Using cal common yeast 2112 directly from the smack pack and it's been over 36 hrs since I pitched. No signs of fermentation yet. OG was 1.050. Good aeration when I pitched. It's about 63 degrees in the basement. Should I move it somewhere warmer? I have another brew that's ready to move from primary. Should I repitch on top of that yeast? This is only my 3rd batch. Not really sure why it hasn't taken off yet. I know I should be making starters but like I said I'm a newbie.
Lag time or bad batch?
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boydster
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Lag time. Since you didn't make a starter, there really weren't enough yeast cells to get a healthy start and they need a little more time to build up an appropriately sized colony. Give it time, this one will take off. You didn't ruin your beer or anything. Next time you use liquid yeast, check out YeastCalc or Mr. Malty to help get the right pitch rate and you'll probably notice less lag time and also you'll have less chance of off-flavors from underpitching.
I used the Wyeast smack packs for my first 7 batches and from that experience I can suggest that it has everything to do with how fresh the yeast is. I bought it at the LHBS, and if it was just a couple weeks old I would see signs of fermentation in 8 hours or less. The two times it took longer were the two times I got yeast that was several months old, and the older of those two took around 40 hours to get started. There are other factors but that seemed to be a clear indication to me.
Oh, and make sure you sufficiently oxygenate the wort before pitching; otherwise, you could still have long lag times, as I did recently. I made a starter (smaller than it should have been, but definitely better than no starter at all), yet it took over 72 hours to get a significant fermentation, because I forgot to aerate the wort.
I'm also partial to white labs. The homebrew shop I work at stopped carrying wyeast because of such issues. We get weekly shipments of yeast from wl. Freshness is important. Also, wl typically has much higher cell counts than wyeast and they top crop instead of washing. I never need to make a starter unless I'm doing a high grav.
Each lab does have some strains that are unique to them, but if you can use wl, its a better choice IMHO. And, as stated, aeration is really important. That's my two cents. I'm sure I'm opening up the floodgates... Cheers!
Each lab does have some strains that are unique to them, but if you can use wl, its a better choice IMHO. And, as stated, aeration is really important. That's my two cents. I'm sure I'm opening up the floodgates... Cheers!
I have only used wyeast so far and have had slow starts on all of them. I aerated the best I could by shaking the Carboy vigorously. It looks like it's starting to push. I changed the airlock. I think the other one had a crack in it so the gas was escaping before it could bubble. I'm going to give it till morning then decide whether to repitch or not. Thanks for the input guys.
Don't be anxious to re-pitch, especially based on airlock activity or lack thereof. If it's in a bucket, shine a flashlight up against it to see if it has krausen. If nothing else, take a gravity reading before chunking more yeast in there.
boydster
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By the time you repitch, the yeast that is in there will have already established a large enough colony, negating the effects of pitching additional yeast. If I were you, I'd just let it do what it is going to do. New yeast would be kind of a waste of money at this point. Unless you get it in preparation of making a starter for another brew 
Read this: http://www.brewgeeks.com/the-life-cycle-of-yeast.html
Read this: http://www.brewgeeks.com/the-life-cycle-of-yeast.html
Glad it's going for you!Similar threads
