How Long Is Too Long A Lag Time ?

[donburke]

I brewed an AG Bohemian Pilsner on Saturday

I pitched a smack pack of WY2001 into 22 litres of 1.049 wort at 20 degrees and put it in the fridge set at 10 degrees

Its now 72 hours later and it hasnt started, no gravity drop etc

The pack was smacked 4 hours before pitching and only swelled slightly

I reckon the fridge took 12 hours to drop to 10 degrees

Should I

1) wait ? if yes, how much longer should I wait ?

2) pitch some dry yeast ? I have s23, w34/70 and s189

thanks

 

[Phoney]

wait, another 3 days at least. Also, bump it up to 12C.

 

[Tom909]

I had a similar problem on the weekend, and re-pitched after 12 hours of no action. Is it a problem if you pitch too much yeast?

 

[dgilks]

I don't brew lagers so won't comment on lag times and how to fix it but a quick check on the Mr Malty calculator says that you need to pitch 400 billion cells for that amount of wort. That means a 4L simple starter or 1.5L if done on a stir plate. A single 150mL smackpack isn't enough yeast to kick off a lager.

 

[basement_brewer]

I started fermenting an AG Bohemian Pilsner on Saturday too.

I pitched (sprinkled) 2x12gm packs of dry 34/70 lager yeast into 20 litres of 1.050 wort at 13-14 degrees and put it in the fridge set at 12 degrees

A good krausen had formed in under 24 hours.

Since I started using cubes (either Fresh Wort Kits or No Chill) my fermentation starts has been much more reliable.

Maybe this is due to the level of aeration achieved when pouring the contents into the fermenter?

 

[donburke]

Maybe this is due to the level of aeration achieved when pouring the contents into the fermenter?

could be, my wort was splashing when siphoning from kettle to fermenter

i've had a whitelabs vial take a couple of days to take off in the past, but not longer than 48 hours

 

[HoppingMad]

I tend to wait 3 days with either an ale or lager yeast (4 days is my threshold of pain for waiting) and if they're stalled, a small rise in temp seems to do the trick. Also combine it with a slight rock of the fermenter to stir up the yeast. When you're at 6 days after trying a temp hike and rock, then it's time to double up and crack a new pack of yeast.

Hopper.

 

[Fourstar]

Give it a rouse and leave it out overnight. The low ambeint temperatures wont be too high for it to throw off flavours and should allow for activity & growth to kickoff. When you awake to krausen, pop it back in the fridge and let her fly! :icon_chickcheers:

 

[donburke]

i buckled, threw in a packet of s189, its been 3 & 1/2 days now,

hopefully it will stay neutral if the two end up blending

 

[manticle]

They'll either blend or one will dominate. Either way - both are lager yeasts and at low temps should give a clean profile. The main oncern is probably other microbes taking over which a fermenting yeast of whichever type should hit on the head.

 

[Nick JD]

Blends are great. In looking back some of my best beers have been from yeast blends.

 

[Screwtop]

I don't brew lagers so won't comment on lag times and how to fix it but a quick check on the Mr Malty calculator says that you need to pitch 400 billion cells for that amount of wort. That means a 4L simple starter or 1.5L if done on a stir plate. A single 150mL smackpack isn't enough yeast to kick off a lager.

+1

Underpitching = Long lag time.

Screwy

 

[donburke]

Blends are great. In looking back some of my best beers have been from yeast blends.

yes, but are you able to replicate them ? :icon_cheers:

 

[Nick JD]

yes, but are you able to replicate them ? :icon_cheers:

If I bottle the trub, yes. In the fridge at the moment I have a 600ml PET, marked with 34/70:S23.

 

[donburke]

If I bottle the trub, yes. In the fridge at the moment I have a 600ml PET, marked with 34/70:S23.

yep, i forgot about reusing trub

 

[argon]

Bump.... Help my airlock's not bubbling!!

Just wanted to share really.
Last night went down to rack a euro pils on WY2001 to secondary so I could get at the yeast for another 2 cubes I had waiting. Had everything prepped and ready to go. Took a sample in the hydro and put aside while I racked. Completed racking then checked the sample after it had warmed up to ambient ~20C. 1048OG! Down from 1050. WTF? Been in primary for 12 days at 9C raising to 10C... Same as the last 3 lagers I did. I had pitched 2 cups of thick slurry at 12C, which works out about right according to mrmalty. Warmed up the hydro under warm water and there was plenty of activity kicking off once warmed, so I think yeast is still viable.

So now I have a full cube of 1048 12 days after pitching. Rinsed some of the yeast that was in the primary and added back in and bumped it up to 14C. Had to install a blow-off tube as it's full to the brim (standard way I store my secondary/lagers)

Didn't end up pitching yeast to the other 2 cubes as I just don't trust the yeast now. I expect I just pitched too cold (9C is the lower limit for WY2001) and the yeast went dormant from the start. I pitched slurry that was at 1C into wort at 9C, which probably wasn't warm enough to fire. Didn't see much krausen activity, but then with lagers, I never really do.

Done this many times before like this and ended up with nice clean results. Hope it can be salvaged.

 

[argon]

Checked it again this morning and added some more rinsed yeast that had settled out overnight... still no activity to speak of. Set at 14C not willing to go any higher. This shit has got me stumped. Will have to take another hydro over the weekend to see if anything's ahppening

 

[argon]

Check the STC-1000 against a mercury thermo and my tempmate last night. Looks like i somehow set the calibration to be at +9C above actual reading. So i've been trying to ferment at 4C. Christ only knows what this batch is going to be like. DERP

 

[RdeVjun]

Live & learn argon! Probably learn to refrain from adjusting the fridge controller while wearing the wobbly boot?
Hope your 2001 wakes up, failing that you might have some Hella Bock slurry handy?

 

[argon]

I know mate, chalk this one up to the double check list in future.

As soon as i found the fault i realised what i had done. I had lowered the controller to 0C to crash chill/lager the last batch. Then when i went to bump it back to 9C for the next one, i must have set both the F4 function (calibration) and the F1 function (temp reading) to 9C leaving me at 0C. After not seeing activity i set F1 to 14C, where in reality it was at 5C. Stoopid.

Anyway... yes got the starter of Hella Bock ready for pitching tonight to the Vienna, so in a few weeks will have the slurry of that and the Euro Lager II to play with

OT... Pulled the first carbed sample of the contentious FWH Triple Decoct Bo Pils last night = :icon_drool2: