No activity after 36 hours
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I am unsure of what you have going on. If you have fermented and racked to secondary there is no activity that you will see. If you racked to a secondary with a yeast cake (which is not needed) you will still be unlikely to see any activity since the sugars should already be fermented out.
Secondary fermentation is a misnomer. It is more accuratly described as a bright tank and is only for letting the beer become more clear. In the past with less refined yeasts it was thought that you wanted to get the beer off the yeast cake as soon as possible after fermentation. That is no longer accepted as necessary. You do not have to do a secondary at all if you do not want to.
Secondary fermentation is a misnomer. It is more accuratly described as a bright tank and is only for letting the beer become more clear. In the past with less refined yeasts it was thought that you wanted to get the beer off the yeast cake as soon as possible after fermentation. That is no longer accepted as necessary. You do not have to do a secondary at all if you do not want to.
Some more information might be helpful.
On what observations are you basing the no activity conclusion? Airlock bubbling isn't completely reliable since even a small leak will let CO2 escape elsewhere. The only trustworthy indicator is a hydro reading.
What was the temp of the new wort that you dumped on the cake?
On what observations are you basing the no activity conclusion? Airlock bubbling isn't completely reliable since even a small leak will let CO2 escape elsewhere. The only trustworthy indicator is a hydro reading.
What was the temp of the new wort that you dumped on the cake?
The sticky at the top of the beginner's forum states "Fermentation can take between 24 and 72 hours." And remember the ONLY activity that means anything is a drop in gravity. Use your hydrometer to tell you whether or not anything's really going on.
Oh, I guess it is the new batch that is not fermenting... As said wait or take a gravity reading or both.
I was confused too. I THINK he means he dumped a new beer on top of his yeast cake after racking a beer to primary....
That's what my answer leaned towards....
:fro:
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Probably should have bben more clear on what i had done. Sorry. Ill try to explain better....after i racked my beer into secondary, i left a little bit of beer covering the yeast cake. I poured a new batch of beer right on top of that yeast cake. I put a blow off valve on it, as i was expecting it to take off and make a mess immediatly, as a friend of mine has been doing this with great results.
Just because your friend's beer acted a certain way, doesn't mean yours will or won't act the same way, and that anything is wrong or right if it does or doesn't. There's so many variables at play in brewing, and even just the unpredictablilty of the yeast themselves, means that no two fermentations are ever the same, or even behave in predictable ways.
The Only way to know what is going on is by taking a gravity ready.
Can you run and take a quick SG reading and report back, so we can advise you on the next step? Thanks!
IvanTheTerribrew
Well-Known Member
I believe what you are saying is that you took a beer off of your primary and left the yeast cake at the bottom, then added a new wort to that yeast cake to ferment using the same yeast.
I have never done this and even harvesting yeast is not something I have tried I simply use a new yeast each time.
I will agree with the posts above that a bubbling airlock is not the only definitive sign of fermentation.
Temperature plays a piece, if you added wort that was too hot it could have killed your yeast, same can be said about fermentation temperatures, if this new batch is being kept at a colder temp that could slow things down.
The lead is very possible. There are easy ways to check if you have a leak. Press on the lid (if you're using a bucket) until it makes the water in the airlock rise, hold it there for a few seconds and see if the water level stays the same or if it starts lowering back down despite you holding it steady. If you have a leak, it's not a big deal. You can try to fix it of just leave it be since the CO2 blanket will keep from anything coming in as the CO2 leaks out.
But the sure way to tell is by hydrometer reading. If its not fermenting, add new yeast or yeast nutrient or both.
Hope this helps, cheers.
I have never done this and even harvesting yeast is not something I have tried I simply use a new yeast each time.
I will agree with the posts above that a bubbling airlock is not the only definitive sign of fermentation.
Temperature plays a piece, if you added wort that was too hot it could have killed your yeast, same can be said about fermentation temperatures, if this new batch is being kept at a colder temp that could slow things down.
The lead is very possible. There are easy ways to check if you have a leak. Press on the lid (if you're using a bucket) until it makes the water in the airlock rise, hold it there for a few seconds and see if the water level stays the same or if it starts lowering back down despite you holding it steady. If you have a leak, it's not a big deal. You can try to fix it of just leave it be since the CO2 blanket will keep from anything coming in as the CO2 leaks out.
But the sure way to tell is by hydrometer reading. If its not fermenting, add new yeast or yeast nutrient or both.
Hope this helps, cheers.
The beer is done!
Yep, I've had beers that were overpitched ferment out overnight before. If it got warmer than about 68 degrees, it would go especially fast. I suspected that is what happened to you!
Now, for a new thought on why you may not want to do that again: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/why-not-pitch-your-yeast-cake-166221/
I'd wait about 2 weeks, then bottle it. It should be pretty clear in a couple of weeks.
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