Made a batch of Undeadguy last week (Thanks Yooper!). Pitched some Pacman I had washed from a batch a few months back.
I made a starter with DME and pure O2, seemed to get good action, wasn't worried about it. Wort cooled to low 70's, I bubbled some pure O2 through it a few times, then pitched the yeast.
I watched the airlock for days, and saw no activity. It's a plastic bucket fermenter, so it's possible that it was just leaking, and the CO2 outgassing was leaking out instead of bubbling the lock. I removed the airlock once or twice to check for Krausen, and saw only tiny little yeast rafts on top (2mm or so). I could spot the occasional CO2 bubble rising to the surface, so I sealed it as best I could, even ran tape around the top seal of the bucket, but never saw any airlock activity.
After about 6 days, I figured I must have been wrong about the viability of the yeast, went and picked up a fresh smack-pack of Pacman, let it swell for 24 hours (lost track of time), and repitched.
2 days later, still no activity on the airlock, and no Krausen.
Hmmmmm.... I finally got out the refractometer, and see that the beer has somehow magically dropped from 16 to 8 (and tastes/smells like good beer). With no other signs of activity I hadn't even bothered checking until now, assuming it was still raw wort. I've since racked to a glass carboy and see occasional airlock action.
Has anyone else ever had an immaculate fermentation like this? Very little outgassing, and no Krausen? Perhaps a product of accidental underpitching, or the copious use of O2? Temps were a pretty steady 68-70 throughout...
I made a starter with DME and pure O2, seemed to get good action, wasn't worried about it. Wort cooled to low 70's, I bubbled some pure O2 through it a few times, then pitched the yeast.
I watched the airlock for days, and saw no activity. It's a plastic bucket fermenter, so it's possible that it was just leaking, and the CO2 outgassing was leaking out instead of bubbling the lock. I removed the airlock once or twice to check for Krausen, and saw only tiny little yeast rafts on top (2mm or so). I could spot the occasional CO2 bubble rising to the surface, so I sealed it as best I could, even ran tape around the top seal of the bucket, but never saw any airlock activity.
After about 6 days, I figured I must have been wrong about the viability of the yeast, went and picked up a fresh smack-pack of Pacman, let it swell for 24 hours (lost track of time), and repitched.
2 days later, still no activity on the airlock, and no Krausen.
Hmmmmm.... I finally got out the refractometer, and see that the beer has somehow magically dropped from 16 to 8 (and tastes/smells like good beer). With no other signs of activity I hadn't even bothered checking until now, assuming it was still raw wort. I've since racked to a glass carboy and see occasional airlock action.
Has anyone else ever had an immaculate fermentation like this? Very little outgassing, and no Krausen? Perhaps a product of accidental underpitching, or the copious use of O2? Temps were a pretty steady 68-70 throughout...
