would disagree) mainly 'cos the chocolate addition made the wort appear pretty muddy/opaque. Even though it's meant to be a fairly heavy stout, I still want to try to clear the muddiness from it if possible. I did use Irish moss at the end of the boil as well.

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Nothing magical about secondary for clearing up - it will clear just as fast in primary and it's one less transfer. Never had a beer not clear in primary with enough time and calcium in my recipe.

this is the best thread ever. rock on :rockin:

~ 80 hours...

Lookin' tasty

Yeastie Beasties are ravenous!

About 5.5 days in, krausen is thinning out a bit.

Okay, we're in at just over week with temps held fairly consistently between 63–68 degrees. I forgot to swap out my ice bottles once and it spiked to around 74 for a 4-5 hours at most. I'm wondering how long I should keep the swamp cooler going? If I let it get to room temp, it probably wouldn't get over about 76 at the most. I've read some people saying they would control temps all the way to bottling, and others say to wait until the krausen has subsided, then go to room temperature. Anyone care to weigh in?

I think I'm pretty much bottomed out! The recipe (can't help thinking of the Baldwin Sisters from The Waltons every time I utter that phrase) called for 1.020 FG, so I'm gonna take another reading toward the end of the weeks and see if we're holding steady.

OG was 1.065, so I'm gonna just round it off at 6% ABV for the sake of argument.

The sample tasted GOT-DANG INCREDIBLE—so much so that I drank most of it. And that's not just wishful thinking... It's that good. After bottling I'm gonna take the long road and let it rest until November. I think I'm gonna have a good one on my hands!

I kept mine "swamped" right till bottling, won't hurt anything to stay that way. That does look very delicious, I'm second guessing my Brown ale next, stout may be very soon after.

makomachine said:

Spoken like a man with some experience in the area! It is amazing what a mess it makes - blow off tube for every batch for me as well.

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Actually - no! I read the horror stories on this site after my first batch. It gave no trouble. So I decided to install one on my 2nd batch, also no problems. On the third batch I had a big blow off but had the tube installed!

I have had some really big blow offs and some that had very little krausen. By always starting with a blow off installed I have not had any need for a big clean up.

kh54s10 said:

Actually - no! I read the horror stories on this site after my first batch. It gave no trouble. So I decided to install one on my 2nd batch, also no problems. On the third batch I had a big blow off but had the tube installed!

I have had some really big blow offs and some that had very little krausen. By always starting with a blow off installed I have not had any need for a big clean up.

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Nothing better than learning from others mistakes! I had to learn the hard way on that one.

After 26 days in primary, I'm gonna transfer to secondary this weekend just to clear things up a bit. I'll bottle in a couple of weeks, then the long wait 'til November or so, with a couple of bottles cracked along the way.

Racked to secondary earlier today, did a hydrometer reading which was level at 1.020. Poured the remaining sample in a glass and put it in the freezer for about 15 minutes, then drank it up. It's pretty incredible as it is right now, even without carbonation and bottle conditioning.

unionrdr said:

Unless you were going for a steam beer or the like,60's is high for a lager yeast.

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I think the California lager yeast that he used is the "steam beer" yeast so the temp sounds fine. I think it's an interesting choice for a stout.

Finally forced myself to take some time to bottle! It doesn't look like much, but it was a five gallon batch on the nose, and I used 22 oz bottles. All packed away and not to be seen again until at least mid-November. The unboxed oddballs will be testers after at least a month of bottle conditioning.

First test pouring tonight after 2.5 weeks in the bottle!