long lag time

[simzy]

Saturday was my first all grain attempt, and all seemed to go well. I warmed the yeast to room temp, then pitched my California ale yeast at about 80 degrees. I placed my beer in the garage for a few hours to cool the beer to about 68, then brought it back into the house where the temp is a pretty consistent 70. I think I must have left the beer in the garage too long, because the next morning when I woke up there wasn't any krausen residue on the side of the bucket. Unfortunately my fermenting bucket isn't air tight, and I don't see bubbles from my airlock even if fermentation is taking place.

Also, my 2yr old broke my hydrometer on brew day, and the brewshop is closed on the weekend, so I wasn't able to get an OG reading until Monday when the brewshop opened. My SG reading was 1.064, which was also my target OG. I took the bucket and shook it up to wake the yeast and get it resuspended. Today I have a good layer of krausen on the top and seems to be going fine.

I plan on getting another carboy so I can get a good seal and actually see my airlock bubbling. I also plan on using starters with all batches from here on out. Aside from increased risk for infection due to the long lag time, should I be worried about anything else?

 

[McKBrew]

Nothing to worry about with that kind of lag time. If you didn't use a starter, it's possible that it could take up 72 hours. RDWHAHB.

 

[CBBaron]

Pretty normal for pitching a liquid yeast in a big beer without a starter. Should be fine but you will have better results with a starter. Also make sure your wort temp is below 80F before pitching or you risk killing many of them off.
Craig

 

[Joker]

Some prefer better bottle or brew buckets (with a sealing lid) over a carboy for safety reasons. Just something to consider.