California Common

[armymedic942]

Brewed a California common (steam beer) last weekend. I pitched with wyeast California lager (2112 I think) and have it at 58F. Still no sign of activity. Is it too cold?

 

[iowabrew]

did you make a starter? How big of a batch and OG? Could be you underpitched or maybe the lid/bung isn't in tight, unless you're seeing no krausen at all then yes something is wrong

 

[Chuckd76]

Just because you didn't see signs of the fermentation doesn't mean it didn't happen. Gravity readings are your best friend during fermentation.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/no-visible-signs-yeast-activity-132072/

 

[armymedic942]

No starter, pitched 200Bn. OG 1.040. Had small krausen for first 12 hours then nothing. After 4 days I racked off the cake and re pitched with another 200. Batch size of 8gal

 

[dyqik]

It could easily be finished in a couple of days at 58F from 1.040. Mine took 3 days or so from 1.048 at a controlled 60F. If you got a krausen, I'd say it was now done, and you should take a gravity reading to confirm this.

However, 200b cells in an 8gal batch is a bit too few for this yeast (you should use lager pitch rates I think, as it's fundamentally a lager yeast). Taste the gravity sample for diacetyl, and do a D-rest if you taste some.