Did I pitch to soon?

[jpappilli]

Started my first batch of Weizen Beer last night. But I forgot to activate my yeast packet in the morning which I intended to do. So I activated it and let is swell for about 4 hours before pitching. The yeast packet says let sit for 3 hours or longer. Its been about 12 hours and not activity in my airlock. Did I mess up?

 

[BigRob]

Activating isn't strictly necessary, and 12 hours is hardly the point to worry. Most of my experience with Hefe yeasts has a 24-36 hour lag time and then my blowoff tube is filling up. If you aren't using a blowoff, I would recommend starting to do so on this brew.

 

[zeus53219]

Relax, it will be fine.

 

[jpappilli]

Activating isn't strictly necessary, and 12 hours is hardly the point to worry. Most of my experience with Hefe yeasts has a 24-36 hour lag time and then my blowoff tube is filling up. If you aren't using a blowoff, I would recommend starting to do so on this brew.

I will get one now lol..

Relax, it will be fine.

Thanks, just dont want to mess up my first batch..

I do have another "oops" I would like to find out about. I got confused with some info. I though I read that I had to add my malt when my water temp got to 174. I then added my malt, then after 5 minutes I added my flavoring hops. I noticed obviously my water isn't at a "rolling" boil at 174. I jumped on here and looked it up, and saw that it should have been 200+ boiling temps. So I upped the heat and started the rolling boil. Once at a rolling boil I started my 55min timer to add my aroma hops. Will this kill my batch?

 

[worksnorth]

I will get one now lol..



Thanks, just dont want to mess up my first batch..

I do have another "oops" I would like to find out about. I got confused with some info. I though I read that I had to add my malt when my water temp got to 174. I then added my malt, then after 5 minutes I added my flavoring hops. I noticed obviously my water isn't at a "rolling" boil at 174. I jumped on here and looked it up, and saw that it should have been 200+ boiling temps. So I upped the heat and started the rolling boil. Once at a rolling boil I started my 55min timer to add my aroma hops. Will this kill my batch?

No Dude it wont kill your batch, it'll be fine, you'll just do it different next time. Again..... relax! This is a fun hobby!
Cheers

 

[kh54s10]

Did you mess up? No... and yes. Your yeast should be fine and 12 hours is too early to get worried when pitching liquid yeast without making a starter.

There will be a lag time while the yeast reproduce to numbers sufficient to ferment the wort.

For the yes part; Liquid yeast packs contain enough to ferment the beer. But do not contain enough yeast to do it optimally. You should make starters when using liquid yeasts. Some recommend doing so with any beer over 1.050 and others , myself included, would lower that to 1.030.

That in mind you should see action soon and will most likely get a good beer. You would have a better chance of creating a great beer if using a starter.

 

[jpappilli]

Thanx guys, ill just wait and see... right now trying to keep my fermenter cool is the challenge, I am using the "swamp cooler" method, but space to freeze bottles is my issue, only have room to freeze one half gallon bottle at a time. I will make it work lol..

 

[kh54s10]

I do have another "oops" I would like to find out about. I got confused with some info. I though I read that I had to add my malt when my water temp got to 174. I then added my malt, then after 5 minutes I added my flavoring hops. I noticed obviously my water isn't at a "rolling" boil at 174. I jumped on here and looked it up, and saw that it should have been 200+ boiling temps. So I upped the heat and started the rolling boil. Once at a rolling boil I started my 55min timer to add my aroma hops. Will this kill my batch?

Too late now but this beer might be quite bitter. The way you added the malt extract is not of much concern

But, in an hour long boil, bittering hops are added at the beginning and aroma hops are added late in the boil. Usually with 15 minutes or less time left.

Adding the aroma hops early will add more to the bitterness and less to the flavor and aroma. How much it adds to the bitterness depends a lot on what the hops were. If they were a low alpha acid hop the change will not be a lot.

 

[jpappilli]

Too late now but this beer might be quite bitter. The way you added the malt extract is not of much concern

But, in an hour long boil, bittering hops are added at the beginning and aroma hops are added late in the boil. Usually with 15 minutes or less time left.

Adding the aroma hops early will add more to the bitterness and less to the flavor and aroma. How much it adds to the bitterness depends a lot on what the hops were. If they were a low alpha acid hop the change will not be a lot.

I didnt add the aroma hops until 5 minutes before end of boil, just like the kit said to do, its the bittering hops that ended up boiling a little longer than intended.

 

[jpappilli]

When is it time to worry? lol. Batch has been in the fermenter since Saturday night, still no activity in my airlock.....

 

[BigRob]

Your airlock is not an indicator of fermentation, that job is for your hydrometer (or refractometer). If after 72 hours, you're really concerned, take a gravity reading, if it's lower than when you pitched the yeast, fermentation has already begun.

 

[zeus53219]

You never know, the way you did your hops addition might be beneficial. Ive been First Wort Hopping (FWH) for a year or so on different types of beers with excellent results. Not going to get into detail about FWH, but definitely sometime to look into once you got your routine down.