OG on new IPA

[SKRiM]

i have only written one recipe before and i tried to modify it slightly and got an OG of 1.077 after compensating for the calibration of the hydrometer. i am still not a terribly experienced brewer...having said that, i used california ale white labs liquid yeast and it says if the OG is higher than 70 you may need a starter...will i still be alright or should i have used a starter? if so, what could i do at this point to fix it? any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Hefanatic]

i have only written one recipe before and i tried to modify it slightly and got an OG of 1.077 after compensating for the calibration of the hydrometer. i am still not a terribly experienced brewer...having said that, i used california ale white labs liquid yeast and it says if the OG is higher than 70 you may need a starter...will i still be alright or should i have used a starter? if so, what could i do at this point to fix it? any help would be much appreciated.

Only time will tell with this one. You may have needed a starter, but it's possible you didn't. Let it ferment at least 3 weeks and then start taking the gravity. That will be the ultimate tell. IMO there is no point to pitch more yeast at this time. Now if
you check gravity in a few weeks and it is stuck, then you have to start considering the options.

 

[Yankeehillbrewer]

You should really make a starter anytime you use liquid yeast. The cell count just isn't high enough in a Vile or Smackpack. The size of your starter will be determined by the OG of your beer. Check out MrMalty.com and use the calculator on there to get the appropriate sized starter for your batch. You can always try to use S-05 as well, I've become a huge fan of that Yeast. It's cheaper,easier and works just as well(or better IMO) that WLP001 or WY1056. Some folks give it a bad rap because it's dry yeast, but it works really well in beers that need a clean profile.

At this point, your yeast is hopefully already doing it's job, so I would tend to agree that there is probably not much point in pitching more yeast, though it wouldn't hurt it either.

 

[dmbRedGetta]

FWIW, I made an IPA earlier this year that started at 1.073. My LHBS guy gave me WLP001 and a packet of Safale-05 to use. I pitched both (without making a starter for the California Ale) and it came out fine.

But I agree with the other posters -- I think pitching the S-05 was overkill. Let it go and see where you end up and pitch more yeast later if you get stuck.

 

[SKRiM]

well it has been over two days not and it has not started fermenting...any ideas?

 

[dmbRedGetta]

Are you sure it's not fermenting? Don't rely on airlock activity; take a gravity reading and see where it is. It could still take another day or two to get going, so I wouldn't say it's dead yet. What temp are you fermenting at?