Wyeast 2124 Bohemian Lager

[Dazza88]

sure. brew room temp can be thirty degrees where i live. but i have done my starters at room tenp or ale temp in the ferm fridge.

when pitching starter into brew do you bring starter to ferment temp. i want lagers this winter, at lager temps.

 

[Nick JD]

Just pitch 2 packs of 34/70 and be done with it. Same price.

 

[adz1179]

ok, so this yeast was pitched at around midday on Sunday and as of now there are no signs of life +2 days later. gravity is still at 1.050, smells and tastes really sweet, no krausen etc.... its on at 10deg.. the smack pack did not swell over 24hrs either... should i be concerned?

 

[donburke]

ok, so this yeast was pitched at around midday on Sunday and as of now there are no signs of life +2 days later. gravity is still at 1.050, smells and tastes really sweet, no krausen etc.... its on at 10deg.. the smack pack did not swell over 24hrs either... should i be concerned?

yes you should be concerned, if you have pitched the pack, then i bet you have underpitched


how many litres of wort ?

what was the date on the yeast packet ?

what was the temp of teh wort when you pitched ?



this will tell us by how much you underpitched

 

[adz1179]

yes you should be concerned, if you have pitched the pack, then i bet you have underpitched


how many litres of wort ?

what was the date on the yeast packet ?

what was the temp of teh wort when you pitched ?



this will tell us by how much you underpitched

20lt batch, pitched the full pack of yeast. Can't remember the date on the pack but it was under 6 months from manufacture, I'm sure of that. Pitched around 17-18 in the fridge set on 10.

 

[Nick JD]

I've found that the lager yeasts are very susceptible to heat stress in the packet - quite a few of my Wyeast lager yeasts have taken a couple of days to swell and only a tiny bit. When it's like this you need to make a starter from the pack.

Which kinda sux when you paid ten bucks.

I'd be chucking in 2 packs of 34/70 (or any other yeast you can get hold of quickly) asap. 48 hours of no activity and you wanna hope your fermenter was damn near sterile, because all the other bugs that love oxygen are in there now and growing rapidly.

If I don't get activity from a yeast within 12-18 hours I panic, because it's rare to have a good beer with that long a lag.

 

[adz1179]

I've found that the lager yeasts are very susceptible to heat stress in the packet - quite a few of my Wyeast lager yeasts have taken a couple of days to swell and only a tiny bit. When it's like this you need to make a starter from the pack.

Which kinda sux when you paid ten bucks.

I'd be chucking in 2 packs of 34/70 (or any other yeast you can get hold of quickly) asap. 48 hours of no activity and you wanna hope your fermenter was damn near sterile, because all the other bugs that love oxygen are in there now and growing rapidly.

If I don't get activity from a yeast within 12-18 hours I panic, because it's rare to have a good beer with that long a lag.

Crap **** bags.

I can get some more yeast tomorrow, but will not be until this time tomorrow until I can pitch.
I wonder if it's worth the extra $10 if it's doomed?

 

[adz1179]

would appreciate some opinions on this one... should I re-pitch this afternoon or dump it - there are no visible signs of infection yet, smell and taste ok too (sweet)

 

[manticle]

If it tastes like sweet wort, pitch.

If it tastes **** dump.

 

[big78sam]

If the SG hasn't moved that's a good sign that no wild yeast has started eating the sugars yet. Seems it tastes OK to. Repitch and RDWAHAH

 

[donburke]

If I don't get activity from a yeast within 12-18 hours I panic, because it's rare to have a good beer with that long a lag.

even with a big starter, if pitching cold, i can have a lag, but i dont panic as i have confidence in that i pitched a large quantity of yeast

a couple of years ago i pitched a single vial of wlp800 into a pilsner @ 10 degrees and it took 3 days for any activity, and the beer did turn out fine, maybe not ideal, but certainly a good beer

i have brewed many lagers since then, and i have always used starters since then, to avoid the anxiety attacks

i had worked out that most of the imperfections were caused by either underpitching or pitching warm then cooling

i now always make a big starter, and make sure i pitch cold (i.e. at or just below primary ferment temp)

 

[raven19]

You could 'double drop' (rack with some splashing from Vessel 1 to Vessel 2) it, or aerate the wort/young beer to get it going.

Exercise high levels of sanitation in the above processes.

 

[the_new_darren]

You could 'double drop' (rack with some splashing from Vessel 1 to Vessel 2) it, or aerate the wort/young beer to get it going.

Exercise high levels of sanitation in the above processes.

Yep, I agree with above of simply give the fermenter an all mighty swirl every couple of hours to get the yeast roused.

tnd

 

[adz1179]

So this is what i did back on the 14th (Wednesday), turned the fridge up to 18 deg, left it for a while, sprinkled on a fresh pack of saf 34/70, let it sit for a few hours on 18 and then down to 12.

Thursday = nothing
Friday = nothing
This morning = nothing

4pm today:



To smell and taste is not offensive in any way, but there is something i cant quite put my finger on with both.... bit of a velvet mouth feel if that makes any sense whatsoever....

gravity is still on 1.050, exactly as pitched....

i think its finally time to put this one down the drain and move on.......

whadareckon??????

 

[Nick JD]

whadareckon??????

I reckon it's got buboes (from the bubonic plague).

It's not a total loss though - you'll now know not to pitch a smackpack that doesn't swell. Sounds like something is killing your new yeast pitch. There's a war on in there!

 

[adz1179]

you'll now know not to pitch a smackpack that doesn't swell. Sounds like something is killing your new yeast pitch. There's a war on in there!

yeah, got that right... cheers Nick
hope the fermentor survives....