What to do?

[giant016]

I started a Strong Belgian Ale kit (assuming it's a double/dubble, but not sure) yesterday and have had no action in the airlock. I'm pretty sure I killed the yeast, because I bought the kit a few weeks ago and it's been sitting in the cellar for about two weeks. When I opened it in the morning to brew, I looked at the yeast and it is a White Labs yeast. I didn't know it was one of those thats in the vial, and therefore it was supposed to be refridgerated. The cellars probably about 60 degrees normally. I refridgerated it that morning knowing that it would be awhile before I actually used it, and took it out of the fridge 4 hrs before I put it in the wart. 24hrs, later...no action.

With my work schedule this week I won't be able to get to the homebrew shop untill monday or tuesday for some new yeast. I was worried the wort might not be good/as good by then. I was considering taking the yeast from one of my bottles of IPA and pitching it. Do you think this will taste like crap? The original (now dead) yeast was a trappist style ale yeast if it matters. How long will the wort be good since it's airlocked?

Thanks.

 

[Brewsmith]

Give it a little more time. I doubt you killed all the yeast. That's some poor labeling if they put liquid yeast in there and didn't tell you to refrigewrate it.

Next time you do a big beer, anything labeled strong, double, or imperial, it's usually a good idea to make a yeast starter. The higher gravity is tougher on the yeast and you need more of them for proper fermentation.

 

[david_42]

60F won't both the yeast at all, but you should have done a starter. Big beers really make it tough for the yeast to grow initially. I suspect it will get going within 72 hours.

 

[cpbergie]

If you dont have time (or didnt plan well), is it a good idea to use two vials of yeast?

 

[Torchiest]

You can do that with absolutely no problems, but it gets expensive quick. The White Labs vials are $6.99 a pop at my LHBS; I'd hate to buy two per batch. I made a belgian using that exact same trappist yeast, and it took about two days to do anything at all to my starter, but when it finally got going in the wort itself, I had a blow off twelve hours after pitching. I'd say give it some more time before you get another vial.

 

[giant016]

Alright, this makes me happy. I'll give it some time. Thanks.

 

[brewt00l]

This thread might interest you:
http://homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=18826

 

[giant016]

UPDATE

I took off the fermentation lock to take a peek inside the fermenter/get a sniff. It smelt like it was fermenting, and I could see a thick head on it. I figured this was odd since I hadn't seen a single bubble in the lock. So, I took a mallet and hammered the lid down extra good, figuring there was a leak. It seemed to be good and tight already, but hammering it couldn't hurt. Then when I went to put the lock back in, I lubed it a bit with some water, thinking that maybe it didn't go in perfectly the last time. I put it in and shoved it hard. What do ya know? Bubble-bubble-bubble! Now my closet is a symphony of bubbling beetween this and the hard cider.

 

[McCall St. Brewer]

Glad to see everything is going well, now. Are you using a plastic fermenting bucket? If so, investing in a glass carboy for fermenting would be a really good idea. The 5 gal. ones are only $19.95 at my LHBS and the 6 gal. ones are only about $22. That way you can see what's happening without opening up the container and risking an infection. Also, plastic buckets increase the possibility of infections or off tastes. Glass is better.

 

[Torchiest]

What he said. Also, the incomplete seal on the plastic bucket is a classic cause of what appears to be a lack of fermentation. The carboy eliminates at least that one piece of stress.

 

[giant016]

Glad to see everything is going well, now. Are you using a plastic fermenting bucket? If so, investing in a glass carboy for fermenting would be a really good idea. The 5 gal. ones are only $19.95 at my LHBS and the 6 gal. ones are only about $22. That way you can see what's happening without opening up the container and risking an infection. Also, plastic buckets increase the possibility of infections or off tastes. Glass is better.

I've got a plastic bucket primary, glass carboy secondary. I was considering getting a betterbottle for a primary though. Everybody who's got one seems to be singing their praises. On a similar note, the recipe for the Belgian said to let it ferment for 4 weeks, but doesn't say when to rack to secondary. I was thinking 3 weeks primary, 1 in the secondary. Does this seem right?

 

[newguy]

you might not want to let is sit in the primary that long. The sediment can impart off flavors in your beer.