Lost Yeast?

I brewed an Imperial Stout and tried to do the primary in corny keg...I have done this before with no problems. I connect a blow-off hose to the gas in post and run it into a bucket of water. this time however I noticed very little bubbling from what was a very high grain load. When I pulled the relief valve to check the pressure the noise was deafening. It turns out that the Poppet may have been sticking and not relieving enough pressure. I quickly decided to transfer to another keg before disaster struck. When I transferred it the amount of foam that cam out of the gas in line of the receiver keg was ridiculous. Now a week later and I am barely building any pressure in the keg. I think I may have lost my yeast, so my question is, can I throw some yeast in a new keg, and transfer the beer again to see if fermentation will start again?

If so should I make a starter, or can I just put dry yeast in the keg before I transfer?

Thanks.

it was probably a bit carbonated which created more foam in the transfer. Depdending on when you transfered, it may have already been done. Did you take a gravity reading.

I did not take a gravity reading, never do, but this is supposed to be a 4 month fermentation conditioning process, and it went dormant after 1 week? can't imagine that. Will adding yeast cause any problems?

Thanks!

I've had big beers that have fermented out in a week. And if your planning on waiting 4 months it should definitely be done by then (there shouldn't be any activity after about 2-3 weeks anyway since the bulk of that time is for conditioning).

You could pitch more yeast. It might attenuate a little more, but without a gravity reading we have no idea whats going on. You don't even know if there is really a problem yet.

Thanks jjp, I collected some of the foam as it was spewing from the tank,and when it settled into liquid it tasted like I imagined it would, I am just worried that there was not enough fermentation time, before all the yeast was lost, if in fact it was.

Since this is still a fairly fresh thread - do you still have a yeast cake? Could you try and revive some of that yeast, build a starter of the same yeast and repitch? Assuming it was something special, otherwise open another packet, make a starter and pitch.

Should not cause problems so long as sanitation practices are followed. You really should start taking gravity readings. You may be fixing something that's not broke.

-OCD

I don't think the yeast is "lost", but the pressure in the keg might have caused it to drop out sooner then it normally would have.

Did the sample taste very sweet/sugary? If it did then you might need to add more yeast. If it tasted fine then you should be alright. It should be close to done fermenting then, and there should still be enough yeast left to finish up whatever is left.