Need quick advice (yeast)

Brewed coopers real ale yesterday, second time I made it.

24hrs later there is NO head on top of my beer. There is zero activity and I cannot see the yeast. i used the packet yeast that came with the kit and it might have been dead. When i re hydrated it, it did not look very active at all! compared to the last time. The fermentor is in good room temperature. last time I had a HEAD easily after 24hrs.

Wort was cooled to 20 before I pitched my yeast.

Can I go buy more yeast? Is the wort useless now? I need some quick advice PLEASE

thanks

Give it a swirl and wait. If you've gone three days with absolutely zero signs of fermentation, then its cause for concern.

The wort is not useless, rdwhahb

RDWHAHB. first off you don't get head in a fermentation you get karusen (possibly bad spelling). some fermentations take off faster than others. my recommendation is just to leave it alone and wait. if you still don't see any reaction in another 2 - 3 days then come back and panic.

Yes karusen is what I meant.

I should also mention my KIT was left in the garage several days where the temp dipped down to near ZERO

Could that have been a problem?

dry yeast are freeze dried. so the yeast have already been exposed to freezing temps and there isn't a hole lot of moisture to freeze and rupture the cell walls. seriously just stay calm and don't panic yet. your most likely still ok. give it a couple more days.

What temperature was the rehydrated yeast when you pitched it into the wort? If the difference is very large (ie you had the rehydrated yeast in the fridge and the wort was about 70F) then the yeast might be recovering from some initial shock and you could see a slow start to your fermentation. Like they said, don't panic -- give it some time. Also, if you didn't do so, aerating (oxygenating, specifically) the wort is highly recommended and will help get you a great fermentation. This is because the yeast require that oxygen in order to perform their chemical reactions that create the CO2 and alcohol. So shake that fermentor up somethin' fierce before pitching your yeast next time (some people use oxygen tanks to inject pure oxygen into their wort, but sloshing it around works well enough for me so I don't bother). Keep us updated, though.

Thanks for the help

Im not panicing, I just had a bad feeling when I saw the yeast after rehydrating, it didnt look right. The temp difference was almost perfect, so I dont think I shocked it and I definitly shook it up enough.

I guess will wait and see.

Would extra yeast hurt it tho? I do have some on hand. I mean if it wont damage it then why not.

I just had a batch that had absolutely no activity, and this is the first time I'd experienced this. I mean, no bubbling from the airlock or anything. However, when I took a gravity reading after 4 days I had full attenuation. There's absolutely no reason to panic. Give it a few days and take a reading. You can always pitch some more yeast in there if the primary yeast is dead. You may want to be sure the temperature is good and you may want to give it a swirl.

I wouldn't panic. Reference the sticky on this forum (it's the first one)

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/fermentation-can-take-24-72-hrs-show-visible-signs-43635/