help! Yeast not doing anything.

[Hop man]

I brewed my first full boil Sunday morning and used liquid yeast (White labs) for the first time also. I pitched at about 11am. It's now Monday 8 pm and I'm seeing no airlock activity. What might have gone wrong? I pitched at 74 degrees. Through the day Sunday the fermenter temp dropped to about 72. During Monday the temp has dropped down to about 66 degrees. The temperature range is good for Ale yeast but is it the temperature variation that is killing me?

What do I need to do?

 

[Tenchiro]

It'll happen, just give it a few more hours.

 

[homebrewer_99]

What you need to do is learn how to make a starter. What you are experiencing is called "lag time".

If you make a starter 1-2 days prior to your brewing you would know that your yeast is good and your lag time will be reduced to just a few hours.

I brewed another Guinness Clone on Friday. I made a starter 2 days prior (using washed yeast froma previous batch) and my lag time was only 3 hours before I saw some activity.

 

[ThomasRau]

Don't worry, you'll be fine, just give it more time. As others have already said, without a starter its going to take a little while.

 

[Buzzy]

I use White Labs Yeast as well as Wyeast smack packs. I dump in the yeast and give the bucket a shake to mix. I also top off the water in my bucket with the spray nossle on my kitchen sink. This adds oxygen to the wort. I'm by no means a pro but this has worked for me. I would like to start making starters simply for this reason. Patients is the key. Enjoy.

 

[mcgeek1202]

I have noticed a lag in WL yeasts. They have also made some of my best beers. Safale dry yeasts have been some of the fastest acting. Give it time--I had one that took over 48 hours to start--12 hours after the start I was about to blow out my airlock.

 

[malkore]

sounds like perfectly normal lag time for WL vials that didn't get made into a starter first.

 

[JacktheKnife]

I have noticed a lag in WL yeasts. They have also made some of my best beers. Safale dry yeasts have been some of the fastest acting. Give it time--I had one that took over 48 hours to start--12 hours after the start I was about to blow out my airlock.

McGeek,
My first batch of the season was started the 26th,
4 days ago. It started fast and finished fast.
I just looked at it and it is flat, with no bubbles at all, flat.
Yeast was Safale 56, and talk about fast!
4 days and I would guess it is about done.
I don't use hydrometer,
just a week in the primary and a week in the secondary.
So I'll rerack in 3 days and bottle in 7 more.

Last year I used Safale '0-4' too and noticed it needed a blow off hose whereas the '56' didn't.
And with the fast start time I may use more '56'
this season, but the '0-4' had a good taste, almost better.
Safale 56 and 0-4 ... the best yeasts I have ever used.


jacksknifeshop.tripod.com

'Knife'

 

[beerGod99]

All of my WL yeast take a good 48 to get rolling. Also make sure your temp is at 75 then when it starts to take off I drop it down to 63 to 65 seems to work out