What are the chances of this working?

[verotik]

I brewed a Dunkelweizen yesterday and it used Danstar Munich yeast. I noticed the yeast didn't look the same when i hydrated as most of the yest i have done, but i just figured it was because it was a different strain. As of this morning, doesnt look like there is any activity.

Im brewing another wheat beer right now and it is about done fermenting, but still needs to sit in the fermenter for a few weeks. If i were to take my autosiphon and take the cap of the end and swirl the yeast cake a little and siphon it right from on batch to the other, what are the chances of that working?

 

[jeffmeh]

I would give it 72 hours before doing anything, and if you still have no activity pitch new yeast, so that you get a healthy, viable yeast count without messing with your other batch.

 

[verotik]

Well, i do plan on giving it a day or two to get started, but my problem is that the LHBS is an hour away, and it really sucks to have to drive that far for a $2 packet of yeast. I have been ordering an extra packet with all my kits and didn't with this one. Thats my luck.

 

[ArcaneXor]

Take a hydrometer reading. If there has been no drop in gravity, you can aerate the wort again. If you get no change in gravity whatsoever after about 48 hours, you can try transferring some of the yeast cake from the other beer using the auto-siphon. It'll work, but you'll want to be very careful not to oxidize the source beer.

 

[verotik]

Took a gravity reading today and after 24 hours it has dropped from 1.048 to 1.046. Maybe most of the yeast was dead and there were a few kickers? Still no krausen. Got a pack of Activator 3086 on the way tomorrow just in case.

 

[smmcdermott]

I would still wait the full 3 days. I have had a couple of beers that took that long to start showing "signs" of activity and they came out great. If after 3 full days, then pitch the new yeast. What did the yeast you pitched on brew day look like? You said that it looked funny. You said you order an extra pack with your beers, where are the extras from previous beers?

 

[verotik]

The extras i have are a Safale S-33 which AHB said would work fine, and the other is a standard Munich dry ale yeast. The yeast looked alot different than the other dry yeasts that i have used in that they looked like little miniature tubes of yeast rather than a sand like texture. I couldnt tell that any of it really seemed to dissolve after i hydrated it. I aerated my wort today and it was still in that same shape (i could see it swirling up off the bottom of my carboy). I am a little hopeful since my gravity did seem to change a little, but there is no pressure on my airlock and there are no C02 bubbles on the top and no krausen. Every other brew i've done, 3 others, have been fermenting with airlock activity and krausen within 12 hours of pitching. Maybe i have just had really good luck until now. I also noticed that the yeast had a pretty strong smell compared to the other yeasts. I set the S-33 out today thinking i might pitch it, but decided against it. Why make a weizen if you aren't gonna really make one, you know? I feel like i would have cheated myself if i would have used a yeast not intended for the style. I just happened to remember that i have a coworker that lives about 60 miles north of my where my LHBS is, so i got him to grab me a smack pack. I'll give it another day or two and see what happens, and if nothing is doing, i'll pitch the activator.