Ok, what did I do wrong??

Trying to figure this one out - I have a few theories, but I'm looking for some help.

Here was my problem - I brewed NB's Nut Brown Extract kit, using dry Notty yeast and after 4 days I did not see the tiniest bit of fermentation.

The Brew:
I did about a 4gal boil. Other than adding about 5oz of maple syrup (grade A - yes I know I'm supposed to use B - I couldn't find any) with 15 mins left in the boil, I followed the directions to the T, and everything looked great.

Cleaning:
I used a 5gal glass carboy, which was scrubbed prior and filled with new Starsan water. I sanitized the scissors that opened the yeast, the brewballs (floating hydrometers), and my auto siphon all in the same Starsan water. I've made close to 20 kits now, have cleaned all the same way, and they have all fermented well.

Cooling the Wort:
I used a copper wort chiller and got it down to about 70deg before using my autosiphon to my carboy. I let it splash around a bit as I was siphoning.

Theory 1:
When chilling the wort, I had a small amount (less than 3oz) of the water from the wort chiller splash into the brew pot. I don't think this was the issue, as my wort chiller was boiled and my water is usually pretty good (despite being from heavily polluted Lake Erie ).

Theory 2:
I chilled the wort to 70. This took about 15 mins. I added the 3.5 gallons or so from the pot to the carboy. I THEN added the dry yeast. THEN added another 1.5 gal of cold water from my tap. Did this anger the yeast somehow? I did not re-hydrate the yeast before pitching.

Theory 3:
I had bad yeast. I got it with this kit, less than 2 months ago. I bought the kit when the temps were kind of warm, and the transport took about 4 days. Immediately after receiving it I put it in my fridge until brew day. I took it out of the fridge about 4 hours before I brewed. The temps in the closet for the 4 days was about 65degs.

I know I know, people say "sometimes yeast takes a while and don't worry, relax...". I feel that way too. The thing is I've used dry notty yeast a number of times and it usually starts no later than 48 hours for me. This was 4 entire days later without the slightest sign of fermentation (no krausen, no color changes, no small bubbles anywhere, nothing - just dark, black, wort).

Regardless, fear not! I did not dump the kit. I added another packet of notty yeast right to the top yesterday around 6pm. Today at 6pm it had a full krausen, it's bubbling nicely, and everything looks as it should. I was just wondering what the hell went wrong originally???

Thanks for any input!

hard to say. rehydrating dry yeast is always a good idea. there was some bad nottingham going around again (supposedly)...

i have to say that it must have been bad yeast. sounds like you got the wort chilled down to optimal temperature before pitching. so you didn't hurt the yeast. I prefer American ale Yeast US-05 to nottingham myself. and they've never put out any "bad batches". if you don't like this beer, i'll be happy to drink it for you . CHEERS

I think before we start blaming yeast and lake water it would be important to know what signs of fermentation you were looking for and whether or not you took a FG reading.

Well I was looking for any sort of white, foamy krausen head on the top of the carboy, or possibly a start to a yeast cake or, AT MINIMUM, some small bubbles forming on the sides or the top of he carboy, but I didn't have any of that going on. It just looked like still, dark, wort.... The top of the wort looked a little oily when I added the second packet of yeast though. I did not take a FG reading. I figured that if the second packet of yeast failed I would try that, but since it started working so quickly I'd let it go for a week or two...

thanks for all the replies. My guess is it was bad yeast, and if that's the case, I'm happy it wasn't my fault

Not saying i am blaming the yeast but if you look in the yeast section there has been a rash of people claiming problems with Nottingham yeast recently.

two things, you mentioned using the brewballs. Did any of them drop or no? Also, you said you splashed a bit, but what does that mean. oxygen in the wort is just as important as fermentable sugars.

None of the brewballs dropped. They come in a small hard plastic sleeve - I filled that with star san water, put the balls in and let them sit about 2 hours, then opened the sleeve with aluminum foil covering my hand and poured them into the carboy.

By splash around, I meant that while I was siphoning from pot to carboy, instead of letting the hose sit on the bottom of the carboy I had it up above the bottom - letting the wort oxygenate while being added. I then added the yeast on top of the wort, I then added 1.5gal of cold tap water (oxygenating more I suppose).

I went over to the yeast section on this forum and found a ton of people having issues with notty yeast lately. I'm thinking I got a back pack of yeast. The second pack I pitched started working right away and is at high krausen right now after less than 2 days.

Opps, just realized - you probably were asking if the brewballs dropped because of fermentation.... I could only see 1 floating at the top at any point of this. Its a dark beer so its tough to see them. I usually find it hard to see them, especially on top fermenting beers. I think they were a brilliant idea, but might need some tweaking (maybe add a small, colored flag to the top of them so when they are in the krausen I can still figure out where they are?).