Bad Yeast?

[mwilliams72707]

So I brewed my second batch ever on July 5th... I was careful about sanitation and everything... my first batch turned out great so I just wanted to see if I could duplicate it and was trying to do the same thing. I noticed fermentation was kicking off a lot slower than my last batch (I know this can vary from batch to batch so I wasn't too concerned), however it's been 11 days or so since I brewed it and it's still not fermenting like it should be. My air lock barely bubbles and I carefully looked in my fermenter yesterday and there is little to no kraeusen on top. I'm wondering if the yeast was bad? or I live in a very hot place in the desert (it's 110 degrees plus ever day here) so I have my fermenter in an extra refrigerator with a temperature controller on it that kills the power at 65 degrees... However I put a thermometer in the fridge and have noticed that during hot parts of the day it can get up to 78 or 80 degrees in the fridge (it obviously is not working correctly) but it doesn't get any warmer than 80 in there and in the mornings when I check it the temperature is around 65 or 68 degrees... will the temperature changes mess with my fermentation... I'm guessing it would. Is my batch ruined? Should I dump it and start over? Or should I repitch new yeast?

 

[ndsgr]

Are you using a bucket? My bucket would usually allow bubbles in the airlock only when fermentation was really vigorous. After that, the airlock would be flat because the bucket doesn't seal up all that well.

Also, depending on yeast, you may not get much in the way of krausen. What yeast did you use? Do you have a hydrometer?

After 11 days it might have already finished, but the only way to tell is a hydrometer reading. Airlocks are a poor indicator.

 

[mwilliams72707]

Yeah I'm using a bucket with an airlock... it's a pretty strong seal... maybe my last batch had a more vigorous fermentation than this one... but last time I had to clean my air lock three or four times with in the first 10 days... this time nada... I do have a hydrometer but I forgot to measure on brew day and didn't get a sample in a bottle... so.. not sure what I should do...

 

[mwilliams72707]

still not sure what to do...

 

[Captain_Bigelow]

You need to take a hydrometer reading. Some fermentation's happen and the airlock never bubbles.

Does it say on your recipe what the gravities should be?

 

[ndsgr]

Get a gravity reading. Even if you don't know the OG, you'll still be able to tell if fermentation happened. You just wont know ABV exactly. If you post the recipe or plug it into brew software we'll tell you about what it is.

 

[Revvy]

The only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in....

You can't make any decisions about what to do without first taking a reading, WE can't tell you what's happening either.....We're good but we're not brewing psychics....take a reading and more than likely you'll realize that airclocks really mean nothing, and that everything is fine.


The idea of yeast "dying" is another one of those holdovers from bygone days, when yeast was in cake form, of undetermined origin and traveled in the hot cargo hold of ships for months, and sat on grocer's shelves for god knows how long. Then Charlie Papazian, and other authors wrote about yeast being "finnicky."

Which of course sews seeds of doubt in many a nervous new brewer.

But nowadays modern yeast rarely lets us down. It doesn't just "die" unless you dumped it in boiling wort and killed it.

 

[mrk305]

Most likely it is already done. My beers usually only show rapid airlock activity for two to four days. The bubbles you are seeing now are probably from the bucket changing temperature.

Like the others said, the only way to know is to take a hydro reading. For peace of mind I would do that now but plan on leaving it finish in the bucket for a total of three or four weeks.

 

[SteveM]

So - still unanswered is the question - what kind of yeast did you use? Related questions - how did you handle it? Was it dry. liquid, etc.

Chances are, your beer is fine - your kreusen probably settled. Was there any kind of residue on the sides of the fermenter?

The best course is probably to leave it in the fermenter for another week or two, then bottle it.

 

[mwilliams72707]

No residue on the sides of the fermenter... used Lallemand Munich Brewing Yeast (dry)... it was not pitched in boiling wort... I'm a new brewer but I knew to cool my wort which I did well... After the wort was cooled I pitched the yeast right into the wort and stirred it well. Then I put the lid on set the bucket on top of my dogs tennis ball and sloshed it around for 5 minutes to aerate the beer like I read to do... I will take a measurement with my hydrometer tomorrow... thanks for all the help guys

 

[SteveM]

Our processes are much different. I'm not saying it's the only way to do this, but on the other hand, I've never run into an issue like yours (except once, with Nottingham, when they were having well-documented problems - see the yeast forum for more).

When I use dry yeast for beers with ordinary strength, I don't aerate - I rely on pouring the water and wort into the fermenter to provide sufficient aeration. And I can't help but wonder if it is necessary to do all that stirring and sloshing. I've never done either. I sprinkle the dry yeast on the top of the beer-to-be, close the lid and leave it alone.

As I said, I know it's not the only way, but it's always worked for me.