Quick noob question

I was using some yeast, california liquid ale yeast (i was told). I was recycling it quite a few times (6-7 times) and this last time it sat out for 24hrs before i pitched it, waited another 24hrs after pitching and there was no activity, so not wanting to buy a hydrometer i just said screw it and bought some 1056 american ale yeast by wyeast and pitched that after the 3hr wait and within one minute i was having airlock activity. My question is, was the old (california) yeast likely still breeding up and about to start showing activity, or is that just common for those wyest liquid packets to start showing activity right after being pitched? And if not do i have some sort of hybrid bastardized california/american ale yeast now?

It was probably the CalAle you originally pitched. I've never seen airlock activity inside of a minute from a fresh pitch.

Also what do you mean it "sat out" for 24 hrs?

CalAle and American ale are very close in flavor profile.

definitely wouldnt expect activity that quickly. depending on when/how you are recycling yeast there is selective pressure applied to the yeast and you'll end up seeing changes in behavior over time (i.e. more/less flocculent, attenuative, etc...)

[edit] do want to know how that duo work out together though relative to batches with just the cali. improvement by accident?

haha we'll see rescuedog, and what i mean by "sat out" is that i fell asleep waiting for the wort to cool down to 70 and the yeast ended up sitting out for 20 hrs or so (now that i think about it, it was more like 20 not 24) before pitching it

ps Has anyone ever mixed 2 yeasts together? If so what happened?

i've have yeast activity start within 5 minutes once, for a pale ale i made. i brewed it, cooled it, then brought it in. i washed my hands, then pitched the new dry yeast packet. i went to the kegerator for a refill, and when i came back, it was already bubbling. i thought there might be infection that made it start that early, or something else weird, but it was a tasty, clean pale ale.

incubud said:

ps Has anyone ever mixed 2 yeasts together? If so what happened?

Click to expand...

Many breweries use portions of two or more yeasts. Just to get a bit of both worlds.

EDIT: Seriously, you need a hydrometer.

i know i know, just finished buying all the noob stuff, but that (not being absolutely neccesary) didnt get purchased right away...soon, soon

Hydrometer is necessary unless you just want to guess when you beer is done fermenting.

It isn't unusual to not see airlock activity for 24 hours after pitching. Some times it can take up to 72 hours before you get bubbling. Some on these boards swear that they've had perfectly good batches come out despite never seeing a single bubble out of their airlock. The airlock is just a means to end, a way to let gas escape without letting any air in. The only way to know what the yeast is doing is by taking hydrometer samples. If your gravity is going down, even gradually, the yeast is still busy at work. Once you start getting the same gravity reading over and over again over several days, you know that fermentation is complete.

how would it be fermenting and not create any gas?

Leak in a bucket seal or bung. Gas is escaping without going through the airlock. Not ideal but it can happen. Still fermentation can continue for quite a while and simply thinking that since the vigorous bubbling has stopped that fermentation is complete is premature. My last batch was quiet after a week in primary then a week later I'm waking through the room and airlock bubbles once. It was just pushing co2 through extremely slowly and quietly. Still fermenting though. Would hate to have bottled that too early.