Just wait it out (the story of keeping hope on a bad brew)

[wheels4]

I'm not great at telling stories but will try to make this interesting so maybe others can learn and not give up hope to easily. Living in NC we get the hurricane scare just about every year and this year I decided to make the best of it. I collected about 20 gallons of fresh Hurricane Florence rain water to make a 5 gallon brew. I bought Vermont Ale yeast (first time using) 2 days before land fall so I would have everything ready for brew day. I planned to brew the day after the storm and decided to make a IPA with untreated fresh acid free rain water. Here is the recipe.
12lbs. 2 row
8oz. crystal 60
8oz. Munich
8oz. wheat
8oz. Vienna
1oz. Citra FWH
1oz. Chinook 10 minutes
2oz. Cascade 5 minutes
2oz. Mosaic 5 minutes
1oz. mosaic WP
1oz. centennial WP
mashed at 150, collected my 7 gallons and had an og of 1.07. Everything up to this point was as usual. Chilled and put into fermenter (we only lost power for 4 hours and did not get hit bad at all). Two days in I see nothing, which has happened before because the lids leak on some of my buckets so no biggie. Day 4 would be dry hop day (2oz. mosaic 2oz. centennial) and I take the top off and see nothing going on. Take gravity reading and its still at 1.07 and I'm thinking that after about 7 years I have my first no go with fermentation. I let it dry hop for a week and pull them out. I did not check gravity but needed to get it out of the fermenter and it still looked like fermentation never took off. I just left it in the garage with plans to just dump over the weekend. Well that weekend I was busy working and forgot about it. Yeah it was in the upper 80's to lower 90's during that time so the next weekend I was thinking it was going to be major funk fest in there. Well I took the lid off to dump and it looked like it had fermented. Smelled very good and was pretty clear already. I figured damn let me cold crash and see what happens. So I cold crash for 3 days and keg. For the life of me I don't know how but it survived and is a damn good IPA. I never did take a FG but based on taste and strength I would say it finished around 1.015. Just wanted to post incase others are debating if they should ride it out. I was going to write off the Vermont Ale but will probably use it again as after all this it still came through. The beer is named FloJo Rising as I live in JoCo NC. Cheers!

 

[kh54s10]

You didn't make a starter with the yeast? It does not really surprise me that you didn't have fermentation by day 4.

What does surprise me is that the beer was good when fermenting near 90 degrees.

 

[grampamark]

Well, you told that story very well.

Patience is one thing most of us don't have enough of when it comes to brewing. Sometimes, just staying out of the way and letting the beer be beer is the best, and easiest, thing to do.

 

[wheels4]

No yeast starter and about a week and a half with no fermentation. This is the yeast I used and figured a starter would not be necessary. https://www.theyeastbay.com/brewers-yeast-products/vermont-ale

 

[kh54s10]

Read the last 1/3. A lot of homebrewers would lower the "over 1.070" to over 1.060 or even lower. I never use liquid yeast at any OG without making a starter. You never really know how the yeast was handled before you get it. It could have gotten way too hot in the summer or frozen in the winter. If you make a starter you know it is either dead and have to get new yeast. Or that you are pitching enough healthy yeast.

 

[wheels4]

Date on yeast was less then a month old. I know I was pushing the limits without a starter but it still should have done something, anything within the first week and a half. Believe me I know about starters but asking the guys in the shop they have used this yeast with great results without one. It also says "if past best before date (not even close) or faster start of fermentation desired (didn't need one). I was not looking for "what's and whys" I was simply passing along an experience in the hope of helping others who were ready to give up on their fermentation. I already know what would have helped or made it take off faster. That was not the meaning of the OP at all.