Dead Ringwood??

[Huizer]

Hi,
I brewed a half batch of DFH 60 min on friday night. Let the cooled wort settle over night in a sanitized water container. I had a smackpack of ringwood ale yeast that I had smacked on friday night. The corner of the pack had burst a little hole and some (a dribble) of the yeast/nutrient came out. I put a piece of scotch tape over it and waited for it to swell. It never did. Thats why I decided to wait overnight before pitching. In the meantime I researched the wyeast smack packs and found that ringwood ale might have a long lag time and that I should pitch it even if the pack does not swell. I shook the crap out of the wort and pitched the yeast on Sat afternoon. It has been 24 hrs and there is no activity at all. The carboy is sitting in a closet at 20.1 Deg C. And all the foam that was on the surface from aeration has disappeared. It is dead flat.

Now the questions: I have some nottingham should I/can I repitch?
Should I wait longer? If the ringwood is dead will I notice?

I have never used this yeast before so I am not sure how it behaves.
The wyeast pack was made on March 1st 2011.

Thanks, Dan.

 

[ultravista]

Dan - I used Ringwood with an Indian Brown clone. The smack pack didn't swell much after 24 hours so I made a starter. With a 1.8L starter, the wort fermentation took off within 5 to 6 hours.

It was a very active ferment too. I also fermented around 60 degress (f) in a ice tub. Probably a little cooler than Ringwood should be but it was bubling and churning like crazy so it must not have been too cold.

My advice, use a starter if you are unsure. You'll have peice of mind knowing you have a ton of viable yeast ready to start eating.

 

[steelcitybrew]

hey dan, is there a brew store around hamilton that sells the wyeast?
Ive only checked out brewtime, but im pretty sure they dont carry it.

sorry for the hijack, thanks

-Ryan

 

[Revvy]

THe only "activity" that matters has to do with a gravity reading. You don't really know what the yeast is doing unless you've taken one.

 

[Huizer]

OG was 1.063. I will let it go for a few days and see if there is any action. I realize now that i underpitched according to Mr Malty. I forgot to set the date on the package.

I agree that the only way to see if there has been activity is to take a gravity reading, however I would like to keep them to a minimum because each sample eats up volume from the 2.5 gal batch.

Brewtime does not carry Wyeast as far as I can tell. I ordered it from Canadian Homebrew Supplies. I get all my specialty ingredients from them. Bulk fermentables and common ingredients come from Brewtime. I am a little miffed at the shipping costs from CHS and I fear that they will only go up now that they have an actual retail store.