Why Is My Yeast Not Doing Anything?

[troyedwards]

HI All,

I have followed the instructions on culturing yeast from Coopers Pale ale as per a document on here. I made the wort, chilled it, added the yeast, I have kept it between 19-22deg since Thursday night and nothing has happened. No bubbling, no movement at all.

Should I swirl it around, raise the temp a bit more?

The yeast is in a decor 1L flask. Everything was sterilised with Milton tabs. The wort smells fine, have not tasted yet, but I do not think it is infected.

Any suggestions? This is my first time doing this.

 

[emnpaul]

As long as you are confident you've rinsed the Milton out then I wouldn't worry until at least Monday. The age of the yeast can have some bearing on how long it takes to get going. As does yeasst quantity, storage temp, pitching temp etc.

If you need a faster start then use more Coopers dregs or a smaller starter and step up.

as you suggested I would give it a swirl as often as possible until it gets going and maybe a nice cuddle on the lounge while watching the grand final.

 

[Pennywise]

I tend to swirl all my starters for the first day or two. Have you got more sediment on the bottom of the flask? I remember the only time I cultured a coopers yeast from the bottle it took a few days to get going, 3 from memory, and I put that down to there being a fair amount of dead cells from the bottles. I also done a liter but I think next time I'll start with 3-400ml and step it up to the 1L-1.5L. Sorry, I know there's no answer there, just sharing my experience from my first time to give you a little info to work with.

 

[Lecterfan]

How much did you use? dregs from 6 stubbies? 1 longneck?

I have used the recultured stuff quite alot and it can take ages to fire up - I start in 500mls, then up to 2L generally. I try to allow 7-10 days for the yeast to really do it's thing (that includes cooling it down and decanting the beer off the yeast cake and then allowing the cake to get back up to room temp for pitching). In the absence of a stir plate (which I only just got, yay me and good onya Billygoat), then shaking the hell out of it for the first few days not only aerates, but gives you an indication on the first shake whether or not there is any activity going on - i.e. the bottle start to bulge and hissing gas escaping from the lid etc. Stop aerating as soon as there are obvious signs of activity.

Oops - too slow beaten by two people already!

 

[troyedwards]

As long as you are confident you've rinsed the Milton out then I wouldn't worry until at least Monday. The age of the yeast can have some bearing on how long it takes to get going. As does yeasst quantity, storage temp, pitching temp etc.

If you need a faster start then use more Coopers dregs or a smaller starter and step up.

as you suggested I would give it a swirl as often as possible until it gets going and maybe a nice cuddle on the lounge while watching the grand final.

I have only done 600mL - sorry it is in a 1L container to allow for expansion etc. It was the sediment from one tallie. I will continue to swirl and shake for the rest of today. I am using a piece of cling wrap on top with a rubber band. I didn't use the screw top lid.

Oh well there goes the idea of a brew day tomorrow :-( lol

I just realised that you said 'rinsed out all the Milton'.... i thouhgt Milton was no rinse and a few boys at work said just tip out the milton and go for it.....

 

[emnpaul]

Got some Milton in the cupboard. It does say "shake off excess solution before using immediately" which implies it's no use. Below that it says"Note-made up solution is non-toxic for people." Kind of implies it's more effective at killing yeast than babies. It is a sanitising solution designed to kill microorganisms which to my mind would include wild yeasts and the like. I'd be giving it a rinse just in case.

It can be slow to start but a tallie's worth to 600ml should be starting to wake up by now. If it's still sleeping tomorrow I would be worried.

 

[white.grant]

The first reculture is always a nervous time.

There are a lot of variables when culturing the yeast from a coopers bottle, the age of the yeast, how the bottle was treated in transit, the amount of yeast left in the bottle after you have decanted it, the ambient temperature, oxygenation etc etc.

Chances are you won't even notice the krausen from a single bottles worth of yeast. Just keep swirling it around for another day or so and you should see a layer of yeast on the bottom of the bottle, most likely a very fine layer, but it'll be there.


cheers

grant