Belgian Ardennes Sow Start

Hey all,

48 hours ago I pitched a pack of Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes into wort at a gravity of 1.052ish composed of munich, carafa and honey. As far as i know the temperature has been in the low 20s the whole time. I smacked the pack and in about 8 hours it only swelled a little but i pitched anyway.

There have been no signs of life - not even a gassy odour when i take the lid off. When will it be time to throw in the towel and go buy another pack?

Thanks

Give it a little more time... at least another 48 hours. Wyeast Belgian strains are notoriously slow starters...especially if you pitch directly without making a yeast starter.

Ardennes was the most active yeast I have used... definitely recommend blowoff tube. Mine started within 24 hours but OG was 1.080 and I used a starter, so YMMV?

mkptym said:

Hey all,

48 hours ago I pitched a pack of Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes into wort at a gravity of 1.052ish composed of munich, carafa and honey. As far as i know the temperature has been in the low 20s the whole time. I smacked the pack and in about 8 hours it only swelled a little but i pitched anyway.

There have been no signs of life - not even a gassy odour when i take the lid off. When will it be time to throw in the towel and go buy another pack?

Thanks

Click to expand...

First off, I assume you mean 20 C' and not 20 F' - otherwise you are definitely fubared.

The fact that the pack did not swell is not in and of itself bad but if you did not make a starter, well then Houston we may have a problem. I would suggest getting another pack. Next time make a starter and no worries.

Yeah - 20 celsius.

I've recently switched over from dry to liquid and honestly i had no idea starters were a necessity until now. I will do so in the future.

As for the current batch, little yeasties have become visible swimming under the surface, though no krausen has formed yet. Would letting it continue without another pack be negligent at this point?

Sow start? Get that cow out of there, it's bound to get you an infection!

How old was the pack? I take it you didn't make a starter, yes? Give it another day, then reevaluate. Underpitched beers can take a while to start up.

mkptym said:

Yeah - 20 celsius.

I've recently switched over from dry to liquid and honestly i had no idea starters were a necessity until now. I will do so in the future.

As for the current batch, little yeasties have become visible swimming under the surface, though no krausen has formed yet. Would letting it continue without another pack be negligent at this point?

Click to expand...

You are fine, let it do its job at this point. The long lag time was due to the yeast reproduction. Any off flavors due to underpitiching have already taken place, so extra yeast won't do anything for you now. Besides, unless the single smack pack was really old or really mistreated, then the single pack will be plenty. Wyeast belgian strains start slow if pitched directly from the smackpack... but watch out, they often create some verocious ferments too. When I first started brewing I made a belgian blonde and just like you, the smackpack didn't swell, it was barely doing anything after 48 hours, then BAM! Massive blow out.... I still find the occasional dried fleck of krausen on the wall and ceiling.

I've been using the Ardennes, and pitching directly with no starter... about 12 - 18 hours until fermentation usually. In fact, I just looked over at the one I brewed last night... pitched at 3 AM, and 11 hours later it's going bonkers.

Better prepare a blowout tube also, this one was about 5.75 gallons! O_O

Just a little longer lag time, no big deal. (As long as your sanitation is good.) I love the 3522, one of my favorite yeasts!

i just picked some up for a Belgian Blonde. Never used it but the other Wyeast Belgoan yeast have been beasts. Let it do it's job.