how long until my lager starts fermenting

[boothbrew]

I made my first lager on Monday afternoon. It has been in my temp. controlled fridge @ approximately 50 F, since Monday afternoon. How long until it starts fermenting?
I haven't seen any activity in the airlock yet...
Ales seems to start by the next day...

Thanks all!

 

[ThomasRau]

Give it at least 72 hours before you start to worry. What kind of yeast did you use? Did you use a starter? Was it acclimated to the temp? For my last Lager I used a dry lager yeast, made a starter a few days before before and let it ferment at 48F before pitching. That lager started up within 24 hours, my previous one took almost three days when I just pitched a smack pack.

 

[the_bird]

Lagers need a BIG starter. You could probably get away with increasing the temp to 55°, that might help kick-start the yeast a little.

 

[boothbrew]

Thanks

I used WYeast #2042 Danish Lager Yeast and smacked it about 36 hours before pitching.
I chilled the wort with my immersion chiller, transferred the wort to the carboy, topped it off to five gallons, then pitched the yeast. Immediately after pitching, I moved the carboy to the fridge....
Maybe it's getting a slow start because I used a smack pack???...

 

[boothbrew]

Lagers need a BIG starter. You could probably get away with increasing the temp to 55°, that might help kick-start the yeast a little.

Up next, Dopplebock.... MMMMNNNN, sounds good....

I'd like to make a bock after this lager is done and I get some fridge space back...

 

[the_bird]

Up next, Dopplebock.... MMMMNNNN, sounds good....

I'd like to make a bock after this lager is done and I get some fridge space back...

I need to update my sig; that's already brewed, but since my efficiency sucks, it lost it's "dopple" status!

Seriously, I made a BIG started, chilled and decanted most of the nasty beer from the starter, and had a quick takeoff. Not sure the exact number of hours, but I had a very strong krausen well before 24 hours.

 

[boothbrew]

BTW, it started fermenting as soon a I got home that day.
I guess RDWHAHB