Wheat at 2 days with no signs of fermenting

[jwlbrewing]

I made a batch of wheat beer on Sunday. Tuesday night there is still no sign of fermentation in the air lock. Should I be concerned? I pitched Danstar Nottingham dry yeast at 80 degrees.

 

[chevelle383]

Unless something happens by morning it probably aint gunna happen. Can you say more about the circumstances? Did you aerate the wort? Im guessing no starter. Cants say much for the yeast, as I have never used it.

 

[ISUBrew79]

Have you taken a hydrometer reading? It probably already fermented out, especially if you pitched the yeast into 80F wort. Your bucket lid or stopper may not have been sealed fully, thus you may not have seen any bubbling in the airlock.

As Revvy would say, "the airlock is not an indicator of fermentation" and "always trust your hydrometer". These are two good pieces of advice for new brewers.

Please take a hydrometer reading of your wort. You can compare that with your original gravity reading taken prior to pitching the yeast in order to see if fermentation has in fact taken place.

 

[chevelle383]

Yes, absolutly right. I just assumed he never saw Kräusen or anything. So did you?

 

[ISUBrew79]

I thought maybe he was fermenting in a bucket and never opened it up to look inside. I just remembered hearing about a bad lot of Danstar Nottingham yeast that was produced a while back. That was quite a long time ago, and I doubt the OP would have used that lot of Notty.

I do recall one time that I used 1 package of Notty in a 1.080 gravity stout and fermented without any temp control. The thing fermented out in less than a day. Needless to say, it was pure ester and fusel alcohol liquid. Based on that experience, it wouldn't surprise me if a wheat beer pitched at 80 degrees fermented out in a couple days.