Oh What a Releif!!

[timmy63]

Had done a Black Cherry Stout kit I ordered from Northern Brewer. It came with a "smack pack" yeast. I had never used a smack pack before and when I opened up to start, the pack was already swollen. I thought that might be trouble. Did it this past Thurs night and then waited and waited. No airlock activity until this morning when I woke up and went out to look at it.

I was really relieved to see quite a bit of activity!! Is this delay typical of Smack packs or did I perhaps not get the nutrient thing broken or what?? I read all of the threads on these smack packs on the forum, but I really don't know what happened. I did an AG batch last weekend which had the White Labs vial. Man, was that easy!!! But I thought it too was a bit slow on the fermentation takeoff!! Its just that the ANXIETY kills me while I am waiting; I guess I should just have a homebrew and relax!! Oh well.
_____________________
Tim

 

[ScottT]

I feel like I'm beating a dead horse but Yes! drinking helps with the anxiety but doing a starter can eliminate it.

Make a STARTER each and EVERY TIME you do a batch.

 

[Orfy]

So ScottT, you reckon it's a good idea to do a starter.

In all honesty it's got to be a way to kick your brew into a good start.
How about writing a FAQ answer in the new FAQ section. I'd find it usefull.

 

[tdiowa]

I have also experienced slow take off from the smack packs and the white labs yeast. I asked some of the local experts and they said that it might be from the low O2 content of the wort. So I purchased a Oxygenator and slowly injected O2 into my finished wort that had a white labs yeast in it. The next morning I was pleasantly surprised to see my wort bubbling nicely. That night I was shocked because of the vigorous blow off from my Airlock. Things settled down and had a nice 4 - 5 day fermentation.

Try an Oxygenator to speed things up.

TD

 

[PeatReek]

Followup question: is that Oxygenator a trade name? I looked it up on google and it looked like I got some weird gardening thing (i think, not even really sure). If not, what is it exactly? How much was it? What kind of store had it? Thanks!

I have also experienced slow take off from the smack packs and the white labs yeast. I asked some of the local experts and they said that it might be from the low O2 content of the wort. So I purchased a Oxygenator and slowly injected O2 into my finished wort that had a white labs yeast in it. The next morning I was pleasantly surprised to see my wort bubbling nicely. That night I was shocked because of the vigorous blow off from my Airlock. Things settled down and had a nice 4 - 5 day fermentation.

Try an Oxygenator to speed things up.

TD

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

Followup question: is that Oxygenator a trade name? I looked it up on google and it looked like I got some weird gardening thing (i think, not even really sure). If not, what is it exactly? How much was it? What kind of store had it? Thanks!

Most HBS's will have it, usually $30-40. Includes a regulator, some hose, and an aeration stone. You pick up a disposable oxygen container at the local big box home store (Home Depot, Lowes, Ace, etc). Here's a link to one for ~$30, but I've never heard of the store:

http://store.thebeveragepeople.com/pgi-PRODUCTSPEC?KEG51

Some packages also include a filter, although empirical evidence seems to suggest it's not necessary if you use the oxygen canisters. Another route some people take is aerating with an aquarium air pump instead of oxygen...in that case you definitely need a filter.

 

[homebrewer_99]

It's a similar set up for a fish aquarium.

You may want to try to find one at a garage sale.

 

[tdiowa]

This is where I got mine:

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/WILLIAM_S_OXYGEN_AERATION_SYST_P699C106.cfm

O2 bottle was 5 - 6 dollars and have used it for 5 batches.

TD