Lalvin 71B not rehydrating

[pomofo]

I tried making my first mead last night, using Lalvin 71B (Narbonne) dry yeast. I followed the instructions for rehydrating the yeast, but after 15 minutes it didn't look like any of the granules had taken up any water. I stirred it and there was no slurry. So I figured screw it, and dumped it into the mead, figuring it would rehydrate in the mead.

Checked again this morning, and I can still see all the little granules. Has anyone else ever had this happen? The packet had been in the fridge since I bought it last month, and it was sitting out at room temperature for 24 hours, so the yeast wasn't cold when I pitched it. It did smell very yeasty, much more so than dry beer yeast, but I was surprised that there was no rehydration. I'm thinking I should wait about 3 days and if I still see granules and no signs of fermentation either pitch a new packet of Narbonne or maybe a different strain like Montrachet?

 

[commonsenseman]

Dunno what the best course of action is, but that does sound pretty weird. If it were me I'd give it a day or two, then if nothing has happened, pitch another packet (rehydrated) of the same yeast.

 

[malkore]

Wait 3 days and re-pitch.

I just used 71B on Sunday for a vanilla mead, and it rehydrated normally but I'm not seeing any signs of activity yet, but the carboy was a bit chilly in the basement.

Tomorrow night I'll pitch another satchet of 71B I just picked up if its still dead in the water...err..must.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

You know, this sounds a bit like the problems presented by the recalled lot of Nottigham yeast a while back; same company makes 71-B, wonder if there's a connection? Just wondering.

 

[bob1852]

I've had some weird things happen during rehydration with both 71B and EC1118 the last few times I've used them.

In the past, the yeast would hold on the surface and start foaming after 10-15 minutes. Lately, they all seem to sink to the bottom and just sit there.

However, I have not had any fermentation problems (long starts, stalls, etc...); so it seems to working the same as usual...

 

[malkore]

I'm repitching tonight. It smells like fermentation started and then stalled due to cold, and I think the yeast gave up.

 

[pomofo]

Well, it finally started fermenting last night, and now it's up to about 5 bubbles a minute. I think the 81 degree weather yesterday helped, but there's still a huge amount of yeast granules just suspended in the liquid. It looks like shotshell buffer suspended in ballistic gelatin.