Seems there's lots of these stories on this site, but this one is mine.
Brewed a Minnesota Common from the book Mashmaker by Michael Dawson last Tuesday. Followed the recipe as close as I could, substituting Hallertau Magnum for the local Minnesota Magnum that Michael uses (I'm in FL). About 4 or 5 days prior I did a 1.6L starter for the yeast that the recipe calls for, the wyeast 2112 California Common lager yeast. I added 170 grams of dme for the starter which should equate to roughly 1.038 according to the DME calculator on MoreBeer. I did add 1/2 tsp of nutrient to the starter for good measure. It took almost a day and a half for that starter to show activity, and I left it going for another day before I pulled it and stored it in the fridge for the upcoming brew.
Brew day turned out great, hit all my numbers and my mash pH was spot on at 5.3 Pre boil gravity was 1.042 and the OG was 1.056 (target was 1.054). My water report was taken just three weeks ago, we have fairly soft water with low alkalinity so that was perfect for this brew. I worked out a mash and sparge acid addition through BruN water and again my pH values were just about perfect. Chilled the wort to as low as I can get, into the brew bucket it went then I chilled if further with my glycol chiller. At the 62° point I pitched the yeast and there it has stayed for the past 75 or so hours without so much as a burp.
My sanitation is good, I clean with PBW and sanitize with starsan. When I pitch the yeast what I have been doing is decanting the liquid above the yeast then, after sanitizing the valve on the brew bucket, I pour in roughly a liter of the wort to mix with the yeast, swirl it a bit then pitch. I'm fermenting at 62° (wyeast recommends 58°-68°).
Here's one possible issue, my normal work flow on brew day, as I am getting everything ready for the brew day, is to pull the yeast flask out of the refrigerator and let it warm up on a table. I'm not sure why I think it's a good idea to let the yeast warm up a bit from the refrigeration temp, but after a while I realized the yeast is going to warm well above my fermentation temperature, something I know I don't want to have happen. As a result the yeast was sitting out in my 76° garage for many hours before the brew. I did return the yeast back to the refrigerator towards the end of the brew, but that was only for 1/2 an hour or so. Once I dumped the spend starter fluid and poured the 62° wort into the flask I'm thinking that might have been a drop in temp for the yeast. Perhaps that's the reason the yeast may appear to be dormant, and as a result no activity yet.
I do know the airlock is not a sign of fermentation, however I would have expected something to come from there. What I am thinking is that since I still have some room in the yeast temp recommendation I would raise the temp up to 66° and hope that gets things kicked off. Beyond that in a few more days I can pull a sample to see if there is any activity at all, then maybe get more yeast and re-pitch. What am I missing?
Brewed a Minnesota Common from the book Mashmaker by Michael Dawson last Tuesday. Followed the recipe as close as I could, substituting Hallertau Magnum for the local Minnesota Magnum that Michael uses (I'm in FL). About 4 or 5 days prior I did a 1.6L starter for the yeast that the recipe calls for, the wyeast 2112 California Common lager yeast. I added 170 grams of dme for the starter which should equate to roughly 1.038 according to the DME calculator on MoreBeer. I did add 1/2 tsp of nutrient to the starter for good measure. It took almost a day and a half for that starter to show activity, and I left it going for another day before I pulled it and stored it in the fridge for the upcoming brew.
Brew day turned out great, hit all my numbers and my mash pH was spot on at 5.3 Pre boil gravity was 1.042 and the OG was 1.056 (target was 1.054). My water report was taken just three weeks ago, we have fairly soft water with low alkalinity so that was perfect for this brew. I worked out a mash and sparge acid addition through BruN water and again my pH values were just about perfect. Chilled the wort to as low as I can get, into the brew bucket it went then I chilled if further with my glycol chiller. At the 62° point I pitched the yeast and there it has stayed for the past 75 or so hours without so much as a burp.
My sanitation is good, I clean with PBW and sanitize with starsan. When I pitch the yeast what I have been doing is decanting the liquid above the yeast then, after sanitizing the valve on the brew bucket, I pour in roughly a liter of the wort to mix with the yeast, swirl it a bit then pitch. I'm fermenting at 62° (wyeast recommends 58°-68°).
Here's one possible issue, my normal work flow on brew day, as I am getting everything ready for the brew day, is to pull the yeast flask out of the refrigerator and let it warm up on a table. I'm not sure why I think it's a good idea to let the yeast warm up a bit from the refrigeration temp, but after a while I realized the yeast is going to warm well above my fermentation temperature, something I know I don't want to have happen. As a result the yeast was sitting out in my 76° garage for many hours before the brew. I did return the yeast back to the refrigerator towards the end of the brew, but that was only for 1/2 an hour or so. Once I dumped the spend starter fluid and poured the 62° wort into the flask I'm thinking that might have been a drop in temp for the yeast. Perhaps that's the reason the yeast may appear to be dormant, and as a result no activity yet.
I do know the airlock is not a sign of fermentation, however I would have expected something to come from there. What I am thinking is that since I still have some room in the yeast temp recommendation I would raise the temp up to 66° and hope that gets things kicked off. Beyond that in a few more days I can pull a sample to see if there is any activity at all, then maybe get more yeast and re-pitch. What am I missing?
