Delayed fermentation, should I pitch more yeast?

[merc82]

Hi all!

Hope everyone had a great 4th. Quick question. Last Sunday I brewed a BIAB NEIPA. This is my second BIAB and this time I decided to change yeast. I went with Imperial Barbarian yeast this go around. I usually pitch US-05 dry yeast. This is only my 4th beer, but in the past I had vigorous activity in the fermenter the next morning. There is no activity until I looked this afternoon to add some ice bottles to my brew bag (about 68-70° in there currently). I am using an NB Big Mouth Bubbler and the lid is tight. I emailed the place I got the yeast from and they suggested I pitch more yeast in there. I went ahead and ordered some US-05 from Amazon and was ready to throw more in until I saw this this afternoon. Should I pitch it or let the original yeast work it's magic?

 

[Kent88]

Pitch it. Pitch it real good.

 

[mongoose33]

Is there any evidence you've had a krausen? There should be active krausen or, if it's done, at least some of that should be stuck on the side of the fermenter.

 

[merc82]

I got very little krausen, or at least what I am used to this far after brew day.

 

[mongoose33]

What was the temperature of the yeast, and temperature of the wort, when you pitched it? Also, what method did you use to oxygenate the wort?

 

[merc82]

What was the temperature of the yeast, and temperature of the wort, when you pitched it? Also, what method did you use to oxygenate the wort?

The yeast was pitched at room temp, about 80° the wort was chilled down to the 80° area as well. The only thing I do to oxygenate it is run it through a stainer inna funnel as I move it to the carboy. The yeast was stored in the fridge up until brew day. The only thing that concerned me is that it shipped with 2 ice packs from Texas. When I got it both were melted and the package was kind of warm. It sat on my porch in South Fl. heat a few hours before I got home.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

I had a similar situation with my Wyeast 1723 that I got from Morebeer. I live in Phoenix AZ. My yeast was on the porch from 9:10AM until 11:30AM. I checked the temp of the package and it was 87 degrees Fahrenheit. I did the smack-pack nutrients 3 hours before I pitched and it definitely had a bit of a swell. When I opened the package there was some fizziness. It took about 30 hours before my krausen came up. Things seem to be progressing normally now.

 

[mongoose33]

The yeast was pitched at room temp, about 80° the wort was chilled down to the 80° area as well. The only thing I do to oxygenate it is run it through a stainer inna funnel as I move it to the carboy. The yeast was stored in the fridge up until brew day. The only thing that concerned me is that it shipped with 2 ice packs from Texas. When I got it both were melted and the package was kind of warm. It sat on my porch in South Fl. heat a few hours before I got home.

I'd guess you lost some yeast in the sun. Since you had some krausen obviously some survived, but it effectively is an underpitch. Toss that S05 in there.

 

[merc82]

Thanks for the help! Tossed 2 packs of S05 and the krausen cap is looking good!

 

[mongoose33]

Thanks for the help! Tossed 2 packs of S05 and the krausen cap is looking good!

One would have been enough. Did you rehydrate that yeast or sprinkle it in on top?

 

[brewbama]

Once again, dry yeast saves the day! I’ve never seen anyone say “my dry yeast is DOA, better pitch some liquid”. I’ve seen “my liquid yeast is performing poorly I’ll pitch dry yeast to save the beer” a bazillion times. Yet dry yeast gets a bad rap. LOL

 

[kh54s10]

Once again, dry yeast saves the day! I’ve never seen anyone say “my dry yeast is DOA, better pitch some liquid”. I’ve seen “my liquid yeast is performing poorly I’ll pitch dry yeast to save the beer” a bazillion times. Yet dry yeast gets a bad rap. LOL

True but.....

Once again dry yeast saves the day from improperly used liquid yeast!!

 

[merc82]

One would have been enough. Did you rehydrate that yeast or sprinkle it in on top?

I just sprinkled it on top. I know I really probably should have done a starter. I used 2 because it should come in around 8%. I under pitched once, so I was a little worried. I had to leave and take care of some things for my parents yesterday so I threw a couple of ice packs in the brew bag and left town for the day. I should of thrown more on, it was 78° when I got back, but it is still plugging along. My apartment smells great!

 

[ESBrewer]

One thing that I have learned already.. always look at the krausen, never look at the co2 escape as a measure of activity. I just brewed a batch where there was zero activity in the blow off tube but huge krausen formed on top. This practically means that it is fermenting very well. Day three when the krausen started to go down a bit I switched the silicone cap and replaced the blow off tube with a traditional airlock and it was immediately releasing bubbles more than 1/second. So it is always possible that there is a leak, even if it is completely invisible & unbelievable. But as long as there is a good or growing krausen it is going fine. If it disappears (or remains especially weak) and you are not reaching FG, then there is probably something wrong with the viability of the yeast and there is really need to pitch more yeast.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

True but.....

Once again dry yeast saves the day from improperly used liquid yeast!!

The only advantage that liquid yeast has over dry yeast is selection. This is a double edged sword too, since liquid yeast is so perishable, the market might not bear the selection, meaning a retailer has to carry so many different varieties that spoilage is almost a given. It would be better if homebrewers stop blaming themselves for “using liquid yeast improperly”. Then manufacturers would need to move to the better dry yeast platform.

 

[kh54s10]

The only advantage that liquid yeast has over dry yeast is selection. This is a double edged sword too, since liquid yeast is so perishable, the market might not bear the selection, meaning a retailer has to carry so many different varieties that spoilage is almost a given. It would be better if homebrewers stop blaming themselves for “using liquid yeast improperly”. Then manufacturers would need to move to the better dry yeast platform.

From what I understand, it is not that simple. Some yeast just don't work well in the drying process.

For using liquid yeast properly, it just takes some planning and knowledge of how to use it. I personally have never had a problem using liquid yeast. In fact my only stalled fermentation was with dry yeast.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

From what I understand, it is not that simple. Some yeast just don't work well in the drying process.

For using liquid yeast properly, it just takes some planning and knowledge of how to use it. I personally have never had a problem using liquid yeast. In fact my only stalled fermentation was with dry yeast.

I should be able to look at the Wyeast instructions, follow them and be “using liquid yeast properly”, but I believe that common practice is to use liquid yeast improperly in such a way that you can get reliable results.

It may seem like I am attacking you in particular, but I’m not. It’s one of my E buttons when someone tells me the right way to do something is to do it some other way than the actual authority says to do it.

 

[kh54s10]

I should be able to look at the Wyeast instructions, follow them and be “using liquid yeast properly”, but I believe that common practice is to use liquid yeast improperly in such a way that you can get reliable results.

It may seem like I am attacking you in particular, but I’m not. It’s one of my E buttons when someone tells me the right way to do something is to do it some other way than the actual authority says to do it.

It is not just me. If you read up on yeast most will lead you to optimum cell counts. Wyeast packs contain about 100 billion cells. All the yeast pitch calculators will recommend about 200 billion for an average ale. I don't know if it is still there but when I was researching liquid yeast years ago, I saw a video where a Wyeast lab tech said you should be making starters when using Wyeast smack packs. General opinion is that the directions on the packs - to activate the pack then pitch directly is aimed at the novice, to make it easy.

Will a direct pitch ferment the beer? Yes. Will the beer be good? Probably. Will the beer have off flavors? Maybe. Will you be giving the beer the best chance to go from good to great? IMO, no.