No action! Yeah... I know. RDWHAHB.

[RallyintheValley]

No activity at 48 hours for my American Stout. Used Wyeast British Ale II 1335. Smacked it, didn't bulge, but I've had that happen before. No starter since it's a 2.5 gallon batch.

I know I could get a sample to find out if anything is happening that I'm not seeing, but I'm using a 5 gallon carboy for a 2.5 gallon batch. My thief isn't long enough. I rarely admit that, but I feel comfortable here.

Here's my question. Should I pour out a sample? I mean literally pour it out of the carboy. Or should I just drive the 30 miles to the LHBS tomorrow and repitch? I'd hate to lose this.

 

[MrManifesto]

it's only been 48 hours, i'd let it go for a bit.

 

[mikee]

did you aerate the wort prior to pitching? I pour it back and fourth once before pitching and see action in hours. But I agree with mafisto, don't sweat it.

Also you may want to check your seal - sometimes I worry that there is not a lot of action and it ends up being the seal is not great on the bucket. I have not heard of this happening on a carboy, but who knows.

 

[Calder]

Lots of folks here say 72 hours, but me, I would be worried at 24 hours as I have never had one take longer.

However, provided your sanitation was good, the wort should also keep well.

I assume it is a glass or clear plastic carboy. If it is, you should be able to see if there is any activity. Do you see any bubbles coming to the surface?

I hope you have a pack of dry in reserve in case you need to pitch it tomorrow.

 

[RallyintheValley]

I'll let it go till Saturday. I aerate and I've already switched airlocks just in case. Never been past 18 hours so I'm in new territory here.

Thanks for the feedback. I know we get these "no activity" posts all the time.

 

[danorocks17]

my last batch took over 48 hours and I even made a starter. I wouldn't worry too much about it

 

[Brewham]

You smacked and it didn't bulge? Clue #1
You didn't do a starter? Clue #2
Was it a high OG? Clue #3

I would say - get a pack of backup dry yeast and pitch it. Can;t hurt at this point.

 

[RallyintheValley]

Lots of folks here say 72 hours, but me, I would be worried at 24 hours as I have never had one take longer.

However, provided your sanitation was good, the wort should also keep well.

I assume it is a glass or clear plastic carboy. If it is, you should be able to see if there is any activity. Do you see any bubbles coming to the surface?

I hope you have a pack of dry in reserve in case you need to pitch it tomorrow.

There isn't anything at all happening. No bubbles. Nothing. I don't have any extra. I'm hoping I can avoid the 60 mile roundtrip to my LHBS.

I guess my question should have been--at what point should I make the drive and repitch?

 

[Walker]

Lots of folks here say 72 hours, but me, I would be worried at 24 hours as I have never had one take longer.

It's really only one person that says it. He just says it over and over and over and uses the royal "we" when he does.

Yes, it *might* take 72 hours for fermentation to take off, but it shouldn't take anywhere near that long. It's not normal and you would be right to be concerned.

It might end up OK, but I'd stake money that out of all fermentations that took 72 hours to get going, most of them ended up bad.

I'd pitch more yeast ASAP.

 

[lumpher]

i'd say to repitch asap, also, if you want to save it

 

[RallyintheValley]

Made the trek this morning and picked up the closest I could find since my LHBS (can you call it local if it's 35 miles away?) only carries White Labs. The original was Wyeast 1335 British Ale II. I had no choice but to go with WL005.

Thanks for the input everybody. I guess we will find out how good my sanitizing is!

 

[RallyintheValley]

Next question... do I aerate again before pitching? There aren't any sings of fermentation, and taking a sample is out of the question since it's a 2.5 gallon batch in a 5 gallon.

 

[RallyintheValley]

Bottled this up last night... no ill effects from the 3 day lag.

Guess my sanitizing is on point!

 

[Revvy]

It's really only one person that says it. He just says it over and over and over and uses the royal "we" when he does.

Actually if you're referring to me...I first got that advice from Yooper, and I didn't write the sticky, someone else did, I think before I ever even joined this place. And LOT'S of folks evidently post in it saying the same thing.....

So despite what you may believe, there's quite a few folks in that "we." When it's JUST me, I'll say it is me.

I don't use royal "we's." If I say we it's because people other than me have said the same thing.

It might end up OK, but I'd stake money that out of all fermentations that took 72 hours to get going, most of them ended up bad.

Actually quite the contrary, if you cared to actually follow the zillion threads about yeast not starting, you'll find that pretty much all of them came out perfectly fine. I subscribe to the threads that I post in, so I follow up. And very rarely do they not turn out ok...In fact, I can't recall ANY where the beer didn't turn out ok.

In fact those stories are what's in the afore mentioned sticky.

So you can ASSume what you want about me, and what I have to say, but it's all clearly on here.

*shrug*

 

[Revvy]

Bottled this up last night... no ill effects from the 3 day lag.

Guess my sanitizing is on point!

Yeah, there's usually no effects from the three day lag. It's a sealed vessel, and even though your not seeing activity, the yeast are working for you.

 

[foltster]

Bottled this up last night... no ill effects from the 3 day lag.

Guess my sanitizing is on point!

How do you know it's fine if you just bottled it last night?

 

[ChillWill]

Give it a shake... any carbonation?

Also, my beer is usually at final gravity by 72 hours, I'd worry if it hadn't even started by then.

If the yeast was low viability like the lack of swelling suggests, it could be working but taking forever to start.

 

[Piratwolf]

It's really only one person that says it.

That's absurd.

To the OP: hope things work out!

 

[Hugh_Jass]

That's absurd.

Not really....If you're not seeing signs of fermentation in 24 hrs, you've under pitched, pitched a poor culture, have a poor quality wort, pitched at a less than optimum temp, didn't oxygenate properly, or there's some other QC problem.

I disagree fermentation can take 72 hrs for a *normal*, *healthy* beer. It should take no longer than 24 for yeast to begin to work their magic. Most of mine take less than 12 to show observable signs of fermentation. If it's a longer time frame, one of the above listed should be addressed

 

[RallyintheValley]

How do you know it's fine if you just bottled it last night?

It tasted great. I think if the damage had been done, then the effects would have already revealed themselves.

I guess technically I won't know for sure until the first taste test, but everything looked and tasted fine.

 

[RallyintheValley]

That's absurd.

To the OP: hope things work out!

Thanks piratwolf.

I think I'm in the clear.

 

[Revvy]

I disagree fermentation can take 72 hrs for a *normal*, *healthy* beer. It should take no longer than 24 for yeast to begin to work their magic. Most of mine take less than 12 to show observable signs of fermentation. If it's a longer time frame, one of the above listed should be addressed

And yet we have hundreds of beers on here that turn out just fine that start put exactly like this thread and end up with everything fine.

That's the point of the sticky, LOTS OF BREWERS EVIDENTLY EXPERIENCE A LAG and yet their beer turns out fine.

How can anyone dispute this....just by the stories in the stickey alone? We're not making this **** up.

 

[Piratwolf]

Not really....If you're not seeing signs of fermentation in 24 hrs, you've under pitched, pitched a poor culture, have a poor quality wort, pitched at a less than optimum temp, didn't oxygenate properly, or there's some other QC problem.

I disagree fermentation can take 72 hrs for a *normal*, *healthy* beer. It should take no longer than 24 for yeast to begin to work their magic. Most of mine take less than 12 to show observable signs of fermentation. If it's a longer time frame, one of the above listed should be addressed

First, my comment about absurdity was aimed at the idea that Revvy is the only person saying it can take up to 72 hours.

Second, I can see from your experience why YOU find that YOUR system works a certain way. However, if you read a lot in here & listen to Jamil and John Palmer, you'll hear that systems can vary hugely among home brewers, and that requires each of us to brew differently.

Third, I just had a 60 hour lag on a 1.061 ESB where I used a starter (per mr. Malty), pitched at 63 (per interview w/ head brewer at Fuller's), oxygenated just as I've done with brews that showed krausen in 6 hours, sanitized thoroughly, etc. That beer is now at FG and cold crashing, and it came out great. Funny old world.

 

[lou2row]

Now that the problem has been averted:

My question to the OP:
Do we have a spare yeast in our fridge now so we don't have to make an unnecessary 60 mile trip the next time? I am same boat, so I figure $3.00 I may not need can save me $25.00 in gas if I do.

 

[Revvy]

Now that the problem has been averted:

My question to the OP:
Do we have a spare yeast in our fridge now so we don't have to make an unnecessary 60 mile trip the next time? I am same boat, so I figure $3.00 I may not need can save me $25.00 in gas if I do.

Always, always, always a good thing to have on hand. I keep a couple packs of Us-05 in the butter drawer.

 

[RallyintheValley]

And yet we have hundreds of beers on here that turn out just fine that start put exactly like this thread and end up with everything fine.

That's the point of the sticky, LOTS OF BREWERS EVIDENTLY EXPERIENCE A LAG and yet their beer turns out fine.

How can anyone dispute this....just by the stories in the stickey alone? We're not making this **** up.

I guess I should clarify since this thread has taken a turn....

My yeast was dead. The gravity when I repitched was still at my OG. I pitched White Labs 005 on top of the dead Wyeast 1335. I did this at almost 72 hours. The reason this started is because I really didn't have any way to check my gravity. I was fermenting in a 5 gallon carboy with only 2.5 gallons. My thief wouldn't reach.
Just before I repitched, I actually ended up just pouring some out and checking it that way. Not ideal, but there were not any signs of fermentation and I figured that if I was going to lose it, I was going to document every step alone the way.

Thanks for the advice from everyone.

Not that it seems anyone needs my two cents, but I think we can all agree on this--fermentation should start within roughly a day, and if it doesn't... you need to keep a close eye and have extra yeast ready. It might be fine, but this is why I posted my question in the first place. Mine was definitely not fine, and I would have lost it if I didn't repitch.

No one wants to lose a batch, so you may as well be ready for all scenarios.

 

[agroff383]

It's really only one person that says it. He just says it over and over and over and uses the royal "we" when he does.

Yes, it *might* take 72 hours for fermentation to take off, but it shouldn't take anywhere near that long. It's not normal and you would be right to be concerned.

It might end up OK, but I'd stake money that out of all fermentations that took 72 hours to get going, most of them ended up bad.

I'd pitch more yeast ASAP.

x2

 

[RallyintheValley]

Now that the problem has been averted:

My question to the OP:
Do we have a spare yeast in our fridge now so we don't have to make an unnecessary 60 mile trip the next time? I am same boat, so I figure $3.00 I may not need can save me $25.00 in gas if I do.

I do indeed.

It makes total sense to have extra on hand, but you really don't think of it until it happens.

It's a learning process ya know

The other change I've made is I have decided to use a starter for my 2.5 gallon batches too.

 

[Revvy]

I guess I should clarify since this thread has taken a turn....

My yeast was dead. The gravity when I repitched was still at my OG. I pitched White Labs 005 on top of the dead Wyeast 1335. I did this at almost 72 hours. The reason this started is because I really didn't have any way to check my gravity. I was fermenting in a 5 gallon carboy with only 2.5 gallons. My thief wouldn't reach.
Just before I repitched, I actually ended up just pouring some out and checking it that way. Not ideal, but there were not any signs of fermentation and I figured that if I was going to lose it, I was going to document every step alone the way.

Thanks for the advice from everyone.

Not that it seems anyone needs my two cents, but I think we can all agree on this--fermentation should start within roughly a day, and if it doesn't... you need to keep a close eye and have extra yeast ready. It might be fine, but this is why I posted my question in the first place. Mine was definitely not fine, and I would have lost it if I didn't repitch.

No one wants to lose a batch, so you may as well be ready for all scenarios.

Um, excuse me, but if you don't have a hydrometer, and didn't take a gravity reading then, how do you REALLY know that at 72 hours your yeast was dead?

 

[seabass07]

Because he took a gravity reading and it was at OG.