9 months off (Need Help)

[Eman24dx]

Been away from Brewing for exactly 9 months. Sad I know but work is insane all Winter and I coach hockey. None the less yesterday I brewed a kit I had purchased online 10 months ago. I stored the grains/LME in a cool/dry place. My basement. Yeast and hops were in the fridge.

Anyways brew went well and I actually had airlock activity 1-hour after pitching yeast. This morning 12 hours after the brew there was no more airlock activity and none now (24-hours after brew) My basement is about 65 degrees. Do I need to try new yeast, move the beer upstairs where it is about 72, or just wait a few days for activity?

Thanks for any and all help...

 

[Malty_Dog]

I'd pop the lid and take a look for activity/krausen formation, being careful sanitation-wise of course. Sounds like you had a decent seal b/c you had airlock activity initially, although within 1 hour makes me scratch my head a bit. Was this dry or liquid yeast and which strain? Ten months is a fairly long time for the yeast to stay viable. If you can toss in a dry packet of same/similar strain that might be the way to go. 65 is a nice temp, healthy yeast should have no problem with that.

 

[Hello]

What yeast did you use? There's a temp range, I like to sit in the center of that.
May help to warm it up to 68.

 

[jekeane]

I would wait another day to see about activity. However It would not hurt to go ahead and get another pack of yeast. Dry yeast can last that long liquid not so much.

 

[stpug]

Airlock activity simply means that there is a change of pressure from inside the fermenter to outside, not necessarily that fermentation has begun (although fermentation cause this pressure changes as well). A simple adjusting of the wort to room temperature causes "airlock activity" and is no indication of fermentation.

I suspect your 1 hour activity was a simple temperature pressure change and nothing to do with actual fermentation.

If you used dry yeast, I think you'll be fine and should give it a full 72 hours to get moving. If you used 10-month old liquid yeast (even if it's been in a fridge) then I suspect you're going to end up with some off characteristics once it gets going IF you don't pitch some additional yeast right now. Using that as a guide, decide if pitching more yeast is necessary.

 

[Eman24dx]

The wife said "why dont you bring your beer into the living room to ferment at a warmer temp:
1. Its cool to have a wife that know this kind of stuff
2. Its even cooler to have beer fermenting in my living room
3. Its bubbling away thanks for your help