Fermentation not starting after 72 hours

[JETDOG07]

I brewed an Irish Stout on Sunday July 16th and pitched the yeast at 4 pm. As of Wednesday July 19th at 4 pm there is no fermentation activity.

FYI.. I am fermenting in a glass carboy so I can see that nothing has happened.

I pitched wyeast 1084 with a manufacture date of February 2017 on sunday and another pack of the same yeast on Tuesday. As I said I still have no activity. I have shaken the carboy every 12 hours for more O2 as well. Also I pitched the yeast at 80 degrees. A bit hot but ive never had issues before pitching at this temperature.

My grain bill was.
7.4 # Irish stout malt
3 # flaked barley
1.2# roasted barley
3 oz acid malt

1.5 oz East Kent goldings at 60 minutes.

Can anyone think of anything other than bad yeast that could be causing fermentation to not start?

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

hot pitch and old yeast would not be a good start. can you make starters? if so i'd make up a starter of a liter or so, decant and pitch. I bet it will eventually take off even with your current yeast, give it another two days max then look into starter or other options.

 

[JETDOG07]

I can make starters I just didn't have the time to for this particular batch. I may pitch a pack of US-05 in a day if I don't see anything happening.

 

[dieharduscfan]

Definitely do a starter and repitch but make sure you cool down the starter before pitching(You probably already know this duh).
I would also try and keep your temps below 74F to kick it off. I usually keep mine around 68-72 give or take a degree. If temp controls are a problem, try the Omega yeast. Their temperature range is pretty wide. Hope this helps because I hate to hear people tossing beer...
Cheers!

 

[JETDOG07]

I pitched a pack of us 05 and it took off in hours. Seems both packs of 1084 I tries were bad.

 

[Duffman870727]

Let's just hope your sanitation was on point and no bacteria had a party before you got the US-05 going...

From a quality management perspective, this is now a batch that should be kegged, kept cold, and consumed within 2 weeks of packaging to prevent off flavor development from possible bacterial contamination. You should be fine if you drink it quickly, hanging on to it for 2+ months might see a negative flavor change if any bacteria got a foothold.

Keep in mind for future brews, fresh liquid yeast with 90% + viability is barely enough to pitch direct into standard gravity brews. A several month old package near the end of it's shelf life absolutely requires a large starter. Think of it this way, we're not brewers, we're yeast farmers. They make the beer, we just provide them the ideal conditions to do so. Would you be upset with 5 cows that couldn't eat 1000 acres of grass in a week? Likewise, you always need enough healthy yeast to ferment your beer. Take care of them, and they take care of you

 

[Dcpcooks]

Old yeast is a bit of a coin toss without a starter. If your sani is up to par you'll likely be ok. You can proceed as needed.

It also possible you had an extended lag time with the old yeast and that yeast finally took hold. It may not have been the third yeast addition that kick started fermentation.

 

[JETDOG07]

Unchecked the wort religiously for any bacteria or weird looking substances before fermentation started.

I didn't see anything abnormal! I think I'm in the clear now.