So this past Tuesday I brewed an European Bock kit and its now Friday night and I have no activity in the fermentation bucket. I followed the directions and had it sitting in a temp controlled freezer at 57F. Should I raise the temp?
The packet of yeast did say lager. I took a look in the bucket last night and there was no sign of fermintation, just looked like flat beer lol. I'm wondering if I got a bad packet of yeast.
Possible, but not likely. I'm assuming that you're talking about dry yeast which in the packet is pretty tough stuff and holds it viability much longer than liquid under the same conditions.
FYI- if you pitched a single packet of lager yeast into a 5-gallon batch, you probably under-pitched by 50% or more, especially if you sprinkled it dry. Lagers need twice the number of yeast cells (counted in the billions) as do ales.
If you know your OG, take a gravity reading now and compare the two. If they're the same, it's time to rehydrate and pitch TWO "rescue" packets of dry lager yeast. Try to keep your temp closer to 50*F the first 4-5 days, after which you can start creeping it up a couple of degrees a day until you get to about 64*F to finish.
Thanks for the info BigFloyd! Why the hell would they only out one packet of yeast with the kit then? I will check the gravity later today when I get home from Work. If I need to repitch should I hydrate the yeast before pitching?
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