Yeast question

Brewed our first batch and all seemed to go well until the end. We used the liquid yeast and thought we burst the paccket inside to activate the yeast bit upon opening foumd out that we did not burst the inner pouch. After panicing for a moment we sanatized a knife, cut the pouch and mixed the yeast together and poured in the wort.

Three days later, we are only seeing what looks like condensation bubbles in the air lock but nothing bubbling.

Did we screw it up?

Can we add some dry yeast to get it going or should we just leave it alone.

By the way, if it makes any difference, it is a red irish ale.

The Griff

 

Don't rely solely on the airlock. You can measure the gravity to see if it has changed at all.

 

I would purchase some yeast and pitch to be safe. FYI: You will know if you punctured the bag because it will swell in about an hour. I think the yeast will probably be okay that you pitched, but again i would pitch to be safe

 

good point

 

I have had feremntations go 4 days before seeming to be really active, but there were a couple of bubbles

 

You under pitched, you will not see a huge amount of bubbling but you will see bubbling. You also provided yeast starter which will help. I would let it sit for about 11 more days, take a reading and see. To avoid this problem (I have done this too) I would recommend making a starter, 1/4c extra light DME to 1c water. (1/2c DME to 1/2 quart). Also you can add the packet of yeast nutrient once the mixture cools when you pitch your yeast. I think starters are awesome and simple, 12h notice is really all that is required.

 

I had a yeast issue on my first batch (it said "re-hydrate" and I cooked the darn thing during the process...probably killing all yeast cells). My symptoms were similar to yours in the airlock...just condensation and nothing else. I hadn't taken a gravity reading, so I figured I'd hedge my bet and pitch more yeast. About 36 hours after the brew, I ran out and got a package of dry yeast and just pitched it right into the wort. It started right up and produced a great batch.

 

Real good point. Use a hydrometer to measure fermentation, not an airlock. Wyeast claims you can smack and immediately pitch (not that you should) but that's basically what you did. RDWHAHB and take a gravity reading in three weeks.

 

Like idiots, we did not take a reading before we sealed it up in the carboy. Can we do it now? Will taking the lid off screw things up?

the griff

 

If you sanitize well, you'll be fine. If it was an extract batch you can safely assume for the most part that your OG was close to the range specified in the recipe. Or you can enter your recipe on some software like http://beercalculus.hopville.com/recipe