Back Up Plan if Yeast Fails Me

[primalyeti]

Hello everyone,

So i made a 19L batch of pumpkin ale on sunday, OG of 1.065 and pitched it with Wyeast 1056 at room temp (around 20-22C). Wort was well oxygenated and left to ferment in a bucke in a dark corner with a blow off hose. It's bee a solid 48 hours and not even a single bubble.

I typically ferment my beers in 2 x 1 gallon carboys which lets me watch what's going on, but since I'm doing a bigger batch this time I had to ferment it in a bucket and not being able to see what's going on is killing me!

Am I panicking for no reason? I know it can take 72 hours for yeast to do anything, so we'll see what tomorrow night brings, but if still nothing... what then! My LHBS is open late tomorrow so I'd be able to go buy some emergency supplies, if not I'm stuck waiting until Saturday.

The wort smelled (and tasted) absolutely amazing, so I'll be very disappointed if this doesn't work out. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thank you so much

 

[austinb]

Yes you are panicking for no reason...relax, don't worry, have a homebrew. It should be fine to carefully lift the lid in the bucket to peek inside real quick to see if there is any krausen (foam) forming from fermentation. There could be no bubbles because the bucket is not sealed air tight so that the co2 is escaping somewhere besides the airlock. Or it could be a crack in the little floating piece in the airlock if you are using the two piece airlocks. Again I wouldn't worry if this was the case because active fermentation will push so much co2 out of the fermenter that a small leak somewhere is not an issue.

Now if the beer has no krausen (layer of foam) on then it may not be fermenting. Again I wouldn't panic, it's not ideal and the beer can get infected if fermentation doesn't start after a couple days but it is not certain and there is still a good chance it will still turn out just fine. I would re-pitch some more yeast though to help it along. I'm assuming at this time of year that too cold a fermentation temperature is not an issue unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere.

 

[hercher]

austinb is correct.

However, you don't indicate how much yeast you pitched. If it was one smack pack, then you may expect a longer lag time. Once your fermentation does start, you might find that you won't hit your target gravity. I'd suggest you at least pitch another smack pack, or maybe even build a quick starter to add. Lifting the lid won't kill your beer.

 

[primalyeti]

Thanks guys, I wasn't sure if lifting the lid was a bad thing, so I didn't consider it. I've checked it out this morning to see what's going on in there and it doesn't look like there's any activity. I've attached some pictures.

I only pitched 1 pack of yeast, so I think I'm going to swing by my LHBS on my way home from work and get another smack pack to help move this along. Should I re-aerate the wort, or just pour it in?

 

[austinb]

That looks like a little activity is starting...it just isn't vigorously fermenting yet. If there was no activity there would be no little bubbles as you can see on the top. You can also see the ring of that brown yeasty looking stuff around the bucket walls, I think it's yeast since ale yeast is top fermenting but I'm not 100% positive, either way it is a sign that things are on their way. I looks to me like you will see more active fermentation within 24 hours. Occasionally though when under pitching it just doesn't look much more active than that but it still ferments, it just takes a few days longer. However I would still recommend getting another pack if yeast to help things along.

In the future I would highly recommend making a starter at least a couple days in advance. Half gallon growlers with a peice of sanitized tin foil over the top to allow oxygenation are a great vessel for a starter. The rule of thumb is 1/2 cup light dry malt extract (DME) to 2 cups water. However, to get a higher yeast cell count I would recommend doubling that to 1 cup DME to 4 cups water which should easily fit in the half gallon growler with some head space for foam. Boil the small batch of wort from the DME for a few minutes put the lid on the pot for another minute (turn the heat down to avoid a boil over) then remove it from the stove and let it cool with the lid on. Sitting the pot in an ice water bath or even cold tap water in the sink will cool it quicker. Once it has cooled add it to the sanitized growler, pitch the yeast and cover it with the sanitized foil. If you swirl the starter every hour or two while you are home to oxygenate it, it will finish quicker and give you an even higher cell count. I like to start it 4 days in advance and let it ferment for 48 hours and then crash cool in the fridge for another 48 hours to settle the yeast to the bottom. That way I can dump the liquid and just pitch the slurry at the bottom. If you only start it a couple days before then you need to pitch the whole starter in your beer. While I highly recommend the starters because it will really give you a much healthier and quicker fermentation, if you really don't want to deal with them or you just decide to brew the day before then I would recommend dry yeast instead of smack packs unless you are looking for a yeast for a particular style. The dry yeast packs have a much higher cell count than liquid yeast so it is easier to get away without a starter. US-05 dry yeast is basically the same yeast as the 1056 wyeast that you pitched.

 

[primalyeti]

Hmmm, alright I guess what I'll do is pick up another Wyeast 1056 on my way home and pitch it when I get there. I'll snag a bottle of DME while at my LHBS too.

I typically do 2 gallon batches, so I'm guessing the liquid yeast is fine for those without a starter, but for the bigger ones I should get a starter going? I normally plan my brew days a week in advance, so getting a starter going is no issue, its just another step haha. I like the idea of getting it going 4 days before and pouring out the liquid. I guess just leave a little liquid in there and slosh it around right before pitching it, that way is doesnt move like molasses haha.

 

[austinb]

Yeah the liquid is probably fine for a 2 gallon batch. And yes leave a little liquid in the starter so you can swirl it.