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JoeTrott

JoeTrott

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The wort has been sitting for 1.5 weeks and I just realized the activated yeast is still in the fridge. What should I do?
Thanks
 
pitch the yeast... what are you gonna lose? if your sanitation is good I bet you are fine... some people store wort for months before pitching... granted they plan it and store it in a controlled container but I wager it is fine.
 
How does the surface of the wort look. A film or spider web like lines forming on the surface is a good indication of an infection. Taste a sample of the wort. Draw the sample with a sanitized thief or turkey baster. Sweet tasting, with no sign of sour or vinegar, it is probably still okay. Pitch the yeast if there is no visual indication of infection and the sample tastes good.
 
I bet an infection has taken hold since it has been so long unless everything was sterile which is unlikely.
 
the no-chill folks have wort sitting for weeks to months. You could be fine if your sanitation was good and you had the fermenter closed up tight.

You already spent the $$ on ingredients and the time to make the wort. Might as well see it through.
 
Was that layer of foam there when you sealed it up before? If not, something, possibly a wild yeast, got into the bucket and started fermenting it.
 
heat the wort up to 180*F (AKA pasteurize it). that will kill anything in there. cool, then pitch your yeast. hopefully whatever was in there previously hasn't had too much of a flavor impact.

you could go all the way and boil it, but that's not needed and will have more of an impact on the taste.
 
The foam was there when I capped it. I added 2 pounds dried cherries and it produced a pinkish foam after I steeped and added to wort. I am anal about sterilization. I spend hours cleaning and sanitizing everything I use. Even the bags the hops and sugar come in before I cut them open. I use water from a reverse osmosis installed in my sink etc. I have never had an infection that I know of. My lid was on tight and the air lock had sanitizer in it. It tasted like sweet cherries mixed with grain. Delicious actually
 
So far it tastes slightly sour and not much airlock activity. Is it possible the wort was too cold for the yeast?
 
i would try raising the temp. depending on yeast strain, that is probably a little cool and activity will take a while
 
Still in primary. Pretty sure it's done fermenting. Tastes very good. Will bottle Saturday so it's ready for xmas.
 
Still in secondary fermentation and not ready but I popped a bottle prematurely and it is delicious. I think I'll hold out a couple weeks on the yeast from now on.
 
JoeTrott said:
Still in secondary fermentation and not ready but I popped a bottle prematurely and it is delicious. I think I'll hold out a couple weeks on the yeast from now on.
Click to expand...


How is it bottled but still in the secondary?
If you bottled the beer it should of carbed up by now if you added sugar or priming tablets to the bottles.
 
Sorry I call the bottling part secondary. Starting sg 1.97 fg 0.54 I boiled the corn sugar 5 mins and bottled. There is a tiny bit of carbonation but not much. It's in my basement on the cement slab in San Francisco and the temp is approx 40f could this be it? But I bottled some ipa same time and it's fine.
 
JoeTrott said:
Sorry I call the bottling part secondary. Starting sg 1.97 fg 0.54 I boiled the corn sugar 5 mins and bottled. There is a tiny bit of carbonation but not much. It's in my basement on the cement slab in San Francisco and the temp is approx 40f could this be it? But I bottled some ipa same time and it's fine.
Click to expand...

40°F is to cold for the yeast to work. Hold the bottles in a warmer area, about 70°F to bring the yeast out of dormancy.
Your OG was 1.097 and the FG was 1.054? Are you using a refractometer for SG or a hydrometer?
Very high OG for a stout, and it seems a dangerously high FG to bottle, unless the cherries added a lot of unfermentable sugars.
 
23.gif
The wort has been sitting for 1.5 weeks and I just realized the activated yeast is still in the fridge. What should I do?
Thanks
29.gif
 
xfjfyuj said:
23.gif
The wort has been sitting for 1.5 weeks and I just realized the activated yeast is still in the fridge. What should I do?
Thanks
29.gif
Click to expand...

Check your wort for signs of infection, mold growing on top, take a sample and taste it. If it is not sweet, or tastes very sour, or tastes like vinegar, it may be infected.
Be sure to sanitize fermentor rim or carboy bung before opening. Sanitize sampling equipment.
Your yeast may also need a starter. Check the production date, if Wyeast, or expiration date, White Labs.
Report back after checking the wort and yeast. You may still be okay to get this beer going.
 
Og was I guess I typed it wrong it was almost 2.0 to start and at finish it was .054 as in just above 0 using a hydrometer. I fermented at 70f for about 7 weeks or so. Watched the sg. Until it was stable for a week then bottled. I did my ipa the same day and it's done. After bottling I put in basement. Should I bring it back up?
 
JoeTrott said:
Og was I guess I typed it wrong it was almost 2.0 to start and at finish it was .054 as in just above 0 using a hydrometer. I fermented at 70f for about 7 weeks or so. Watched the sg. Until it was stable for a week then bottled. I did my ipa the same day and it's done. After bottling I put in basement. Should I bring it back up?
Click to expand...

The OG was likely 1.097 or something close to 1.1 not 2.0. If your beer finished at 1.054 that is very high and is likely a stalled fermentation. Be careful with the bottles if they are really at 1.054 you will likely have bottle bombs on your hands. Can you take a picture pointing to where the beer was on the hydrometer?
 
Ha, this whole process turned into a train wreck. I can totally see myself doing something like this.


As for bottling, it should bottle condition at around 70 degrees, otherwise the yeast is going to go dormant and not carbonate the beer.
 
Check your hydrometer too I think maybe you're reading it wrong. At least I hope you are, I'm not sure what you'd have to do to get a 2.0 OG. LOL.
 
Brain-fart removed, but why don't I see a delete option when I use the edit/delete function?
 
Joe, don't feel bad. I've got my first 20 gallons in various stages of fermentation/conditioning and just figured out last week that I was reading the hydrometer wrong (nor was I adjusting my readings for temp). Reading the numbers can be a little confusing until you get used to the decimal placement and translating to short hand.
 
Thanks. I usually just look at the abv part. Now that I have it in front of me. Original grav was 1.154 or approx 20% finish was well between the 3 and 4% marks. Not sure how to read that mark. I took auto shop vs chemistry.
 

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