Yeast issue?

[Thnderhill]

Brewed an all grain batch of Bourbon Dubbel, followed instructions to the letter. Now in the fermenter, and very little if any fermentation activity. Slight krausen evidence, but no bubbling at all, now 72 hours later. All of previous my batches of different beers have been incredibly active within 24 hours. The ingredients kit included a packet of "homebrew yeast", no indication of brand or type. I don't have a hydrometer and don't know the O.G.

My question: should I get a packet of Ale yeast from reputable vendor and re-pitch? Pros\Cons ??

I would be terribly upset if this batch is a failure.......sounds do good!

 

[hottpeper13]

I am currently fermenting a Belgian Blonde of 1.056 OG so I can repitch the yeast onto a Dubbel(maybe Dubble Strong) at 1.100 OG.
That being said,without knowing the yeast and OG,one pack might not have been enough. Those packs are designed for a 1.050 OG.
You can't make any good decisions without a hydrometer,and won't get advice,or anyway good advice until we see the #'s

 

[hotbeer]

You could throw another packet of yeast into it. Just be sure to pick an appropriate strain for what you are brewing.

But being patient might be all you need to do. And perhaps make certain the fermenter is at the middle to higher side of optimal temperature for your yeast if you want more immediate entertainment from the airlock.

Since you don't know what your yeast is, I'd probably try to keep the fermenter where ambient air temp is about 69 - 71°F. If you can't control that, a higher ambient is probably better than a lower ambient. Unless you can be patient.

Since you posted about it already I'm guessing you aren't the patient type.

If you can measure the actual beer temp in the FV, I wouldn't worry too much if the temps during any active krausen went to 74°F or maybe briefly a little higher.

 

[Thnderhill]

I am currently fermenting a Belgian Blonde of 1.056 OG so I can repitch the yeast onto a Dubbel(maybe Dubble Strong) at 1.100 OG.
That being said,without knowing the yeast and OG,one pack might not have been enough. Those packs are designed for a 1.050 OG.
You can't make any good decisions without a hydrometer,and won't get advice,or anyway good advice until we see the #'s

Do you think another packet will affect flavor and or “kick start it” ?

You could throw another packet of yeast into it. Just be sure to pick an appropriate strain for what you are brewing.

But being patient might be all you need to do. And perhaps make certain the fermenter is at the middle to higher side of optimal temperature for your yeast if you want more immediate entertainment from the airlock.

Since you don't know what your yeast is, I'd probably try to keep the fermenter where ambient air temp is about 69 - 71°F. If you can't control that, a higher ambient is probably better than a lower ambient. Unless you can be patient.

Since you posted about it already I'm guessing you aren't the patient type.

If you can measure the actual beer temp in the FV, I wouldn't worry too much if the temps during any active krausen went to 74°F or maybe briefly a little higher.

Thank you, very helpful!!

 

[Thnderhill]

Do you think another packet will affect flavor and or “kick start it” ?

Thank you, very helpful!!

Do you think I will actually see any airlock activity at this point? If I add more yeast, will I see airlock activity then?
Shopping for hydrometer next.

 

[hotbeer]

If I add more yeast, will I see airlock activity then?

Airlock activity depends on so many things. And a large number of them being things that don't affect your beer.

The main thing being a leaky seal on your fermenter. Carboys using a stopper might be a little more reliable at producing bubbles in the airlock. Which to me only have entertainment value.

For your brew, if the yeast have slowly chewed through some of the sugars, then you probably won't have much chance of seeing anything via the airlock.

When I was using clear carboys there were many times well after the initial krausen was over that I'd see lots of tiny bubbles in the beer, but nothing in the airlock or bubbler bottles I had for my blow off tubes.

 

[McMullan]

A hydrometer usually costs little more than pack of yeast. I think it's one of the most valuable tools a brewer can own. Don't be put off by the low price

 

[hottpeper13]

Are you fermenting in a bucket? If so, shine a light thru and see if there is a krausen ring above the liquid line. I had a similar thing happen in a 15 gal fermenter with only 11 gal of beer. There was no activity that I could see for 2 days,so i pitched a packet of dry on top. There was so much CO2 that the yeast spread out evenly and sat on top. A krausen formed immediately and that yeast just sat on top. That's all I know about second attempts.