Should i be concerned?

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lnhoskins

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Broke my brewing cherry last night with Hop Head IIPA from Midwest Supplies. Boiled 3.5 gallons, all went well, got it chilled in about 25 minutes, strained into my primary, topped up to 5 gallons, pitched 11.5 Safeale US-05 at 78 degrees, put it in my cold room and that was that. Woke up this morning (about 14 hours past) and checked it, it's down to 68 degrees but has not started bubbling out of the airlock yet. Should I be concerned?
 
i wouldn't be concerned. 68 is plenty warm enough, and 14 hours isn't all that long. you want want to check that everything is sealed well too. i've had fermentations that seemed to not take off, but only to find out that there was a leak somewhere and i just wasn't seeing the co2 where i expected.
 
Gotcha, thanks. Everything seems tight, and I think I was concerned because I have read so much about dry years being so much faster than liquid. Patients is going to be rough for me, lol
 
dry yeast does tend to kick off a bit faster, but patience is a virtue in the brewing game. like they say, a watched pot never boils.
 
One last question, when I pitched I had a lot of bubbles on the top from aeorrating it, and the yeast just sat on top. Should I have waited for them to go down first?
 
i always pitch dry yeast on the foam and they fermented well.
some start sooner some not so soon.
when i ferment in glass i can see yeast activity and no bubbles at the begining. i can see something like mini volcanos on the bottom of the carboy.
i dont know if thats when the yeast reproduces or just started to eat the wort.
 
What was your O.G.? Alot of times IIPAs have a high O.G. and that may having something to do with the delayed start from the yeast.
 
I pitched dry yeast directly once,as did my wife on our respective 1st brews. It'll sit on the foam soaking up moisture till the foam goes down & it gets into the wort. Then it goes through a reproductive phase till it multiplies in sufficient #'s to start initial fermentation. Hers was about 12 hours,but your results may vary.
 
78F is a little warm to pitch your yeast into. I like to pitch mine when it reaches my desired ferm temp. I also am in the "hydrate your yeast" camp. I tend to listen to the guy who wrote the book on yeast when he says that about half of your dry yeast die when you don't rehydrate.
 
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So as an update, I have a healthy ferm going on, it started at about 24 hours in, I think for my next brew, I'll heed the advice of rehydrating. It smells amazing out of the airlock. Can't wait to rack to secondary with my dry hops! (p.s. I took advantage of my being stationed in Germany and toured the hop museum in Bavaria, awesome experience!)
 
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