Fermenation, or lack thereof

[howiehandles]

I brewed a Cru, and added chamomile. Only my second home brew, the first, a wheat, is in the bottle, and has about 3 weeks to go-just graduated from 1 week of conditioning.

Question is, I cooled the wort outside, covered of course, which took a few hours. When I took the temp, it was down to about 63 or so, and I pitched the Wyeast, covered again, and left it down in the basement.

This was done about 11pm on Sunday, and as of this morning, I didn't see any action in the fermentation lock. Unfortunately I haven't graduated from buckets to carboys, as I'm still new to this, and have heard a lot of negatives regarding carboys, mostly cleaning and breakage.

I'm wondering if its taking longer due to the cooler temp, instructions said pitch at 70-75, but it was late, and I need to hit the rack for work. I moved the bucket yesterday to a closet upstairs, and hoping a warm temp kicks it in.

I do realize that there could be fermentation, but its just not visible yet via the lock, thus I wish I put this in a carboy.

Question, when is it time to panic or re-pitch some new yeast? My first was an all extract, using dry yeast, and within 12 hours it was bubbling. This was part extract, part grain, with liquid Wyeast, and nothing so far, as far as I can see. I've read that there could be a multitude of reasons why its taking so long, and they're not all bad. I'm guessing the cool temp is the main reason. When I activated the Wyeast package, it swelled up really good, thought it was going to burst, and the yeast was rather fresh.

 

[BendBrewer]

Yeah, your lower temp is probably what is causing the delay. What is the temp now?

Question, when is it time to panic or re-pitch some new yeast?

You are nowhere near it yet. I bet it will be fine.

 

[PVH]

RDWHAHB. Er...well, have a brew of some sort while your first brew is conditioning.

Your question is probably the one most commonly asked here. Almost every time there's nothing to worry about.

 

[SKMO]

Try to warm it up a little bit, closer to 70.

Did you oxygenate the wort/beer as you put it in the fermenter? That can make a lot of difference right there.

All will be fine, if you did not oxygenate the beer and it is still not showing signs of life, I think I would do that, i.e. froth it up a bit. Good luck.

 

[Dunerunner]

Could be the temp, what Wyeast strain did you pitch? There may have bees some temperature shock if the package was at room temperature ~70 and the wort was at 63, ya think?

Give it time. Did you shake the fermenter the first 12 hours to aerate the wort?

 

[howiehandles]

I have one of those sticky thermometers on the outside of the bucket, but comparing it to the handheld thermometer I used to check the temp of the wort when cooling it down, the numbers were off about ten degrees. Granted, the bucket was outside, so I'm sure that screwed up the sticky thermometer.

I didn't check the temp this am, but I know that when it was in the basement, the outside "sticky", showed a temp of 64, which is prob too cold for the fermentation stage.

I did about a good minute of vigorous stirring of the wort prior to pitching.

should I shake the fermenter again? or just let it warm up a bit?
let me just add, thanks for the awesome immediate response!

 

[Dunerunner]

Get it into a bath tub in the house where the temp is 70 degrees. If you want, fill the tub with water that is 74-72 degrees and half way up the bucket fermenter. The sooner the better.

 

[BendBrewer]

should I shake the fermenter again? or just let it warm up a bit?
let me just add, thanks for the awesome immediate response!

No need to shake or stir. If you can get it up to 68ish, that would be the best to do. And just be patient.

 

[trizzant]

As far as not using a carboy because of breakage and cleaning, I really don't think that should be a reason not to use one. As long as you have a tight carboy handle you would have to be pretty drunk or clumsy to break it. For cleaning, a large carboy brush is very easy to use and works perfectly in about 60 seconds. I couldn't imagine not being able to see the process happen, that's half the fun . Invest in a glass carboy for the next batch and your airlock will bubble for sure, assuming you get the temp up a little. I'm using the bathtub approach half full of water and it is keeping at 67-69 consistently.

 

[howiehandles]

Again, thanks for the quick replies, and good info.

Patience, not my strong suit, but I'll try. I'm expecting that bringing it upstairs will raise the temp. If not, I will definitely try the tub method when I get home.

 

[howiehandles]

Moving the bucket upstairs to a hall closet worked. Temp is 72-74, according to the sticker thermometer, and I peeked and saw a nice layer of foam. Still no bubbles, but I'll take foam.

The wife comes home and says, "you need to move that beer, it smells like baby diarrhea. LOL Smelled fine to me."

 

[howiehandles]

BUBBLES!!! Tightened the lid last night as well. It was a previously used lid, and didn't sit 100% tight IMO, but I was able to get it on there tighter, and now I just need to keep an eye on the nasty bits in the airlock. I have a blow off tube on the ready.