How long are you willing to wait for signs of fermentation?

[japhroaig]

Leaks happen to everyone at some point, I think, and you can usually turn them into a story (at least for other brewers )

 

[Revvy]

Revvy, thanks for pushing me to keep the faith in the power of the yeasties!

Yeast, FTW!!!

I am going to give you my standard rant about how, for the most part, the idea of "bad yeast" is really bogus....


Of god knows how many batches of beer I have made....I have never had fermentation not start, or a beer not turn out ok, and I have never ever ever had to add more yeast to a beer.

Except for infecting a starter due to poor sanitization, it really really is hard for yeast NOT to do what they do naturally.

That's how we can make a huge starter from the dregs of a bottle of beer...we let the viable (living) cells reproduce, and we feed them incrementally, and they continue to reproduce.

Seriously most LHBS know enough about what they are doing in terms of proper yeast storage, same with suppliers, it doesn't take a genius these days to know how to stick liquid (and dry yeasts usually) in a fridge, and ship in bulk in a styrofoam cooler.

We're talking billion dollar corporations (the yeast labs, and that's what they are LABS) and they aren't going to risk their rep by letting their suppliers and stores that carry their stuff , handle it improperly.

Besides...Yeast IS hardier than most newish brewers wanna give them props for...I mean You can't say that THIS YEAST was stored "properly" and yet, they managed to make a batch of beer with it.

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/17-08/ff_primordial_yeast

If we can make beer with that....even the tiniest viable glop in a barely smacked pack, is going to work as well.

Gang I can't say this enough;

Unless you bought liguid yeast through the mail in the heat of summer, or added your yeast into boiling wort. your fermentation will happen.

Yeast just don't not work anymore, that is an idea that came from the bad old days before homebrewing was legalized in 1978 when yeast came in hard cakes that travelled in hot cargo holds of ships ...And then sat under the lid of blue ribbon malt extract for god knows how long on grocery stores shelves.

But since 1978 yeast science has been ongoing and the yeasts of today, wet OR dry are going to work in 99.9% of the situations we have, if you give them the time to do so.

But every noob who starts an "my yeast is dead thread" just really pertpetuates a fear that has come from way back then, they got it from Papazain and other brew books written Thirty or more years ago, and were told horror stories of those yeasts, and it influenced their writing, which influence nervous noob brewers as well. AND he influenced Palmer and other book writers, who passed that yeast doubt onto generations of brewers.

And then, most of the time, you new brewers then freak each other out!!!! You see an "infection" or "Not fermenting" thread title, or 10 on a given day and most of you don't even read the story behind it...you just see a dozen yeast is f-d up threads...and then believe my yeast has the potential to be f-d up.

But as the guy who answers those questions on a daily basis and finds out that no hydro reading was taken, nor has it been 72 hours, and THEY (not you) ARE going by airlock bubbling- AND when they do take a hydro reading or pop the bucket lid, they see that there was a krausen....and most of the time they actually post back, to say they were being paranoid, and fermentation DID happen.

But to someone who actually doesn't follow up on those threads, they think that yeast is so damn fragile....when it is the brewer's nerves that are.

But Unless you bought yeast through the mail in the heat of summer, or dumped it in boiling wort 99% of the time your yeast will do it's job...no matter what the title of many threads APPEAR to say.

Yeast handling and growing is a science, AND a BUSINESS, EVEN DRY YEAST GANG, they are all grown in labs, not fly by night operations (that's why the whole argument about dry being sub-par to liquid is really idiotic)..and with the internet, and books, and magazines, including this months BYO btw, even the most inbred LHBS employee SHOULD and probably does know how to properly handle and store yeast prior to selling it to you.

You just gotta have faith.

 

[david_42]

Great rant, but all true. Hope you had a homebrew or two to relax, Revvy.

Some myths in brewing will never die.

 

[Revvy]

Great rant, but all true. Hope you had a homebrew or two to relax, Revvy.

Some myths in brewing will never die.

Actually that's a couple years old.

BUT I was drinking Hitachino Nest XH when I cut and pasted it.

The woman I've been seeing was in Omaha last week, and I found Brewtopia online, and ordered a bunch of stuff I can't get in Michigan, like the Hitachino Nest stuff, and New Belgium.

 

[wyzazz]

BUT I was drinking Hitachino Nest XH when I cut and pasted it.

And how was it?

 

[Revvy]

And how was it?

Well so far I've tried the Red Rice Ale, and the XH, and I'm not that impressed. They have a "unigue" taste that I guess is the sake yeast the use along with ale yeast. I pick up a lot of soy sauce flavors in both of them, that I'm not sure I like in my beer. I have some others to try including the white ale, which I am really curious about. I wouldn't spend the money I did on them again, but it's always fun to try new and strange beers.

And the HTN beers are definitely strange.

 

[wyzazz]

You said it, it is absolutely always fun to try new/strange beers, even if they aren't very good! Thanks for the quick review!

 

[Phoenix60]

If I dont have any signs of fermentation in 48 hours then I would be worried. I usually dont add any more yeast until 72 hours without any signs of fermentation.

 

[ScottishPete]

Revvy when you say "or dumped it in boiling wort" do you mean *boiling* wort, or like wort at 120 degrees ... cuz uh, this guy I know ...

 

[wyzazz]

Revvy when you say "or dumped it in boiling wort" do you mean *boiling* wort, or like wort at 120 degrees ... cuz uh, this guy I know ...

Uhhh, if you dumped it in to 120F wort I'd be willing to bet you cooked your yeasties. I'd pick up another vial/pack and repitch at around 60-65F.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

To answer the OP, I am pretty upset about things If I am not bubbling away within 12-16 hours. If a ferment takes 72 hours to start actively fermenting, the reproductive phase was WAY too long IMO. Properly prepared and utilized yeast will provide a rather consistent ferment with predictable results.

I haven't dumped and prayed in a long time. That said, if I didn't have an active ferment right away, unless you had a backup starter going, it isn't worth pitching extra before that 72 ish hour range.

Also, you will get an infection regardless of how good your sanitation processes are if you wait long enough. There are a few good studies and tests you can run to see how good your sanitation practices are based on how long it takes for infections to take hold. The question is not if you will get an infection, it is when.

 

[remilard]

If you own a pH meter, you can tell if your yeast are active within a couple of hours of pitching (the pH will drop).

I'd hate for someone to sit around for 72 hours while their $60 pH probe that they use once a month is getting 72 hours closer to needing to be replaced.

 

[SkiSoloII]

I didn't wait long enough....... Pitched a small jar of slurry (Wyeast 1275) from a brew I racked on 3/7. Pitched into a Porter I made Sunday. Didn't seem to start after 26 hours. Sprinkled in 2 pkgs of Notty...... BOOM!!!!!!

Damn..... Lost a lot of beer to blowoff. I think it's still blowing off.....

Dave