Pitched lager yeast almost a week ago and still no signs of fermentation...

[apples-to-oranges]

My first lager, an oktoberfest brewed with WLP830 was fermented at 52 ˚F and took about 48 hours before fermentation started. Turned out great!

This beer is a pilsner that I'm brewing with WLP800. I was following a similar process to what Pilsner Urquell uses (pitch and ferment at 39 ˚F for 11 days). I pitched a single pack of yeast at 39 ˚F and then let the wort warm up slowly to 48 ˚F. I have it in a temperature-controlled keezer. I pitched the yeast very late Monday night and aerated with oxygen for 60 seconds, but I still see no activity today. I checked the gravity yesterday but there was no change.

I assume I underpitched, since I didn't use a starter and only one yeast packet. I've never done a yeast starter before (and never had problems before), but I assume this beer really needed one...

I'm living in an area with no local home-brew stores, so if I wanted to pitch another packet of yeast it would take several days to get it here, and cost quite a bit with shipping.

Is it worth trying to raise the temperature and if the yeast takes off drop it back down again? Or is buying more yeast and waiting my only option?

 

[jekeane]

you could raise it up a bit sanitize a spoon and rouse the yeast. I may be that your single vial at 39° just sank right to the bottom and went to bed at that temperature. It is a pretty massive under pitch however and it could just take forever to get going... That method of pitching very low and letting it rise to standard lager temps really requires the proper amount of yeast.

What was the date on you package? Brewers friend is asking you for 4 packs of yeast or a 2 liter starter to deal with 5 gallons of 1.050 lager.

 

[passedpawn]

So you have no idea if the yeast was good or not. If it was me, I'd get more yeast. If that's not an option, raise the temp up to 60F and watch for krausen to start to form, then lower back down to 50F. If it never forms, you're up the creek I guess.

 

[apples-to-oranges]

you could raise it up a bit sanitize a spoon and rouse the yeast. I may be that your single vial at 39° just sank right to the bottom and went to bed at that temperature. It is a pretty massive under pitch however and it could just take forever to get going... That method of pitching very low and letting it rise to standard lager temps really requires the proper amount of yeast.

Just tried that and bumped the regulator up to 55 ˚F. I also added some yeast energizer. Once it gets started I assume I can bump it back down to 48 ˚F to let it ferment?

What was the date on you package? Brewers friend is asking you for 4 packs of yeast or a 2 liter starter to deal with 5 gallons of 1.050 lager.

I don't remember the exact date, but it was fairly fresh, only a couple months old I think.

So you have no idea if the yeast was good or not. If it was me, I'd get more yeast. If that's not an option, raise the temp up to 60F and watch for krausen to start to form, then lower back down to 50F. If it never forms, you're up the creek I guess.

I've never had liquid yeast from white labs that wasn't good before, so I just generally assume that if the date is fairly recent it should be fine. Actually, in the 7 years I've been brewing I've never had a fermentation fail to start, even though I've never used a yeast starter. But after this experience I guess it's time to look into yeast starters, especially for lagers...

I'll look into getting more yeast, but will see if rousing the yeast and raising the temperature works to get it started!

 

[djonesax]

+1 more yeast. 2 packs next time if not using a starter. My brewing is usually spontaneous and I dont always have time to make a starter so I just pitch 2 packs in 5 gallons. My current brew, I used 3 packs of Nottingham dry yeast in 10 gallons and it took less than a day to start bubbling. I have not been in a situation like yours with a beer not fermenting after a week, so just thinking out loud, it *may* be a good idea to lower the temp to slow down the growth of anything other bacteria until you get you new yeast.

David

 

[ba-brewer]

I have a couple packets of W-34/70 and S-05 dry yeast in the fridge for just such an occasion.

 

[apples-to-oranges]

I have a couple packets of W-34/70 and S-05 dry yeast in the fridge for just such an occasion.

I actually do have a packet of 34/70 that I purchased a while back planning for a different beer. Can I pitch that? Or will it change the character of the beer? I'm basically making a Pilsner Urquell clone so chose WLP800 (it's the same yeast Pilsner Urquell uses).

 

[ba-brewer]

It might not be the same style of yeast as WLP800, but it will get your wort fermenting and should be close enough. As David mentioned the longer your wort sits without fermenting the greater your chance of something wild moving in, so I would not be that concern about having the perfect yeast.

I think S-23 might be a better match if you have that.

 

[Bamsdealer]

Did you check the gravity? I've had little to no krausen w lager yeasts in the past and airlock activity isn't always a good indicator of fermentation, but I have had bad vials of white labs and smack packs so its possible. Good idea tk always have a spare lager and ale dry yeast for emergencies. $4 is cheap insurance for 4 hours of work and $20 in ingredients.

Pitch the dry lager yeast you have on hand. At this point in the game, it's better to have a beer than an infection. Good news is any bacterial growth would be very slow at lager Temps. If an ale sat for a week at 70 degrees, I'd be a bit concerned.

 

[apples-to-oranges]

Didn't get around to posting an update earlier, but I tried rousing the yeast to no success. Ended up rehydrating and pitching a pack of W-34/70 and it took off before the next day. We'll see how the beer turns out after lagering!

Going to have to make sure I make starters on all my future lagers and also will keep a few packs of W-34/70 and S-23 on hand just in case!

Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[kh54s10]

Dry yeast does not benefit from starters. Use a calculator to determine how much yeast you should use. For dry - rehydrate the yeast. For a lager of average gravity and 5 gallons you should start with at least two 11 gram packs.

If liquid yeast you will need a fairly large starter or several pouches/vials of yeast.

Use a calculator, this is one of the most used ones: http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html