did I kill my yeast ?

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ohad

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I brewed a Belgian dark ale, OG=1.087, 5 gallons.
I used wyeast 1214 Belgian abbey ale Activator. I took the package out of the the refrigerator and smacked the inner package. then it set in room temp for the duration of the brewing process (about 3 hours). It didn't inflate...
I think it was about 3 months before expiration date. I did use a package of lager yeast that was shipped to me in the same box and kept in the same conditions and it also didn't inflate, but did ferment excellent.
Unfortunately, my thermometer broke (after mashing was done).
I'm not sure what was the temp of the wort when I pitched, but I guess it was around 95F (35C). is this high enough to kill all yeast?
Its now 24 hours after pitching. no krausen, no bubbles. the fermenter sits at around 62F, I guess (next time I'll buy an extra thermometer).

I do have another package of a different Belgian strain I can use.
Should I re pitch?
 
Give it time.

Liquid yeasts (if not jump started with a starter) can take a long time to get going.

95 should not have done harm to the yeast. Basic hydrating instructions call for dry yeast to be added to boiled water, once it is below 100 degrees.

62 seems a bit cool for a belgian yeast. If you get the temp up to 68-74, you may get quicker/better results.
 
Well first off, 24 hours is nothing.

Second, next time you have an O.G. that high, you should make a huge starter. Be prepared for underattenuation or a large output of esters and phenolics.
 
Not quite sure, since I don't normally use smack packs. However my experience has been that it takes a day to inflate, and for every month old the package is, you can add a day to inflation time. I read that some where, so my guess is, your yeast is struggling to take on the huge load which would normally be okay once it was started normally.

Give it time, I bet its just starting very slowly and any Co2 being produced is just being reabsorbed.

That's my understanding from my limited knowledge, good luck.
 
If you are using just 1 yeast pack for a beer that strong it is going to have a tough time starting as that is not enough yeast and so it will spend a lot of time propigating which is not good (more by products from the yeast). BierMunchers suggestion to use a starter is the answer for a beer of this strength and so if you can get another pack and add that it should do it.
 
56 hours after pitching.
no sign of fermetation.

I have two other bags of wyeast - Belgian Ardennes and Forbidden fruit.
should I pitch one of these ?
is this batch done for?

and another thought - should I reboil it to sensitize any infections that might have taken hold until now?
 
If it were me, I'd smack a pack and put it in(but give it a few more hours this time). I don't think that you're at a "total loss" point, and you definately don't want to open it up and boil the previously pitched yeast. Just RDWHAHB.
 
I have purchased smack packs from Northern Brewer and have pretty good luck.

Out of those I bought, 4-5 of them were pretty well inflated after a few hours. I had one that did not inflate after a few days, which they replaced. Only one I had take more than 12 hours to inflate was the German Ale. I always make a starter as well.

I'm not sure why there is so much variance in inflate times. Probably has to do with the type of yeast and how it was stored I guess. For me, if one of these things doesn't inflate, I am not going to brew with it.

I say always prepare a starter a few days in advance. That way you are not sitting there with a full fermenter and no/questionable yeast to use.
 
I ended up NOT re pitching, since its a lot of trouble to get yeast shipped to where I live, and I didn't want to spend two packages of great yeast on a moderate batch.
after about 72 hours I got krausen and bubbles.
I hope the bad fermentation flavors won't be to noticeable due to the dark malts and caramel dominant flavors.

thanks all!

(again, as in most threads, I found out the answer was "just wait some time")
 
I'm glad it started up for you. Next time, RDWHAHB. Waiting stinks, but drinking something mighty tasty helps pass the time.
 
ohad said:
I ended up NOT re pitching, since its a lot of trouble to get yeast shipped to where I live, and I didn't want to spend two packages of great yeast on a moderate batch.
after about 72 hours I got krausen and bubbles.
I hope the bad fermentation flavors won't be to noticeable due to the dark malts and caramel dominant flavors.

thanks all!

(again, as in most threads, I found out the answer was "just wait some time")


good to hear..for the future..for liquid yeast use a small starter..its simple and will insure that the yeast is viable..It also will get the fermentation going much quicker..I usually have good active fermentation in 4 to 6 hours with a starter.

Jay
 
someone here suggested I'll experience low att. with this brew due to the low pitching rate.
if this turns out to be true, could I enter a new yeast type into secondary?
I'm thinking of a lager slurry (wyeast Bavarian) I kept from a couple of weeks ago. its a lot of yeast cells, and it shouldn't (I think) alter the fermentation flavors, since its a clean yeast.

would this be a good solution for this ?
 
someone here suggested I'll experience low att. with this brew due to the low pitching rate.
if this turns out to be true, could I enter a new yeast type into secondary?
I'm thinking of a lager slurry (wyeast Bavarian) I kept from a couple of weeks ago. its a lot of yeast cells, and it shouldn't (I think) alter the fermentation flavors, since its a clean yeast.

would this be a good solution for this ?
 
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