Slow Starting K-97

[James Bourchier]

I started a brew on Friday night using Safale K-97 yeast and I can see very little signs of fermenting, the temperature at pitching was 24C and the brew has been at 20-22C since. I haven't used this yeast befiore, is this normal or has something gone wrong?

 

[hoppyhead]

I also put a lager down on friday afternoon, using a starter of WLP 810. it has not started yet either, sitting at 17 degrees. I am just about to add a sachet of K-97 to it. My starters have been sitting in the fridge since last september. Prepared the starter with LME 48hrs prior to pitching. Maybe they died off since september???

 

[razz]

Welcome to the forum JamesB. You both need to check that there may be some signs of fermentation at the top of the wort rather than go by the airlock. JamesB, I haven't used K-97, sorry can't help you there. Hoppyhead, you need to make sure your starters are active when you pitch them. If they were then perhaps wait another day before pitching a reviver yeast. Other signs of fermentation are small bubbles coming to the top of the wort also a creamy appearance, also look for a rise in temperature in the fermenter.

 

[hughman666]

k-97 is notoriously slow to start and also slow to ferment. good yeast as far as dried yests go but patience is required B)

 

[Punter]

I've only used k-97 once, and it was very slow to start.
Got paranoid and pitched another pack. After some coments from others on here
I waited before adding any more. It eventually took off, but took 5 days.
Be patient, and if your sanitation is pretty good all should be well.

 

[yardy]

I started a brew on Friday night using Safale K-97 yeast and I can see very little signs of fermenting, the temperature at pitching was 24C and the brew has been at 20-22C since. I haven't used this yeast befiore, is this normal or has something gone wrong?

JamesB,

No problems anytime i've used it, I've got 27lt of Wheat that's gone from 1052 to 1014 since thursday night, top temp in the shed through the day is 22 approx and down to 10 approx o'nite.

I aerated heaps before pitching and also double pitched using the Craftbrewer twin pack.

Yard

 

[MSR]

I have used it, took 3 - 4 days to kick off. Temp was a bit low though.

 

[Kai]

k-97 is notoriously slow to start and also slow to ferment.

I was so totally going to say, like, exactly that.

I have also heard that it is much happier if you rehydrate it first. Did you do that, James, or did you pitch it dry?

 

[James Bourchier]

I was so totally going to say, like, exactly that.

I have also heard that it is much happier if you rehydrate it first. Did you do that, James, or did you pitch it dry?

No I pitched it dry, however I now have bubbles on the surface so I think it's starting to work. As I'm new to this what is the best way of rehydrating the yeast.

 

[Jerry]

No I pitched it dry, however I now have bubbles on the surface so I think it's starting to work. As I'm new to this what is the best way of rehydrating the yeast.

James,

Sprinkle and stir the yeast into a glass of approx 27C sterile water. Pitch yeast into wort 15-30 mins later.

Check out the fermentis site.

Scott

 

[grinder]

I also put a lager down on friday afternoon, using a starter of WLP 810. it has not started yet either, sitting at 17 degrees. I am just about to add a sachet of K-97 to it. My starters have been sitting in the fridge since last september. Prepared the starter with LME 48hrs prior to pitching. Maybe they died off since september???

I pitched a WLP 802 yeast Saturday evening at about 7.00 pm and still no signs of fermentation. I Pitched at 30 deg ( I know it was a bit high), but put straight in the fridge over night and got temp down to 14 degrees overnight.
Should I pitch my saflager dried yeast or should I wait another 24 hours? Current temp is 14 degrees.

 

[hughman666]

i'm going to mention this just out of personal experience, but liquid yeasts are a far better option for wheats in my opinion.

k-97 is good for dried yeasts but i have found wyeast 3068 fantastic.

it's bloody quick to start - i prepared a nice big starter a few days beforehand and found this started within 4 hours of pitching. within 24 hours i had krausen coming out of the airlock. after 4 days it was completely fermented and ready for kegging.

and my word what an aroma!!!

k-97 will get you by, but in all honesty if you can get a good liquid yeast (wyeast 3068 or whitelabs wlp300 / wlp380) and preapre a nice big starter, you will be amazed at the result.

i used to be a dried yeast person, but since demystifying the whole liquid yeast thing with the help of some top guys on this forum, i will never turn back.

plus, when you can get an easy 6+ uses from each yeast (and if you want to get really into it you can get multiple uses from each use), it's cheaper too!

 

[DJR]

Every month this topic seems to come up

There is another wheat yeast coming that will supposedly give better profiles in German wheats than K97 - Safbrew Wb06

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...mp;#entry221146

 

[DJR]

I pitched a WLP 802 yeast Saturday evening at about 7.00 pm and still no signs of fermentation. I Pitched at 30 deg ( I know it was a bit high), but put straight in the fridge over night and got temp down to 14 degrees overnight.
Should I pitch my saflager dried yeast or should I wait another 24 hours? Current temp is 14 degrees.

Just wait, see what happens. Watch out for signs of off-flavour. Even if you pitch more you might not overcome a bacterial infection if one gets going. If pitching a single tube of lager yeast from either of the big W's then the best approach is to pitch at room temp, wait for signs of fermentation (raised airlock, wispy foam head) then lower the temp to fermentation temperature slowly so the yeast doesn't drop out - about 1C an hour.

WLP802 is a pretty fast starter when pitched properly - i've had krausen at 8C from a 3L starter in about 24 hours, which is damn fast. That one got to 1020 from 1048 in about 7 or 8 days, then i gave it a d-rest etc and lagered it for ages but i reckon you could get away with only about 3 or 4 weeks of lagering with 802, so you'd be looking at 5 weeks total for a lager which is pretty damn fast for such a nice yeast.

 

[ironxmortlock]

I'm planning to make a wheat brew after my next one and I've bought some K-97 for it.

What's the best temperature range for K-97?

Thanks,

M

EDIT - I just noticed this gem on the fermentis website -

To achieve the correct pitching rate use one sachet per 20 litres of wort for ales. Use one sachet for lager when fermenting at room temperature and two sachets for lager when fermenting cold e.g. 12C (due to the lower temperature and slower growth of lager strains).

Perhaps this is the issue when using K-97?

 

[DJR]

Perhaps this is the issue when using K-97?

No, it isn't a lager yeast. It's just very slow to get started.

 

[afromaiko]

I started a brew on Friday night using Safale K-97 yeast and I can see very little signs of fermenting, the temperature at pitching was 24C and the brew has been at 20-22C since. I haven't used this yeast befiore, is this normal or has something gone wrong?

Sounds normal for the K-97 to me..