Delayed Start

[Anne Jovi]

Hi Guys

New here and have been reading some very interesting stuff. I'll try and keep this brief.

Birthday the other day and the better half herd my mumbling some weeks ago about brewing our own beer and bought me a kit.

I remember having a go at the home brew thing about 20 years ago and enjoyed the satisfaction of it all.

So last night, I had a go at setting up a bog standard Coopers stater kit. Followed the instructions and went back to check a few hours later only to disappointed that there was no action in the air lock. This morning, still nothing. Temperature has been sitting pretty constant between 24 and 27 degrees the whole time.

When I got home from work today, I went in to the laundry to see if there was any action. Apart from a sweet beer smell, there was nothing happening in the air lock.

As it turns out, I didn't have the lid screwed down tight enough. A little tweak of the lid and a shake of the fermenter and 5 minutes later the wurt is bubbling away merrily.

My question is, will the brew be ruined by the delayed start?

5 hours since the tweak and at least 28 hours since the wurt was mixed together it is bubbling quite actively.

 

[Muggus]

Does the beer have a crust/head on top? Thats generally a good sign of fermentation

Another would be a change in specific gravity, if you managed to check the original gravity before pitching the yeast.

If your beer has become infected, chances are you'll be able to smell it, if not taste it by sampling a bit.

 

[Fatgodzilla]

My question is, will the brew be ruined by the delayed start?

5 hours since the tweak and at least 28 hours since the wurt was mixed together it is bubbling quite actively.

It sounds like the fermentation has been going along swimmingly all the time. The brew won't be ruined by this. If you haven't already done so go to Forums / Kit & Extract and read the first few threads which offers great advice to new brewers.

Good brewing

 

[Anne Jovi]

Yep - there is a crust and a head int he fermenter.

The only smell is a nice sweet beer smell.

The temperature had been consistent.

I neglected to get the SG reading before hand though

 

[keef12345]

Yep - there is a crust and a head int he fermenter.

The only smell is a nice sweet beer smell.

The temperature had been consistent.

I neglected to get the SG reading before hand though

I would nt go opening the brew too much...An airlock does not always have to bubble to proove fermentation has begun. Use the hydromemter to define drops in sg. Sounds like its going to turn out...best of luck

 

[Anne Jovi]

I would nt go opening the brew too much...An airlock does not always have to bubble to proove fermentation has begun. Use the hydromemter to define drops in sg. Sounds like its going to turn out...best of luck

I have one of those cheap and cheery fermenters that is opaque and I can see enough through it to get an idea of the scenery in there.

Thanks for the tip though Keef

 

[ironxmortlock]

I'm having a similar issue at the moment though this isn't due to a poor seal.

I pitched S34/70 yeast at 10C on Saturday. I've kept the brew at 10C the whole time and today there's still no activity. I hydrated the yeast before pitching and it seemed fine.

Never had one take this long to get going before so I'm a bit concerned. I've raised the temperature to 18C to see if this helps get things started. What do you think?

 

[RobboMC]

As it turns out, I didn't have the lid screwed down tight enough. A little tweak of the lid and a shake of the fermenter and 5 minutes later the wurt is bubbling away merrily.

I doubt if the shake of the fermenter would have started things so quickly, if that was the problem the roused yeast would have taken some hours to create enough pressure to bubble. At 24 deg plus the yeast would have definately been going strong. Looks almost certain that the lack of bubbles was caused by the loose lid. I have the same standard coopers fermenter and you really do have to screw the lid down hard to make it seal.

Fermentation has other signals, namely sediment, condensation under the lid, crust ring around the top of the liquid, as well as bubbling in the airlock. Look for those as well, but don't open the lid to look except in the worst emergency. I have even pitched more yeast once by trickling through the airlock hole! Sounds like this batch will be fine, but maybe next time think of ways to get the temp closer to 20 deg C. Cheers.

 

[RetsamHsam]

I'm having a similar issue at the moment though this isn't due to a poor seal.

I pitched S34/70 yeast at 10C on Saturday. I've kept the brew at 10C the whole time and today there's still no activity. I hydrated the yeast before pitching and it seemed fine.

Never had one take this long to get going before so I'm a bit concerned. I've raised the temperature to 18C to see if this helps get things started. What do you think?

I had this problem over the weekend.. I raised from 10C to 12C and 1.5 days later the airlock was bubbling and a Krausen had formed. Seeing as you have risen to 18C you may need to perform a Diacetyl rest once primary fermentation is finished..

 

[sinkas]

@ 10 degrees, no bloody wonder....

 

[RetsamHsam]

@ 10 degrees, no bloody wonder....

S34/70 is a lager yeast genius :angry:

 

[mfdes]

how much yeast did you pitch?
An insuficcient amount of yeast will give you a much longer lag phase. Also, lagers take a lot longer to get started.

 

[Adamt]

OK, i've done bugger all lagers, but this is what I've read:

Pitching an inadequate amount (I think the guide for adequate lager pitching is 1g dry yeast per litre?) at 10C requires the yeast to first rehydrate, then multiply (which takes a long time at 10C) before starting attenutation/fermentation.

I have read of people underpitching lager yeast at higher temperatures (what sinkas was getting at), so that the yeast can multiply to an adequate population, before the temperature is dropped to fermentation temperature.

It is best to reduce lag-time, so the best bets are to pitch at a higher temperature, around 18-20C, dropping gradually to 10-12C over 12-24 hours; or pitch two packets at fermenation temperature.

Cheers

 

[devo]

from my experience when doing lagers it is vital to have a visibly healthy and vigorous stater prep'd before pitching. For the quantities I brew I work off a system that a 23ltr batch should a have 1ltr starter and for a 45ltr batch a 2ltr starter.

 

[ironxmortlock]

It's still not fermenting at 18C (though it might just be starting; I think I can see a Krausen starting but the lid is opaque so it's hard to say).

I used two packets (11g per packet?) for a 46L brew. I hydrated the yeast for 30 minutes before pitching and it looked healthy.

Let her sit at 18C for a bit longer? Or perhaps throw in a yeast packet or two?

Thanks,

M

...the best bets are to pitch at a higher temperature, around 18-20C, dropping gradually to 10-12C over 12-24 hours; or pitch two packets at fermenation temperature.
Cheers

This is what I've done with all previous lagers but I'd thought I'd see if I could notice a difference with a lower pitching temperature.

 

[Anne Jovi]

I think it has fermented out now - the air lock has now had a bubble through it for about 4 hours or so. Now my worry is the temperature it brewed at. I couldn't get it below 20 degrees (according to the little sticky thermometer on the outside and because of the warm weather, it has probably been fermenting at about 26 or so.

Reading through the intro threads, I'm thinking I might leave it for a few days anyway before bottling.

Would the sustained heat have had much of an effect on the end result?