Did I Take the Yeast Out?

[nicobrews]

Hey guys,

Yesterday I brewed a Hefeweizen. Everything went well, transferred to the fermenter, pitched Yeast, awesome. I'd say two or minutes go by and I realized I forgot to take the OG reading. I hurrily fill the hydrometer via my fermenter's ball valve. I used two White Labs Hefeweizen Ale liquid yeast packs. What are the chances I actually took the yeast out of the fermenter when taking the gravity reading? It's been a little over 24 hours and no sign of fermentation. I'm fermenting at 67-68 degrees.

 

[brewstergalVT]

I doubt that you pulled all the yeast from the ball valve. Did the sample look like a milkshake compared to the rest of the wort? If not I wouldn't worry. You say no fermentation so I'm guessing you're looking at the airlock. Unless you took the lid off to look at it and there was no activity, I'm thinking that you might have a lid that's not on tight or an issue with the airlodck seal.

 

[nicobrews]

I doubt that you pulled all the yeast from the ball valve. Did the sample look like a milkshake compared to the rest of the wort? If not I wouldn't worry. You say no fermentation so I'm guessing you're looking at the airlock. Unless you took the lid off to look at it and there was no activity, I'm thinking that you might have a lid that's not on tight or an issue with the airlodck seal.

When I took the sample, it was cloudy but it eventually settled at the bottom of the hydrometer. I didn't remove the lid and I triple checked that there's no leak in the lid or airlock. Would it be worth adding another pack of Hefe yeast?

 

[brewstergalVT]

If you have more yeast available, yes, I'd put it in. You may want to take a look under the lid and see if there's anything going on (visible foam) first. I'm wondering if perhaps it's a bit colder than 67-68, for example if it's on the floor it may be a bit cooler than the room temperature causing a delay in it taking off. Of course, maybe you did pull much of the yeast off through the ball valve....