Yeast question

[Tx6686]

So I've used white labs on all 4 of my brews so far . I'm doing a October fest kind of style beer my OG was at 1.052. I used white labs on all my brews and have not had any problems . I used German ale
Kolsch and it's been 3 full days already and I don't see much krausen yet or much bubbles in air lock although I know that's not a good indicator .haven't take another reading yet either . One thing I found odd but when i opened the yeast package there was a lot yeast that was super thick almost like paste with some liquid . Anybody else experience this with their liquid yeast ? Is it bad yeast? It was Not expired ,I also let it sit at room temp for 8 hours before pitching .

 

[Kent88]

Can you very carefully give your fermenter a little shake/swirl? You might see some carbon dioxide come out of the solution by doing that (foam).

What temp are you keeping the fermenter at? What temp does that yeast work best at? What volume of wort did you add the yeast too? How many vials? Has gravity changed at all?

 

[Tx6686]

I have it at 67-68. It works best between 65-69. It was one vial to 5 gallon batch . I haven't don't a gravity reading yet

 

[Kent88]

Do you remember how old the vial was? How well did you aerate the wort?

Do you have some backup yeast?

Can you carefully give the fermenter a little shake/swirl?

 

[Tx6686]

The vial we manufactured at the end of August so it was still pretty fresh . Yea I can give the femeneter a swirl and I prob didn't aerate the wort as much as I did previous batches

 

[jddevinn]

End of August manufacture brings the yeast down to an estimated 79b cells from the initial 100b.

A standard pitch rate of 0.75million cells per ml°P gives a required 283b cells.

You underpitched a bunch and didn't oxygenated. It should still ferment out, give it some time and stop peaking . Then next time calculate out the pitch rate.

 

[Tx6686]

Thanks jd I'll keep that in mind next time . Got to be more technical next time rather than just pitching a vial

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Definitely invest in a stir plate and flask and learn to make starters. Mr. Malty and YeastCalc are good websites to figure the correct yeast count needed. StirStarter is a good economical stir plate and a 2L flask will be good for making starters.

 

[MrBJones]

I have it at 67-68. It works best between 65-69. It was one vial to 5 gallon batch . I haven't don't a gravity reading yet

Keep in mind that once it starts fermenting actively, the wort temp can increase up to ten degrees above air temperature. That being the case, you may want to try cooling it to low 60s now.

 

[kev211]

I just did an Oktoberfest that Im calling a faux-toberfest cuz I used the kolsch yeast from WL as well. Fermented on the cooler side but it was still a very inactive yeast. It still fermented out completely and was super clean. Turned out to be a great festbier. My vitals were 1.053 OG and finished up at 1.008. Flocculated like a mother too. Never cold crashed (just in the keg) and its by far one of the clearest beers Ive ever made.

I think you'll be fine. Just let it do its thing. If you are worried you can do as suggested and give the fermenter a little swirl

 

[jddevinn]

Keep in mind that once it starts fermenting actively, the wort temp can increase up to ten degrees above air temperature. That being the case, you may want to try cooling it to low 60s now.

Or better yet measure the wort/beer temperature and not the air for your controls.

 

[Tx6686]

I just did an Oktoberfest that Im calling a faux-toberfest cuz I used the kolsch yeast from WL as well. Fermented on the cooler side but it was still a very inactive yeast. It still fermented out completely and was super clean. Turned out to be a great festbier. My vitals were 1.053 OG and finished up at 1.008. Flocculated like a mother too. Never cold crashed (just in the keg) and its by far one of the clearest beers Ive ever made.

I think you'll be fine. Just let it do its thing. If you are worried you can do as suggested and give the fermenter a little swirl

How long till your fermentation was complete

 

[Tx6686]

Or better yet measure the wort/beer temperature and not the air for your controls.

What's the best way to do so? I have mine setup in chest freezer with the thermometer covered with sponge directly on outside of bucket . I have felt it throughout the process and never felt that the temp was much higher than my readings

 

[Tx6686]

Definitely invest in a stir plate and flask and learn to make starters. Mr. Malty and YeastCalc are good websites to figure the correct yeast count needed. StirStarter is a good economical stir plate and a 2L flask will be good for making starters.

Thanks I will check out the sites and stirstarter

 

[jddevinn]

What's the best way to do so? I have mine setup in chest freezer with the thermometer covered with sponge directly on outside of bucket . I have felt it throughout the process and never felt that the temp was much higher than my readings

This puts you "ahead of the curve". Many people simply measure the temperature of a glass of water in the chamber. When I started I was simply taping the probe to the side of the carboy and covering it with a couple layers of packing bubble wrap.

For a bucket you should be able to grab a cheap thermowell from someplace, like http://www.brewhardware.com, to directly measure the liquid temperature.

 

[kev211]

How long till your fermentation was complete

I kegged after 14 days. High krausen was about 2 days in. "Primary" fermentation was about 4 days. No secondary. Nice crispness from the kolsch yeast

What's the best way to do so? I have mine setup in chest freezer with the thermometer covered with sponge directly on outside of bucket . I have felt it throughout the process and never felt that the temp was much higher than my readings

Like someone said... Obviously the best option would be a thermowell. But the method you're doing now is fine. Until I switched to chronicals I did the tape on the side method for a long time and always got good results. With a thermowell I'm within +/-1degree on the temp probe reading and with the tape on the bucket method I was within +/- 3 degrees. Not quite as good, but if you know where it reads then you can compensate for that with your temp controller setup.