Pitched US05 at 16c - still no fermentation at 36hrs?

[Dan Pratt]

Hi,

I made a Midstrength Golden Ale at the weekend. OG 1035 and mashed at 63c for 75mins, well aerated from kettle to FV and 1min of pure oxygen added before pitching rehydrated US05 yeast.

I picthed at 16c and was planning to ferment at a lower temp, I would have thought after 36hrs the yeast should have kicked off. Has anyone had a slow start to initital fermentation when picthing US05 at the lower end of the strains temp tolerance?

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Had it started to work after rehydrating and before pitching ? I had one a while back that didn't even start to work, temp should be O/k I ferment my SO4 and SO5 at 16 to 18 degrees usually starts fermentation around 12 hours

 

[HBHB]

thneaky thuckerth thothe yeathst.

Kick back mate......it'll take off once it's got it's wings. 16 doesn't normally slow it down that much.

Any Krausen on top? Done a Hydrometer reading?

Cheers,
Martin

 

[Dan Pratt]

No krausen yet, I was hoping while at work today to get home and see her in action. I can see a few small patches of bubbles formed but it doesnt appear to have kicked off, like it normally would. Maybe I didnt re-hydrate right ( water, yeast, stirplate = hydrate )

Im so used to using Wyeast and it taking off like a rocket after 6-8hrs and primary ferment done within about 2/3 days, this is unusual.

 

[Dan Pratt]

I just ran a quick sample from the tap and checked it with the refractometer - it read 1033, so it would appear that fermentation has commenced it just hasnt formed a krausen yet. Still, very much unlike and other brew for the past dozen or so...

I will have a geez in the morning, using glad wrap instead of the lid really helps with seeing the krausen or lack there of.

 

[Byran]

I noticed US05 performing like this when I used it in a dark beer, no krausen at all for days, but checked the gravity and its down. Then light krausen for a few days.
I've also have it perform quite strongly with heavy krausen.
Maybe its a viability issue? But the flavours and ferment time don't seem to be affected.

 

[slash22000]

I never get big krausen with US-05. Maybe an inch or so, if that. Always does its job, but it's not very "showy".

 

[Dan Pratt]

Patience Grasshopper....... h34r:

I checked her this morning and the karusen has formed, fermentation in full swing.




36 + hrs for the kruasen to form is quite a while, but I now know that pitching at a lower temp creates a longer lag phase and will remember that for future brew.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Bribie G]

I just used a Country Brewers repackaged Mauri Lager yeast 10g that I'd had sitting around for about 2 months and it kicked off fine - actually fermented out in 6 days and I kegged it yesterday. I'd guess US-05 would be one of their fastest movers so I'd doubt freshness is an issue.

With lower ferments I tend to pitch about five degrees higher for the lag / breeding phase then drop it to the desired temp when krausen "lily pads" start forming. Doing this shortly with a Wyeast 1469 that I usually run at 16.

 

[Dan Pratt]

Hi Bribie,

I had in the past pitched warm and cooled to desired temp - eg 24c then cooled to 19c during the lag/growth phase but I been informed that it was better to start low and rasie the temp to desired fermentation temperatures.

Would it be depending on style, OG and few other factors whether that is appropriate?

Future brews;
lower temps 12c - 17c = pitch warmer and cool during lag/growth
higher temps 18c - 22c - pitch lower and increase temp during lag/growth