32 Hours And No Airlock Activity

[BNVince]

Ho hum. I'm starting to get nervous. Here is the recipe I used:

6lbs Wheat Malt Extract
1lb Light DME
.5lb Carapils
1oz Tettnanger Pellet Hops
WhiteLabs Hefeweizen Pitchable Yeast

I got the kit from midwestsupplies. The yeast tube was warm when I received it from sitting on the truck all weekend. I let it cool down to room temperature before pitching to the wort which was 75 degrees. Before I pitched it, I shook up the tube real good and when I opened it it fizzed real bad. I took this as a good sign. I shook up the fermenter a little to try and aerate it a little but in hind sight I don't think it did much.

I had the fermenter in my kitchen which is around 70 degrees all the time. This morning I noticed that one of the air vents was near the fermenter so maybe it was colder then it should be. I moved it to the basement where it's a tad bit warmer.

Hoping for activity when I get home.

 

[Mutilated1]

hmm it sounds to me like you did everything right. I made almost that exact same recipe a couple weeks ago, except I used dry yeast ( WPL320 ) that I rehydrated in a teacup while I was cooking. I cooked and pitched about 10:00 pm and the airlock was bubbling furiously the next morning at 5:00 when I got up and left for work. That night when I got home, the airlock had blown off and there was a mess all over the bathtub where I keep my fermenter.

32 hours with no activity seems like an awfully long time, to me but I wouldn't worry about it too much. If theres no activity by tonight you can always just pitch some more yeast.

As I understand things, wheat beer and Hefeweizen yeast start up pretty quickly. Might pick up some more yeast on the way home just incase its not started, maybe wouldn't hurt to make a starter this time.

 

[Evan!]

In the future...big starters are your friend!

 

[BNVince]

Might pick up some more yeast on the way home just incase its not started, maybe wouldn't hurt to make a starter this time.

Yeah I wish I could but their are no homebrew shops around here. I would have to order it off the internet and I probably wouldn't get it until some time next weeks which means the wort would have been sitting there for almost a week.

 

[TheJadedDog]

Is there no airlock activity, or no activity at all? Bubbles in the airlock are not the only sign of fermentation and they are the least reliable as any little leak in the fermenter's seal will prevent the bubbling.

If you are using a plastic bucket, pop the top and see if there are any signs of krausen. If not, buy some more yeast and repitch. If there is, then you have fermentation and need not worry about the lack of bubbles in the airlock.

 

[BNVince]

If you are using a plastic bucket, pop the top and see if there are any signs of krausen. If not, buy some more yeast and repitch. If there is, then you have fermentation and need not worry about the lack of bubbles in the airlock.

I'll take a look when I get home. By the way, how is good old P-Town. I went to Johnson and Wales there. Tell the Wickendan Pub I miss it.

 

[Beerrific]

Also, if you are using a bucket, make sure the lid is on tight...pressing on it should make your airlock bubble. It is possible that if you have a slight leak you would not get airlock activity until very vigorous feremtnation starts.

Also, if you look aorund you might find someone from here that is near you or a homebrew club that could give you some yeast. If you have to reorder, choose somewhere closer, they can get you the yeast faster. Check http://www.ebrew.com and http://www.listermann.com/ or http://www.home-brew.com they might be able to get you yeast in a day with reasonable shipping charges.

 

[BNVince]

Also, if you are using a bucket, make sure the lid is on tight...pressing on it should make your airlock bubble. It is possible that if you have a slight leak you would not get airlock activity until very vigorous feremtnation starts.

Yeah the lid is on tight and pressing on it does make the airlock bubble. Their is a brewery in Atlantic City, which is near me, but I doubt they would sell me some yeast if they even have a hefeweizen yeast.

 

[mr x]

Just because you pushed on the lid and got bubbles doesn't mean you have a small leak that won't show in your airlock (been there, done that). Do you visually see any activity on top of the wort? Give it a quick stir and look and listen.

 

[ohiodad]

Yeah the lid is on tight and pressing on it does make the airlock bubble. Their is a brewery in Atlantic City, which is near me, but I doubt they would sell me some yeast if they even have a hefeweizen yeast.

If your lid is puffed up I wouldn't worry.. That airlock will be bubbling soon... I think if you pitched the WL yeast right in the wort you are going to have some lag time.. Give it another day..

 

[BNVince]

If your lid is puffed up I wouldn't worry.. That airlock will be bubbling soon... I think if you pitched the WL yeast right in the wort you are going to have some lag time.. Give it another day..

Oh I hope you are right. It does look like there is a bit of pressure on the lid because even a slight touch of the lid causes bubbles.

I would hate to see this batch go dead because the wort smelled so good. Everybody say a prayer to the beer gods for me.

 

[RickWG]

Brewed on Sunday and didn't get any ANY nice little foamy bubbles until wednesday night. chugging along nicely now. mail order is hard on yeast sometimes.

 

[BNVince]

Well I'm finally getting some nice bubbling in the airlock today. I just hope that the brew didn't get infected.

 

[McKBrew]

wouldn't worry about it a bit.

 

[BNVince]

wouldn't worry about it a bit.

I like the way you think.

 

[homebrewer_99]

One word: STARTER, STARTER, STARTER...OK, it was 1 word, but 3 times.

Here's a pic of the yeast I washed from 2 batches of the same recipe Weizen. This can last a long time...I mean over 1 year:

 

[BNVince]

One word: STARTER, STARTER, STARTER...OK, it was 1 word, but 3 times.

Here's a pic of the yeast I washed from 2 batches of the same recipe Weizen. This can last a long time...I mean over 1 year:

Yeah, I have learned that the hard way. I'm going to make a starter for sure on the rest of my brews. I'm not sure about yeast washing though. I don't know anything about that.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Yeah, I have learned that the hard way. I'm going to make a starter for sure on the rest of my brews. I'm not sure about yeast washing though. I don't know anything about that.

Somer's Point!!?? Hell, I used to live in AC for a couple of years. :rockin: The wife of one of the guys I worked with in Germany for a couple of years is from Pleasantville. She even had a tape on canoeing the Batsto and Green rivers where me and a few of my friends canoed more than a dozen times.

Is Gravely Run still a hangout? I remember going there in '71 when we used to swing off the Tarzan swing...drinking, smoking, getting laid, skinny dipping, etc...

Washing is really easy and has a good payoff...fresh new (more and FREE) yeast for future batches. Do a search on washing. There's a lot of instructions on how to do it.