Stuck Fermentation?

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reccen

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I brewed up a Brewers Best Belgian Tripel on Sunday and pitched a WLP500 Trappist Ale Yeast at 80 degrees. I have a stainless 7 gallon fermenter, and have not seen any airlock activity yet. Fermentation chamber temp is at 68 degrees, and I did oxygenate the wort with disposable oxygen and a 2 micron stone for 1 minute before pitching. OG was 1.080 and I checked gravity today and it is at 1.072. Should I be worried and pitch another yeast, or should I just chill out and wait.
 
It's okay. Mine took 48 hours till bubble action and it's now happy resting in a 2ndary fermenter (4th batch of WLP500). Also, make sure the lid is tight. This one takes a while and can gurgle for a week or two.
 
The guy at your LHBS was wrong. You should be fine though. It will take longer to show signs of fermentation because the yeast will struggle a bit. You should almost always make a starter but hey you live and learn.
 
It is too soon to even begin to worry....after 72 hours is when you take a gravity reading and see what's going on. It's quite common for yeast to take 2-3 days to get going, it's called lag time.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/fermentation-can-take-24-72-hrs-show-visible-signs-43635/, and by visible signs we don't necessarily mean a bubbling airlock. it means gravity reading

It IS a sticky at the top of the beginners forum for a reason, afterall. ;)

"Activity is irrevelent." Just gravity points on a hydrometer.
Airlock bubbling (or lack) and fermentation are not the same thing. You have to separate that from your mindset. Airlock bubbling can be a sign of fermentation, but not a good one, because the airlock will often blip or not blip for various other reasons...so it is a tenuous connection at best.

Fermentation is not always "dynamic," just because you don't SEE anything happening, doesn't mean that any-thing's wrong,, and also doesn't mean that the yeast are still not working diligently away, doing what they've been doing for over 4,000 years.

That's why you need to take a gravity reading to know how your fermentation is going, NOT go by airlocks, or size of krausen, or a calendar, the horoscope or the phases of the moon (those things in my mind are equally accurate). :rolleyes:

The most important tool you can use is a hydrometer. It's the only way you will truly know when your beer is ready...airlock bubbles and other things are faulty.

The only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in....

So wait til you hit the 72 hour mark THEN take a gravity reading. I predict that like 99.5% of ALL the threads like this, you will have a drop in gravity indicating fermentation is happening.

:mug:

I've been brewing for years and I've never had to repitch......and I doubt you will either....Modern yeast doesn't really not work anymore.....But you have to not equate airlock bubbling with anything other than......airlock bubbling.
 
It is too soon to even begin to worry....after 72 hours is when you take a gravity reading and see what's going on. It's quite common for yeast to take 2-3 days to get going, it's called lag time.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/fermentation-can-take-24-72-hrs-show-visible-signs-43635/, and by visible signs we don't necessarily mean a bubbling airlock. it means gravity reading

It IS a sticky at the top of the beginners forum for a reason, afterall. ;)

"Activity is irrevelent." Just gravity points on a hydrometer.
Airlock bubbling (or lack) and fermentation are not the same thing. You have to separate that from your mindset. Airlock bubbling can be a sign of fermentation, but not a good one, because the airlock will often blip or not blip for various other reasons...so it is a tenuous connection at best.

Fermentation is not always "dynamic," just because you don't SEE anything happening, doesn't mean that any-thing's wrong,, and also doesn't mean that the yeast are still not working diligently away, doing what they've been doing for over 4,000 years.

That's why you need to take a gravity reading to know how your fermentation is going, NOT go by airlocks, or size of krausen, or a calendar, the horoscope or the phases of the moon (those things in my mind are equally accurate). :rolleyes:

The most important tool you can use is a hydrometer. It's the only way you will truly know when your beer is ready...airlock bubbles and other things are faulty.

The only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in....

So wait til you hit the 72 hour mark THEN take a gravity reading. I predict that like 99.5% of ALL the threads like this, you will have a drop in gravity indicating fermentation is happening.

:mug:

I've been brewing for years and I've never had to repitch......and I doubt you will either....Modern yeast doesn't really not work anymore.....But you have to not equate airlock bubbling with anything other than......airlock bubbling.

How many times a week do you Post this?!?:mug:
 
I'm still learning (about 40 batches at year 2) and have read the sticky.

The well supplied OP already noticed a gravity change with a hydrometer by day 2. Should everyone ALWAYS check gravity level at/around 72 hours? I wait a week+.

WLP500 and the high OG for this style causes overflowing krausen and has proven difficult and messy so I've waited about 2 weeks before measuring. What are some tips to get an accurate reading during this phase?
 
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