50+ hrs..NO Krausen, NO Gravity drop...

Alright guys, everyone always says to wait for the gravity drop before worrying about repitching but it's been 60 hrs as of this morning and I have had no gravity drop per my hydrometer. I have no krausen and absolutely no sign of fermentation.

......So, when is it time to repitch?? How do I do this? Do I get the same exact yeast I used b4 (Windsor Ale Dry Yeast)?? Or do I wait? Please help!

What was the temp. of the wort when you added your first pack of yeast?And what is the temp of it now?

And the answer is found in the title of the sticky on this very subject; https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/fermentation-can-take-24-72-hrs-show-visible-signs-43635/...

50 hours is not over 72 is it? so relaxation is in order....

It can take upwards of three days for fermentation to really begin. Relax, wait another day.

If you have access to more of the same Windsor yeast go ahead and get some, so it's available if you need it. If you can't find Windsor, most neutral ale yeasts would work fine as well. I recommend Safale US-05.

At 60 hours, I'd be thinking about repitching. At 72, I'd be dumping fresh yeast.

Revvy said:

And the answer is found in the title of the sticky on this very subject; https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/fermentation-can-take-24-72-hrs-show-visible-signs-43635/...

50 hours is not over 72 is it? so relaxation is in order....

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Well, I was actually at 60 hrs as of 6 am this morning and since I'll be here at work until 7 pm, I was wondering if I should send the SWMBO the the Beer Store to get me some yeast to pitch tonight, which will be at 72 hrs. I didn't want to be stranded without some if it needed to be done and I also needed your thoughts on how to go about doing this.

Temp at time of first yeast pitch was room temp (78 F) and it has been sitting at 65 F to 68 F since then. Right now it is around 68 F. I haven't had to repitch yet, so I definitely wanted to make sure I did this right!

Also, when dumping my original yeast I had rehydrated it and I had no sign of it being active at that time. There was No foam on the top. It just looked like creamy water. So, it may have been dead already when I got it.

If I have to repitch, do I need to rehydrate again? Or do I just dump in the bucket? Do I reaerate by stirring the crap out of it and shaking the bucket??

duffman2 said:

If I have to repitch, do I need to rehydrate again? Or do I just dump in the bucket? Do I reaerate by stirring the crap out of it and shaking the bucket??

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You don't NEED to rehydrate. Lots of people here who use dry yeast just dump it straight in. I've done three batches so far with just sprinkling the dry yeast on top of the wort and have had no problems with fermentation.

I would pick up some more yeast. It is always handy to have some backup just in case anyway. At 60 hours I would be getting a bit nervous.

Blender said:

I would pick up some more yeast. It is always handy to have some backup just in case anyway. At 60 hours I would be getting a bit nervous.

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Being my first time going this long w/o any hydrometer change, I am definitely a bit nervous. And since I have to wait until about 8 pm to get home tonight, I want to get my ducks in a row and have some yeast ready. So, I've already got some coming to me by the time I get home.

I think I already stated earlier that when I first pitched the yeast I rehydrated it, and after letting it get up to pitching temp there was no foam or sign of activity. So I was curious to see how fermentation would go. But once again, do I need to re-aerate if I dump my new yeast in tonight? Or just sprinkle it on top and let it go?

I don't think I would re-aerate. I might rehydrate it though.

FYI:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/nottingham-yeast-128940/

Danstar had a "bad batch" of Nottingham yeast, and if mind serves, they also make the Windsor yeast. I had a Danstar Munich that took about 72 hours to get going recently. You might want to look at something like a safale S-04 to repitch with (someone correct me if there is a better equivalent yeast). I wouldn't bother repitching with a danstar brand of yeast unless you're sure it's not defective. And I don't know how you can be sure of that.

In my limited experience dry yeast seems to get going within 12-24 hours. I think the 72 hour rule relates more to liquid yeasts.

I had a lag issue with Nottingham on my last batch. Two packs and nothing in two days. I don't like to wait that long, so I dumped in another pack (of Nottingham) and was bubbling away in less than 12 hours.

Everyone seems to be scared of Nottingham due to that one issue, I don't get it. Still if their brand of yeast concerns you, go grab some Safale yeast and toss that in. That stuff is pretty damned good.

Just sprinkle the new pack of dry yeast right on top. No need to stir it in. It shoudl tale off fine doing it that way.

duffman2 said:

Also, when dumping my original yeast I had rehydrated it and I had no sign of it being active at that time. There was No foam on the top. It just looked like creamy water. So, it may have been dead already when I got it.

If I have to repitch, do I need to rehydrate again? Or do I just dump in the bucket? Do I reaerate by stirring the crap out of it and shaking the bucket??

Click to expand...

Correct me if I'm misunderstanding, but were you expecting to see activity in the jar that you were rehydrating in? I've only used dry yeast a couple of times, but there should not be any "visible" activity in the rehydrating water. There aren't any sugars for them to be eating. When you dump your rehydrated yeast, it will look like cloudy water.

According to the instructions from my LHBS for the dry yeast it was recommended that I rehydrate and upon doing so I would see a "foam" on top that would indicate activity.

But once again I have just switched to dry yeast after 4 successful liquid yeast batches just to see what the differences would be. So I really didn't know what to expect

You wouldn't see any activity from rehydrating the yeast unless you proof it with a little sugar. That however is not recommended by the manufacturers.

This is not an excepted method but let me relay you what i did with my last batch. I had no activity after 48 hrs and could not get to the brew store because I was notified to go on a 4 day trip at the last minute. So I sanitized a second carboy and dumped the yeasted wort into it. Trying to "get it going". The next evening my assistant brewer (wife) said it was "bubbling like crazy".