slow ferment

I did an AG saturday. The Wyeast 1099 bag never expanded very much after about 4 hours I decided to pitch it anyway. I don't see any activity in the wort should I go get some more yeast or wait?

Wait.

It's always a good plan to have back up yeast.

orfy said:

Wait.

It's always a good plan to have back up yeast.

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Wait - How long?

At least 24 hours if not 48.

Do you have an hydrometer? What set up do you have.

orfy said:

At least 24 hours if not 48.

Do you have an hydrometer? What set up do you have.

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Yes and what exactly do you mean by what set up?

Is it a glass fementer with carboy cap or bucket and lid?

The more info you give on method etc. the easier it is to help.
What temperature did you pitch the yeast at? Did you aerate or use oxygen?
If it's in a bucket with an airlock then just because there's no bubble doesn't mean it's not fermenting. A krausen or lack of it is a sign of how things are going. 4 hours is definitely to early to worry.
If I'm not mistaken liquid yeast normally require a starter and aeration to get a good start otherwise they can take a few days.

it's in a glass carboy, I aerated by sloshing the wort around. I pitched at approx. 70 F and probably boiled the wort to vigorously and didn't take a hydormeter reading.
With the yeast bag not really swelling I figured something was wrong with it and didn't take care to measure the exact temp. or sg. Thinking I'd probably have to get more yeast when the LHBS opened today. Looking back I should have posted before pitching the yeast to see what people thought about the bag not swelling.

Sounds like duff yeast if it's not showing something by now.
I wouldn't be suprised if it's just a really long lag time though. I've heard people say they've had up to 36 hours.

If it was me I'd just dump a dried yeast in it to get it going. It's worth having a spare pack for just a case.

I've waited 3 days before with a smack pack and it turned out fine. I would wait at least 4 days before repitching. Wyeast doens't require a starter unless your brewing a beer above 1060 so just be patient.

I had a smack pack that took 3 days to inflate and it wasn't an old one. It turn out just fine. But it did take a good 24 hours after the 3 day wait to get going. I would wait next time before pitching it. It can sit in the bucket/carboy just fine for a day or two if it is well sanitized.

Way too early for re-pitching. Couple more days would be good. Next time, try to give your pack 12-24 hours.

david_42 said:

Way too early for re-pitching. Couple more days would be good. Next time, try to give your pack 12-24 hours.

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Ok. the yeast I did weekend before last 1059 wyeast I think swelled right up in a couple of hours. So I thought they all should do about the same. Thanks

What is the temperature in your fermenter? I pitched yeast on Saturday night and had no activity 12 hours later, but the temp had dropped to 61 - the water bath the fermenter was sitting in was very cold. I raised the temp back to 66 over several hours by draining the water bath and the yeast started doing their thing, and once it kicked in I dropped it back to 64 by filling the tub halfway. Sometimes 5 degrees can make the difference.

I've had the same issue a number of times... usually due the "screw it, I'm brewing right now" syndrome, where you smack your pack just before you boil....

I've always waited, once I waited for four days before any active fermentaion occured. As long as you were careful about sanitation and avoiding contaminants during transfer, you should be fine.

-p

When I got home last night (approx. 48 hrs after pitching) it was bubbling away nicely. Thanks for the advice to wait.

orfy said:

Sounds like duff yeast.

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Duff yeast, is that a Wyeast VSS? Doh!

Hmmmmm, beer.