Underpitched hefe question

[robc311]

I'm very reluctant to post this because I already know what most of the responses will be (never underpitch) but ultimately I'm here to learn and grow so here goes. I made a batch of hefeweizen yesterday and I only pitched one pouch of wyeast 3068 with no starter. I know I underpitched (despite wyeast stating on the package that this is a sufficient pitch) but I wanted to be adventurous and take a less normal path to increased esters. Instead of a more normal pitch rate and higher fermenting temps to get more banana I chose to underpitch and ferment a tad cooler (not that cool though...it's at 66 degrees). It's been 24 hours and not a single sign of activity. I have it in a bucket with a blowoff and just pushed on the lid a little and saw a couple of bubbles. That's the extent of my activity and I'm pretty sure the lid is airtight. I'm guessing the pitch rate and low-ish temp (for this yeast) means a delay in fermentation. I read all these explosive stories about 3068 and expected craziness but that hasn't happened. Am I just plain stupid for taking this approach or is my adventurous spirit showing I have moxie. I probably won't panic until the 48 hour mark but I'm still a little concerned. Here's my recipe and OG if that makes any difference:

5 lbs wheat DME
1/2 lb flaked wheat and 1/2 lb flaked oat steeped 20 min
1 oz Liberty hops (they were out of hallertau)

OG 1.052

Ok, let the comments fly...

 

[d3track]

I under pitch my hefe as well, and it usually takes a day-ish then goes nuts. I however push my temps high as I like the banan I get from it.

 

[Ogri]

Unless the pouch of wyeast had been seriously mishandled, or you made a horrendously high gravity wort, you probably don't have anything to worry about. Give it another day or so, and RDWHAHB.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=43635

 

[robc311]

The manufacture date on the yeast was Sept 2016 and it swelled like a balloon after smacking. One definite mistake I made was that The yeast was at about 73 degrees when I pitched into 68 degree wort...so that probably shocked it. I considered raising the temp a little but haven't gone that route yet.

 

[Murphys_Law]

I always pitch one pack on my hefes w/o a starter.

 

[Kene64]

Your pitch amount is fine. The lower temperature will cause slow yeast activity. You need to be patient and give the yeast time. It should also take longer for fermentation to complete.

 

[MidAtlanticBrew]

sounds like a good beer ...many underpitch that yeast and ferment it even cooler with good results

 

[OswaldvW]

My concern with the recipe is not the amount of yeast but the flaked wheat and flaked oats. You really need a little Pilsner malt in the steep to help convert the starches. It just means that you will have more starches in your beer, making it less stable (ie it will have to be consumed quickly).

 

[robc311]

I got the recipe from homebrewing.org...not to say that's good or bad but the thing that interested me was it's simplicity and the flaked wheat and oats which I hadn't seen in any of the other hefeweizen recipes I looked at. Since you're saying it might be less stable, do you recommend thatI keg this rather than bottle? I don't really even like hefes myself...I made it for friends that like them. Let me know what you suggest in terms of the stability issue.

 

[robc311]

Woke up to some major activity this morning...looks like it was a good thing I used a blowoff because there's some krausen in the tube and container I used.

 

[sixwinds]

I'm drinking a dunkel that used 3068 - one packet, no starter into 60 gravity wort and it took the gravity down to 15 in one week.