Dont know what to do now?

[echosierra1]

Ok here goes. I have a mr beer kit(fathers day!) and I'm trying to do a Mexican lager with wyeast American lager yeast. On the first try I followed directions of store guys and just smacked it waited for room temp then pitched it. Three days later not even a bubble. So today I went back for two more smack packs under the impression that either I killed the yeast or it wasn't enough for the 51f. This time I smacked one of them and followed directions on pack ie smack wait for room temp and swelling then pitch. The other one I smacked and put in the chamber at 51f with the fermenter. Both packs did not swell after 6 hrs now. They are mfg date is jan 25 2012.

 

[SledgeH]

Ok, so you bought three, pitched two, and none of the three swelled, is that right? Take the one back for a refund and grab some dry yeast. saflager s-23 or w-34. It's cheaper and should get things moving along. Since a mexican lager isn't very specialized you don't need the Wyeast or White labs liquid stuff. They are much more specialized to style. In the future, don't picth a non-swelled pack. They refund without questions (usually) when you show them one that that didn't activate.

 

[echosierra1]

I bought one to begin with and nothing happened, then bought two more and still nothing. What do you all think about just pitching the ale yeast that it came with now. Keep in mind there is one pack of wyeast American lager in there. Also of course I would let it warm to room temp before pitching ale yeast.

 

[kh54s10]

Have you taken any gravity readings. At 51 degrees I would not be surprised at the fermentation not starting for 3 days or longer. Any krausen?

January mfg date is pretty old. You should have made a starter. Even for a Mr Beer sized brew. At the very least it would show if the yeast was still viable.

Many people used long outdated yeast packs with success. I am certain that making a starter is the best route with old yeast.

 

[cheezydemon3]

No I don't know what to do now, how'd you know?

 

[echosierra1]

I started two batches at the same time. One kicked off perfectly. The other one nada. Zero krasen. What do you think about the non swelling packs? Are they toast or am I impatient?

 

[SledgeH]

they swell pretty fast at room temp. I'm impatient and forgetful. so i usually pitch them 2 or 3 hours post smack. by then there is already activity in the pouch.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

What does your hydrometer say?

 

[echosierra1]

It finally swelled a little. I took that as good sign and pitched the both of them.
As for the hydrometer. Don't have one yet. Lots of stuff on wish list but I have to reign it after I took over the backup fridge and rigged a temp controller some other stuff. Happy wife happy life.

 

[echosierra1]

.

 

[midfielder5]

As for the hydrometer. Don't have one yet. Lots of stuff on wish list..

IMO, Brewers on a budget- and new brewers - should stick with dry yeast.
Liquid yeast is usually 2x more expensive;
liquid yeast do not handle heat/temp changes as well and should not be ordered in summer/ high temp times;
dry packs replicate many liquid strains (not all, but the standard ale yeasts, US 05 & S 04, Notty etc);
dry has twice as many yeast cells and thus you don't make a starter;
and dry are ready to go same day which is good for new (impatient) people.

Liquid yeast should be put into a starter to
ensure viability and grow more cells. An old smack pack will usually work if put into a starter and given a few days.
also, lagers need 2-5/x as much yeast as ales, depending on gravity.
cheers

 

[cbehr]

Yeast seems a bit old to me, I think White Labs use by date is 4 months from manuf date so I'm guessting Wyeast is comparable. You def need a starter and espeically when using yeast this old!!!

 

[Homercidal]

This is my personal opinion, but... A hydrometer is a very basic and necessary piece of brewing equipment. They do things like tell you if your yeast is working. Tell you how fast your fermentation is going. Tell you when fermentation is complete. Tell you what gravity your beer is at before pitching...

I highly recommend you make a hydrometer purchase a priority.

As for the smack pack, you have no idea what conditions the yeast was in before you bought it. It could have sat on a delivery truck in 120F temps for a day before the LHBS stocked it. You *should* always build a starter with liquid yeast. Just mix up some boiled and cooled starter wort and pitch it into a mason jar with a loose lid and stir it up several times a day. This builds up the number of yeast cells and also proofs the yeast for viability.

Or use dry yeast. Unless you have a very particular style that dry yeast won't work with, they work very well and don't require a starter for best results.

 

[midfielder5]

A hydrometer is a very basic and necessary piece of brewing equipment.
I highly recommend you make a hydrometer purchase a priority.

Yes this is an excellent way of saying what I was partially trying to get at... no need to spend $ on (and misuse) liquid yeast. A hydrometer is~$10 and thus costs less than 2 smack packs.

How are you going to know when to do a
diactyl rest for the lager w/o checking gravity?

(I have 2, in case one breaks during brew day.)

cheers!

 

[BigSally]

I always have a few packs of dry yeast in the fridge for these emergencies,but I then also prefer the dry as it's less troublesome.

 

[echosierra1]

Hey thanks everyone. I appreciate the inputs. I'm a bit hard headed when comes to doing things the hard way. I'll learn from my mistakes fast and take more precaution next time. I'm gonna practice building starters with the cheap packs that come with the kit. Then I'll get a hydrometer

 

[BigSally]

Hydrometers are really handy.Before I got one I couldn't hardly find anything to break on brew day

 

[echosierra1]

Lol