First High Gravity Brew... Little to no fermentation activity

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Anthony_Lopez

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So I brewed our house IPA last friday night, and ended up getting 1.073 out of a possible 1.075 OG recipe. I have always used Wyeast smack packs and have never had any issues with them. Since I'm using a new LHBS (and very happy with this new store) I used their suggested yeast instead of my Wyeast 1956. I went with White Labs 001. Anyhow, I put the yeast tube in a bath of ~75*F water and star san and let it sit while we brewed to activate the yeasties.

Pitched the yeast, and still as of today we aren't getting any activity. The wort is at about 69-71*F.

If I repitch, I'd like to use Wyeast since I've never had any issues with them. Any possible problems using a different yeast strain?

Cheers!
 
With OG that high, it would have behooved you to make a 1L+ starter to pitch an appropriate amount of yeast. The cells are a little overwhelmed right now- so you're experiencing a sizeable lag time.
 
Thats what I figured... My buddie's fiance just called him at work to say that the beer actually just took off and is going crazy. I might have to do a second pitch anyways to get a better attenuation with that kind of OG. Thanks for the response though. Even when I am thinking something, I feel better when someone else says the same thing.
 
Yep, all seems to be normal here. White Labs claims it's "pitchable" so no starter is *completely* necessary, but I usually pitch at least 1 Liter just to be safe. Helps with lag times, and stressy esters.

Heh. Wish I had a beer-updates-by-phone system set up. :p
 
Yes I think it would be a good idea to drop in a package of US-05 since the yeast may be fermenting now but are stressed and will have produced a lot of junk with that much growth. That way you will have enough healthy yeast to finish the job and clean up.
 
I came on here to ask a similar question. Wanted to know if high gravity beers always have a long lag time or if it's my yeast strain. Usually my fermenter is rocking and rolling the next day and I have nothing right now.

I have a Belgian style ale that has a 1083 SG. I did the Wyeast Trappist yeast and had two activator packs. 3 days before boil I made one of the pouches into a 2 L starter and that took 2 days before I started seeing activity there. Pitched the other activator pack and pitched the yeast sediment off the bottom from the other.

The idea of making only one of them into a starter was because if I had a really solid starter like I normally do, then I was going to save the other pack of yeast. With the long lag time I decided to pitch it all. Still waiting to see activity. Looks like all the yeast is sitting at the bottom of the fermenter currently.
 
I'm actually in the process of having this exact problem, I pitched a vial of WLP0001 without using a starter into a batch of beer with an OG of 1.072 and it has been nearly 34 hrs and I haven't seen a single bit of activity coming out of my blow-off tube, although I haven't looked inside the fermenter to see if theres atleast a single sign of life in there. Now I play the waiting game.
 
I'm actually in the process of having this exact problem, I pitched a vial of WLP0001 without using a starter into a batch of beer with an OG of 1.072 and it has been nearly 34 hrs and I haven't seen a single bit of activity coming out of my blow-off tube, although I haven't looked inside the fermenter to see if theres atleast a single sign of life in there. Now I play the waiting game.

My beer took off like crazy today... I'm going to grab a packet of 05 asap to clean up the batch. This is a fairly expensive batch of beer for me, so I don't want anything too funky. Also, this batch is for a christmas party, so it want it perfect.
 
Yeah, I'm glad to hear that your fermenter took off. I hate sitting here thinking (especially at work) that time is just floating on by without any activity going on! I had this problem with my last batch of beer and it turned out with a very high FG, and was extremely sweet. Not exactly the type of beer I was looking for! Like I said all I can do is wait, and pray!:rockin:
 
i had the same problem also , i brewed a 5 gal, A.G wheat beer with Nottingham dry yeast Saturday morning i put it in my usual spot which is a crawl space i had no activity at all this morning so i pitched more yeast so when i got home from work and checked it , still nothing, i got suspicious of the temp in the crawl space so i took the wort out and put it in the corner of the dining room WITHIN 5 MIN,s the wort was bubbling like crazy and going strong
 
There's more than one LHBS in this area? Which ones have you gone to?

Ya there are a few places around us here in MA. If you are in Westford I would try Jaspers Home Brew shop in Nashua NH, place is great and they are very nice there. The home brew shop we recently used was NFG Home brew shop in Leominster MA. I did not go to NFG but my friends who did liked the place alot. Other places are Strange Brew in Marlborough MA, you will have to check it out to see if you like it.

Good luck :)
 
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