Huge yeast starter or yeast washing?

[Miraculix]

It's been about five hours now and no airlock activity. Hope the yeast aren't dead or something.

Come on mate, you know about how airlock activity is not a proper thing for judging fermentation.

 

[Sadu]

I just realized I might done something stupid. When I dumped the pint of yeast cake into the wort, I left some of it floating. Should I have stirred it in? I'm wondering if it is worth opening the fermentation bucket lid again.

Once you get a carboy or clear plastic fermentor you will see how much movement the yeast create once they get going. It's basically the equivalent of having someone standing there for 3 days stirring constantly.

So I wouldn't stress about not stirring the yeast, they will take care of that for you.

That said, best practice is to oxygenate the wort when you pitch the yeast, so the yeast have more oxygen which they use for reproduction. I don't have an oxygen bottle so I use an egg-beater attachment on the end of an electric drill for 2 mins. Fair to say things get a good stir during that process.

 

[Soulshine2]

I didn't have much to decant. It was packed to the rim.

at that point , its still a slurry, let it sit in the fridge a few days to a week and let it settle .
when you poured it in , did you allow it to come to pitch temp or straight out of the fridge? If its cold ,it'll take a while to get going.
I aerate my wort simply by letting it trickle into the carboy from the BK via hose ...its about a 2 ft drop so it creates a lot of oxygenated wort. If it sits a while , i'll swirl the carboy and get it aerated more. 5 brews like this, no worries.

 

[Abrayton]

Yeast age, temp and some other variables will effect how quickly you see visual signs of active fermentation. I’m probably not alone on saying that I have NEVER pitched yeast and not have fermentation at some point to some extent. I’ve pitched very old harvested yeast and waited more than 24 hours for visual fermentation. You’ll be good.

 

[urg8rb8]

Come on mate, you know about how airlock activity is not a proper thing for judging fermentation.

Haha I know.

 

[urg8rb8]

Once you get a carboy or clear plastic fermentor you will see how much movement the yeast create once they get going. It's basically the equivalent of having someone standing there for 3 days stirring constantly.

So I wouldn't stress about not stirring the yeast, they will take care of that for you.

That said, best practice is to oxygenate the wort when you pitch the yeast, so the yeast have more oxygen which they use for reproduction. I don't have an oxygen bottle so I use an egg-beater attachment on the end of an electric drill for 2 mins. Fair to say things get a good stir during that process.

Ok, so I'll just let it sit for a couple of days and see what happens.

 

[urg8rb8]

at that point , its still a slurry, let it sit in the fridge a few days to a week and let it settle .
when you poured it in , did you allow it to come to pitch temp or straight out of the fridge? If its cold ,it'll take a while to get going.
I aerate my wort simply by letting it trickle into the carboy from the BK via hose ...its about a 2 ft drop so it creates a lot of oxygenated wort. If it sits a while , i'll swirl the carboy and get it aerated more. 5 brews like this, no worries.

It's been sitting in th fridge for a few weeks from the last brew. I took it out of the fridge hours before to let it warm up. Then I dumped it into the bucket.

 

[urg8rb8]

Yeast age, temp and some other variables will effect how quickly you see visual signs of active fermentation. I’m probably not alone on saying that I have NEVER pitched yeast and not have fermentation at some point to some extent. I’ve pitched very old harvested yeast and waited more than 24 hours for visual fermentation. You’ll be good.

It will probably be ok. I was just expecting it to go off quickly because of all the yeast.

 

[Miraculix]

It's been sitting in th fridge for a few weeks from the last brew. I took it out of the fridge hours before to let it warm up. Then I dumped it into the bucket.

A few weeks in the fridge??? That's nothing, everything will be fine.

 

[rodwha]

Once you get a carboy or clear plastic fermentor you will see how much movement the yeast create once they get going. It's basically the equivalent of having someone standing there for 3 days stirring constantly.

So I wouldn't stress about not stirring the yeast, they will take care of that for you.

That said, best practice is to oxygenate the wort when you pitch the yeast, so the yeast have more oxygen which they use for reproduction. I don't have an oxygen bottle so I use an egg-beater attachment on the end of an electric drill for 2 mins. Fair to say things get a good stir during that process.

I aerate using just a hand whisk. May not be quite as good as a stone but it certainly works nicely. I also aerate the wort for my starter since I just dump the whole thing (minus what I set aside) in. I never understood the benefit of getting the yeast activated to chill them out and get them lazy before pitching. Since I’m not constantly shaking it I see no reason not to just dump it all in, especially when they’re energized and ready to go.

 

[urg8rb8]

Still no activity. I'm tempted to open the lid to see what is going on.

 

[Abrayton]

Take a peak if it eases your mind. When I used buckets I remember the lid not completely sealing so co2 escaped through there instead of the airlock

 

[urg8rb8]

I just took the lid off and there is absolutely nothing going on with a strong smell of yeast from the fermenter. Not sure what to do at this point.

I need some suggestions. Could the pint jar be mostly just junk that isn't yeast???

Should I stir up the wort??

 

[Abrayton]

I would put the lid back on, crack a beer or two and relax. Check it in the morning. What was the style and OG of the beer?

 

[urg8rb8]

I would put the lid back on, crack a beer or two and relax. Check it in the morning. What was the style and OG of the beer?

IPA with OG of 1.060

 

[bpgreen]

I just took the lid off and there is absolutely nothing going on with a strong smell of yeast from the fermenter. Not sure what to do at this point.

I need some suggestions. Could the pint jar be mostly just junk that isn't yeast???

Should I stir up the wort??

When you say nothing is going on, how did you determine that? Did you take a gravity reading?

If you smell yeast, it's likely fermenting.

 

[urg8rb8]

When you say nothing is going on, how did you determine that? Did you take a gravity reading?

If you smell yeast, it's likely fermenting.

I saw no physical signs of fermentation. The smell of yeast was there from the moment I dumped the yeast in the wort.

Before I put the lid back on, I resuspend the yeast. Let's see what happens.

 

[urg8rb8]

Santa gave me a Christmas present today! He's given me beer!

Finally airlock activity! . Patience and some yeast suspension paid off!

 

[urg8rb8]

This guy is still chugging along but activity is significantly decreased. I'll let it sit for another 10 days before taking the first reading.

Thanks for all the feedback!