Slow start for fermentation

I have had an issue with slow starting fermentation. The last 2 batches have both taken 48 hours to get going. I have used Wyeast smack packs that i allowed to sit at room temp for 4+ hours both times. Should I use a starter even when using the smack packs?

Yeah, you should probably use a starter. The amount of yeast you want to pitch depends on the beer you are brewing, from what I understand, but overpitching is probably better than underpitching.

I have always used dry yeast, but I think the general consensus is to make a starter when you use liquid yeast.

Yes. Even once the smack pack has fully swollen, it still provides many times fewer yeasties than "commercial" pitching rates. In fact, I read the other day that to match a commercial pitching rate, you would have to pitch 3 gallons of starter into a 5 gallon batch!!! That seems a little extreme to me.

Smack Packs claim to deliver 2.5 billion yeast cells when fully swollen. Ray Daniels recommends pitching with 10-15 billion in a 5-gal batch, which can be acheived fairly simply with a 1-quart starter (in fact, I do a same-day starter and get activity usually within 4-6 hours). I believe that adequate yeast population will stress the yeast less and should result in more desirable flavoring of the beer.

Better yet - brew back-to-back and pitch on top of your existing yeast cake to re-use it. There's plenty of yeast to get a vigorous churn in a few hours!

Plus, it saves you money!

We brewed on 9/20, pitched at about 4:30 and as of this morning there's still no activity.

The smack pack (Wyeast Activator) that I used only puffed up a little but had about 5 hours to get going before being pitched.

I'm thinking of pitching another smack pack if there's no sign of fermentation by the time I get home from work today.

What do you guys think? Is that prudent, or should I wait another day before spending another $7 and potentially exposing the primary bucket to some airborne infection?

just wait remember it can take up to 72 hours to show signs of fermentation

Honus said:

We brewed on 9/20, pitched at about 4:30 and as of this morning there's still no activity.

The smack pack (Wyeast Activator) that I used only puffed up a little but had about 5 hours to get going before being pitched.

I'm thinking of pitching another smack pack if there's no sign of fermentation by the time I get home from work today.

What do you guys think? Is that prudent, or should I wait another day before spending another $7 and potentially exposing the primary bucket to some airborne infection?

Click to expand...

Took nearly 3 days for me to get some activity out of the Wyeast Activator 1098 I used recently for BMs newcastle clone....(no starter). Now it's churning away happily.

Thanks for the replies. I'll just cool my heels until tomorrow and hope for the best!


edit: Got home tonight and it's chugging away. Pfew!

I got a smack-pack delivered from the USA to Iceland, it got lost in the mail for a week or so. It was a wyeast smack pack (Danish lager yeast) I smacked it and it only got a little bit bigger in 2 days.. most of the yeast probably dead.
I decided to go ahead without a starter to see if I would see any effects of under-pitching in my light lager.
It's taken about 4-5 weeks and its at almost at its FG. It tastes great, no extra flavors that shouldn't be there. I did a recipe that I have done before. (With a different type of yeast tho at much higher temperatures)
Took a hydrometer sample and decided to taste it instead of putting it back in and it tastes great, will be better with the right amount of carbonation.
It's fermenting at around 9,5°C.

Oh and it started bubbling after about 3 days.

It really doesn't matter whether or not you have a slow or fast start, just like it doesn't really matter if you see bubbles in your airlock or not. Like someone else posted it can take up to 72 hours for the yeast to come out of dormancy and produce enough yeast to tackle the job...It really doesn't affect the beer in any way whatsoever......It's really only a problem for impatient people who think they are in charge of the beer and not the yeast.

They've been doing it for millions of years and know what they need to do and will do a great job if left alone. In their own time. We really don't need to sweat it.