fermentation not starting, what should i do?

[zodiak3000]

never had a batch not start. made a massive starter the day before brew day, pitched at the end of brewday yesterday. the starter did not look active at all. i was wondering if the yeast was dead or a got a bad vial (wlp001). well its been almost 24 hours and there is no active signs of fermentation. kinda worried as ive never seen this before. wlp001 usually works great. should i go to my lhbs and get another vial of yeast, make a starter, and pitch tomorrow? how much am i at risk for infection if i wait this long?

 

[nickel78]

Give it a little more time before you start to worry. My last batch took almost 72 hrs before fermentation really kicked in

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/fermentation-can-take-24-72-hrs-show-visible-signs-43635/

 

[2PintsLow]

Give it a little more time before you start to worry. My last batch took almost 72 hrs before fermentation really kicked in

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/fermentation-can-take-24-72-hrs-show-visible-signs-43635/

+1 - give it another day or so to take off. Ive had a batch or 2 that took closer to 48 hours before fermentation kicked off. RDWHAHB my friend! Worst case scenario you could pick up another vial and pitch it in.

 

[Draken]

Why would you pitch a starter before you saw activity?

 

[zodiak3000]

so best to make a starter and pitch at 72 hours if no signs of fermentation have started? reason im worried ive ALWAYS seen wlp001 take off within 24 hours. what about oxygenation of wort before pitching a second time?

 

[Draken]

so best to make a starter and pitch at 72 hours if no signs of fermentation have started? reason im worried ive ALWAYS seen wlp001 take off within 24 hours. what about oxygenation of wort before pitching a second time?

Starters typically take between 18-36 hours. You don't really pitch a starter till after you have a nice yeast cake in the bottom and the krausen (if there was one) has dropped. If you had no yeast cake and saw no activity, chances are your yeast were really weak or really dead. Either way give it 72 as the above posters have said, if you still have nothing pitch new yeast.

 

[2PintsLow]

I wouldnt oxygenate the wort again, just pitch the vial of yeast/starter if you need to do so. It could have already started but not showing any real signs - bubbling air lock, krausening, etc. I had an ESB with 007 I brewed a few weeks back that was doing the same thing, I just pitched an additional vial into the carboy (no starter) and it kicked off by the next morning. You could even go far as to take a gravity reading tomorrow and see if its dropped a few points. But I agree with you, 001 usually goes off pretty quick when you have healthy starter.

 

[TrubDog]

Last night I brewed a batch of Edworts Oktoberfest which calls for WLP029 Kolsch yeast. I had some washed from a couple of months ago and made a big starter two days earlier and I saw absolutely no activity. When I was ready to pitch I was going to plan B and throw in some dry yeast, but I decided to take a hydro sample - 1.012! I pitched the WLP029 last night and its going crazy this morning. I always hook up a blowoff tube and sure enough its blowin off pretty good.

You can just never tell unless you test!

 

[zodiak3000]

thanks for all the advice. wlp001 is usually a beast so it got me trippin. was worried about infection cause of this as well. ill pitch a new starter at 72 if nothing is happening.