Lager under-pressure - still no sign of activity. How long?

[m3B.eer]

Hi everyone,

I'm getting a bit worried because I brewed what I want to be a lager yesterday, and it's been close to 16h since I pitched, and I see no signs of activity yet.

I cooled down the wort to approx 21C, transferred to my fermenter, shook it well, then pitched the yeast. It's a lager strain that I used once before to make a lager.
Something to note is that when I opened the yeast's container, it was quite under pressure, so I had to let it depressurize and spill a little bit on its own.

Once all was transferred, I simply pitched the yeast, shook the fermenter a little bit again, closed off everything, and attached my spunding valve.

My fermentor is in a room that's about 18-19C, and my spunding valve still shows no pressure change since I pitched.

Should I be worried yet?

 

[gunhaus]

Nah, I'd wait and worry tomorrow or maybe the next day.

 

[m3B.eer]

Ok... I just wanted to make sure there was no major mistake in the process... putting the spunding valve on right away at this temperature is okay in this case...?

thank you

 

[m3B.eer]

Update : I moved it around tonight, as the gauge still showed 0.
Checked the valve was clean, and tight.
I could see bubbling at the coupler and hear a bit of sound at the gas disconnect. If I take off the valve and pulg it back in, I can also see bubbling at the base of the gas disconnect. I don't have another one with me to try. The bubbling doesn't last though.

Now back to nothing - no sound or pressure value on gauge.

I opened the keg it it seemed like a Krausen is forming at the top.

Any suggestions?

 

[m3B.eer]

I've tried taking off the gas fitting and cleaning it up, same for the gas disconnect.
I've thought about taking both inner valves off, but I have a feeling like it's counter intuitive, as pressure won't build up into the sounding valve?

 

[Golddiggie]

Looks like you need to replace the poppet in that ball lock post. I keep spares on hand just for that eventuality. IMO, adding some to an order (to make shipping not an issue) is cheap insurance for the future need. Plus, you'll have them on hand and not need to wait for them to arrive. If you've tightened the post up as far as you can, and it still leaks, the poppet is the next thing to work on.

 

[Bad Bubba]

Keg lube is also a good thing to have on hand. Sounds like you have a pressure leak.

 

[m3B.eer]

Actually I found the issue : My ball lock was missing an O-ring. I had no idea it would have an effect on the fitting with the disconnect, but it definitely does. I had a spare one to use. And now it's working well!

Thank you!

 

[odie]

often when fermenting in the keg, the lid o-ring does not seat without a blast of CO2. When fermentation first kicks off the CO2 production is not fast enough to seat the big oring. In a couple days when it speeds up it might seat and start building pressure.