Broken Porter?

[nathanclare]

Hey guys.....I brewed a honey porter on saturday and pitched my yeast about midnight that night. The boil went great and my new homemade CFC worked like a charm. I used a White Labs liquid yeast and pitched at around 77 degrees. The best before date on the yeast was SEP 26, but I didn't figure it was too far gone so I used it. The problem is I have no visual activity at all after almost 48 hours. I'm worried that the yeast might have been bad. I have one more vial, but I'm not sure whether to use it or not. Can you use too much yeast? And....Can you wait too long to pitch? i.e. Am I already screwed b/c the wort has sat for two days? Should I just try and wait it out?
Nate

 

[humann_brewing]

First of, RDWHAHB and read this thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/fermentation-can-take-24-72-hrs-show-visible-signs-43635/

Also, not that it will help this time, but if you make a starter, you will know ahead of time if your yeast is good.

Secondly, I was in the same boat this weekend, I brewed a 1.120 Imperial Porter and pitch a large chuck of WLP007 yeast cake and figured I would see activity in a hour but it took like 24.

 

[nathanclare]

thanks for the info.....I thought about doing a starter but got rushed towards the end of the day. I've never used the white labs liquid yeast before. I thought they would be better/easier to use but from what I've read they're not exactly "pitchable" like they say.

 

[HalfPint]

Is it in a bucket or a carboy? If it's in a bucket, have you looked to see if there is any krausen? Do you know the OG? If so, do a gravity reading. If it's gone down 1 single bit, it's fermenting.

I have an Ale Pale (bucket fermenter) that never shows airlock activity unless it's blowing off some krausen through a blow off tube.. I'm assuming that it has a slight leak some where that the gas escapes through (possibly a bent lid?) Like I said, it never shows any airlock activity unless its blowing off krausen.

Like said above, relax.

 

[nathanclare]

I think you and I bought our buckets from the same guy. Mine never shows any activity either unless the fermentation is so wild that it starts coming thru the airlock. I peeked inside hoping to see some krausen last night, but to my horror, I found none. I haven't checked it tonight. I did take an OG reading, so I'll check it again tomorrow and then I'll probably know for sure whether I have a real problem on my hands. Thanks for the reply.
Nate