4 days, Fermentation hasnt started , no change from OG

[mike71484]

Brewed austin homebrew octoberfest on sunday. Cooled wort to about 70-75 degrees and pitched yeast at this temp. I aerated the wort for at least 5 mins. I used the white labs octoberfest yeast 1820 follwed the jnstructions to leave it at 75 degrees until fermentation has started then I was going to throw it into my chest freezer to cool. I didn use a starter which is a skill I havent learned yet. I left the yeast out for 4-5 hours and it opened with a hiss as its done before. Its been close to four days without a change in gravity. I have a packet of dry muntons yeast and wanted some advice as to what to do. Ive also swirled the bucket around on day 3 to see if it would kick start it but nothing. Basically trying to see what advice you guys can give me... Should I wait a little longer, should I pitch the dry yeast or is there something else I can do?

Thanks!

 

[twistr25]

Lagers typically need a starter, so you likely way underpitched. You may have pitched a little warm too, so that could have been an issue as well. I'd really recommend getting another vial of the octoberfest yeast, try to make a starter of some sort. Get a small bag of DME, boil some water and make a little wort, cool and pitch the yeast. You can manually swirl it around, don't have to have a stirplate. Otherwise, I don't think you will end up with the same beer.

 

[mike71484]

Awesome thanks hopefully the beer will stay good while I wait for the yeast and dme to come in

 

[JimRausch]

Mike, sorry to burst your bubble, but you will probably have to massively increase your yeast pitching rate. It depends on your OG and your volume, but lagers need a TON of yeast. Check Mr.Malty.com to see how much you should have. It will mostly likely be something like a stepped up 2L starter or 5-6 vials of the Whitelabs. An alternative would be to pitch two packets of dry lager yeast like 34/70. That way you can avoid the 4-5 day delay of building the starter( and the equipment and learning curve). And I disagree with theAustin Homebrewer's instructions of pitching it warm and then letting it cool down after the yeast takes off. The reasons are 2-fold: 1. lager yeast are much more sensitive to high temps. Temps in the 90's kill them. 2. The early fermentation process when they are growing, WHEN you don't see anything happening, is when most of the off-flavor compounds are produced. Higher temps lead to more off-flavor compounds being formed, which the yeast MAY be able to clean up eventually. With lager yeast it's much better to pitch in the 50's to low 60's and ferment in the mid 50's until it's time for a Diacetyl rest Good luck!

 

[BigFloyd]

+1. Those instructions about pitching warm and then trying to cool a lager once you see visible signs of ferment are a poor way of trying to compensate for under pitching. It's much better to pitch plenty of yeast at 45*F and let it warm up to 48-50 to begin the process.

Is your gravity now the same as the OG? If so, I'd opt for a couple packets of dry lager yeast to rescue this batch.

 

[mike71484]

Yea still sitting at 1.051 .. I ordered a couple of dry 34/70 and set my chest freezer low so hopefully my wort /beer doesnt go bad...well I learned my lesson.. ill probably reorder this kit and create a starter and compare the two and see how they differ.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[BigFloyd]

Yea still sitting at 1.051 .. I ordered a couple of dry 34/70 and set my chest freezer low so hopefully my wort /beer doesnt go bad...well I learned my lesson.. ill probably reorder this kit and create a starter and compare the two and see how they differ.

Thanks for all your help!

Sounds like a plan.

For doing lager starters, a stir plate is needed unless you want to make pretty darn big ones.

 

[mike71484]

So I opened up my bucket after 6 days and saw this...it looks normal except for those white foamy areas..any thoughts?

 

[mike71484]

Not sure why my pic wasn't added. Here it is..

 

[rdarr40]

I hope your batch works out but, here is my recommendation. Get a lot of ales under your belt. When you are ready to brew a lager then make sure you make a huge starter and pitch and ferment at appropriate temperatures.