Wort is just sitting

Hey guys! I'm new here. I hope that someone will be able to help me. The other day I started brewing a batch and and was having problems around the house. In all the hustle and bustle I ended up pitching my yeast at about 85*. I'm pretty sure it died. There wasn't much I could do about it. I figured I would wait and see if it would ferment or not. So I put it in my fermenter put the lid and air lock on. It didn't ferment! So my question is. If it has been sitting air tight with dead yeast can I revive it with new yeast 3 days later? It's the soonest I can get more yeast because of my work schedule. Or did I just ruin it? Thanks for the help.

Why would it have died? 85 isn't that hot. Off flavors, possibly, but cell death, unlikely.

How do you know it didn't ferment? At 85 it likely fermented in less than 3 days. Did you take gravity readings? You can't go by airlock activity.

85 isn't hot enough to kill the yeast so that probably didn't do it. Was this mail order yeast that was on a truck through the heat wave? Or maybe just old yeast?

Have you checked gravity? If it's stable and you're sure fermentation hasn't started, then pitching more yeast is a good idea. Maybe make a small starter for the new yeast to make sure it's healthy and active before you pitch. Good luck!

I figured it died. Maybe it didn't? I pitched the yeast Thursday night. The gravity was 1.053. I figured it wasn't fermenting because there is absolutely no activity in the air lock. On all of my other batches (which is only 3) when I put a little bit of pressure on the lid the air lock goes crazy. Not so much on this batch. I'm going to go open up the fermenter and check the gravity. Since it has been sitting air tight in 74* will the wort be ok to pitch again or am I pushing my luck on an infection? Assuming that it hasn't started fermentation.

If there's even the tiniest gap in the bucket lid seal (which has happened to lots of us) there won't be any airlock activity. If your sanitation is good, you should be able to pitch again with no trouble.

Taste your gravity sample. If it doesn't taste like rotten garbage or something, you should be fine.

But you might get a nice surprise and find that the batch has fermented out and it's done.

Haha thanks Jon! I feel like an idiot. I went to check on. The whole way to the fermenter I'm thinking there is no way I didn't close the lid all the way. Sure enough there was a small gap. I looked inside and it look like it on the right path. I just hope that small gap doesn't effect the taste. All this time I was thinking I jack the yeast up. I'll just chalk this up to being a rookie. Thanks for the help!

That little gap means that the CO2 pressure was going out that gap. All that CO2 going out the gap means that no mold, bacteria, etc. can get in through the gap. It'll be fine. Cheers!

Awesome! Thanks for easing my mind. This was my first attempt at an all grain brew. It was a clone recipe I found on here for Founders Porter. I really hope it turns out. I'll post on here when I get my first taste to let you know how it turned out.