Yeast trouble...

[WyomingBrewer]

So I brewed 2 batches up 3 nights ago, a wheat beer and a chocolate stout. The Chocolate stout used nottingham yeast but it did not take off. Bad yeast I guess and I dont have any here to repitch with, brew store is 3 hour drive away. If I move the wheat beer to secondary in 2 days can I transfer the stout to the wheat beer cake? I dont wanna lose this batch!!!

 

[BigB]

Yes you can pitch onto the other yeast cake. Nottingham can be funny. What temp do you have the beer at? If its in a cooler space, move it somewhere a little warmer.

 

[WyomingBrewer]

its 68 according to the stick on thermometer. Do I need to stir up the stout before transfer, after transfer, or not at all? I dont wanna mess this up.

 

[BigB]

Not at all... Simply pouring the stout on the yeast cake would be sufficient.

 

[BigB]

One other thing... Notty can be an extremely fast fermenter too... Have you checked the gravity? I have heard of instances where Notty feremented out completely without the brewer even realizing it.

 

[WyomingBrewer]

Thank you, would it hurt to move the wheat beer to secondary early as to get the stout going before something bad decides to try and make a home in it?

 

[Yooper]

Thank you, would it hurt to move the wheat beer to secondary early as to get the stout going before something bad decides to try and make a home in it?

What are the current SGs on the beers?

 

[WyomingBrewer]

Oh, well, there is not even a trace of krausen in the bucket and its only been 3 days.....I would suspect some sorta sign but I will check gravity before I move.

 

[WyomingBrewer]

Have not checked them Yooper, but the wheat beer has blow off and it has been busy while the bucket airlock has been quite and I opened the bucket earlier to see what was going on and nothing.....Not even a few Co2 bubbles on the surface. I tried to gently stir it to get the yeast up and working....I will see what is going on in the morning.....here is hoping but I have my doubts.

 

[nallanrex]

Did you take a hydrometer reading?

Little slow to the party lol........mmmm this beer is good
-Nick

 

[Wyldjim]

I doubt it was bad yeast. Unless you baked it in the sun. Probably just a slow start. Is there no activity in the fermenter at all?

What temp did you pitch at? Guessing no starter (but I never use one)

if you sanatized properly your beer is fine and you should give it time. Take a gravity reading in a day or two if you still see no active fermentation. But a lot of folks report little sign of fermentation and have had their beer turn out fine.

Relax

 

[WyomingBrewer]

I rehydrated the yeast but it didnt look like all the other times I rehydrated. All the yeast just settled out and it didnt get all creamy looking like usual. I followed standard yeast rehydrating procedures. And on top of that, the last time I used Notty he misbehaved and made huge mess, this time...nothing, not even airlock bubbles.

 

[WyomingBrewer]

Maybe the stir worked, 2 bubbles about 3 mins apart. Hope that got it.

 

[WyomingBrewer]

Happily bubbling away, RDWHAHB was good advice. Dont know if the gentle stir helped get the yeast up but it is happily bubbling every second or so now. That is the slowest start to a fermentation I have had yet. I was almost gonna freak and switch the beer to the other yeast cake, early even. Thank god it is going now and I hope nothing is screwy about it.

 

[BigB]

I'm happy to hear it is working for you now... Notty can be some screwy stuff. They had a few quality problems a short while back. You probably just got one from that batch. The brewers that did get that batch all said that thier beers came out fine though. Notty is a great yeast, don't give up on it!