Second Brew seems messed up! Help!

[ColoradoBrewMeister]

So I finally got everything done last night. I transferred the wort to the carboy after it had cooled (probably well beyond 90 degrees, actually) Is that a problem that it cooled so much?

I checked the temperature of the full carboy (3.5 gallons water, 1.5 gallons wort) and it was at 64 degrees. So I pitched the yeast ( a liquid) and swirled the carboy a bit. I then went to bed.

I woke up this morning only to see the yeast all has settled on the bottom and nothing seems to have occurred with fermentation.

If it is screwed up, what do you think the problem could be?

Chris

 

[BendBrewer]

The yeast want to be a little warmer than that. Can you place the carboy off the floor or in a slightly warmer area? I use Ale Yeast and like to pitch it at 75ish and then try to keep it around 68.

 

[weyerfan]

You're fine. Fermentation usually begins between 24-72 hours after pitching the yeast usually depending on what strain you used. Some begin almost immediately and others are slow starters. Plus it didn't help the temp was at 64. That's on the lower end of most ranges. If you can raise the temp a bit and the increase should kick start the yeast.

 

[ColoradoBrewMeister]

So it's not ruined? I will see if I can warm it up a little bit to get the yeast started!

Thanks!

Chris

 

[wonderbread23]

64 is perfect. I start all my ale 62-64 degrees and let the yeast raise the temp to 66-68.

 

[kgraber]

I don't think you have much to worry about yet. Only question I have is if it's sitting on a hard floor or carpeted floor? If hard I'd put a towel under it or raise it off the ground. From what I heard if the floor is hard and cold it'll transfer into the primary.

 

[Hang Glider]

Yep - I pitch at 62-65. Let it be. If you pitch too warm, the yeast activity will warm it up even more, then you're fermenting at 75 or 80 - too high for most ales.

Leave it be at 64. Keep it there. It will be just fine - probably closer to awsome than fine. Your second will be your best batch!

 

[ColoradoBrewMeister]

The reason I am so concerned is that my first batch (it was a kit) pretty much began fermenting immediately.

With this second one, a recipe I sort of put together with the help of someone at my brew hut, i pitched the yeast and it has done nothing now for over 15 hours. This is normal? The yeast is just sitting on the bottom of the carboy, and the temperature is at about 66-68 degrees now.

I moved my carboy and blow off to another room, and got it off the floor.

How long should it take to begin fermenting? And it's okay that all the yeast has settled to the bottom? I am alarmed! I just want to see it begin to do it's thing.

Chris

 

[Captain Damage]

You're fine. It can take a day or two for fermentation to start. You pitched a little cool, but that's OK - it's better than pitching too hot. This time of year my top-up water is pretty cold so most of my beers get pitched cool too and they're coming out great. The yeast will kick up off the bottom soon, you'll see. Just wait.

 

[edb23]

the stuff on the bottom could also just be some of the stuff that accumulated from the hot break during the boil and settled out

 

[ajf]

From your comments, it sounds like you didn't make a yeast starter. It also sounds like you didn't aerate the wort before pitching the yeast. Liquid yeasts have a lower cell count than packages of dry yeast, so they usually take longer to start fermenting (especially if the yeast is not brand spanking new). You will get better results with liquid yeast if you make a starter to bump up the cell count and aerate the wort before pitching. I'd give it another day or two before even thinking about worrying.

-a.