Wyeast Not Fermenting

[Nickb167]

i got a wyeast 2278 czech pils, and added it to a esb fresh wort pilsner. 3 days later and the sg has not changed, nor are there any signs of fermentation.

this is the first time ive used one. i think i may have ruined it. I did not wait for the pack to swell as it said you could pitch it directly into wort, so i did that. the yeast pack was at fridge temps when i added it and the wort was at around 18 deg. the brew is now in the fridge at around 12 deg. Would this have killed the yeast? or do these liquid yeasts take longer to get started esp if i dont allow the pack to swell?

any help would be appreciated.

nick

 

[warrenlw63]

Nick

How old was your Wyeast pack? Should have a date stamped on it. I'd say it should come good sooner or later. I've seen some older packs take nearly a week to fully swell.

I'd just leave it at 12 degrees and hope for the best. Just looks like you've got yourself a long lag time.

Warren -

 

[Voosher]

You're asking a lot of that yeast.
I presume it was an Activator pack if it said you could pitch it direct.
Did you smack the pack first or just take it straight out of the fridge open the packet and pour it in? I believe the live yeast is in the outer pack so I think you will have put live yeast into the wort.
I doubt you've killed it but pouring fridge temp yeast into an 18C wort is going to shock the yeast and it will take even more time for it to activate. At 12 degrees it's going to take a while as well.
Under the circumstances I'm not surprised it's not done much after 3 days.
If you have faith in your sterilisation technique it should kick off eventually but it could conceivable take another couple of days or so.

You have a few options
You can wait and hope.
You can get another activator pack, smack it, let it incubate for at least a few hours, preferably 24hours at room temp then cool it to 12C and pitch it.
You could get a dry lager yeast (make sure you've got 1g of yeast per litre of wort) and pitch that immediately.

Pitching more yeast may still take 24-48 hours to activate at 12C.

Good luck.

Edit: You could also gently allow the wort to come up to 18-20C to accelerate yeast growth and gently cool it back to 12C when it's active.

 

[blackbock]

i got a wyeast 2278 czech pils, and added it to a esb fresh wort pilsner. 3 days later and the sg has not changed, nor are there any signs of fermentation.

this is the first time ive used one. i think i may have ruined it. I did not wait for the pack to swell as it said you could pitch it directly into wort, so i did that. the yeast pack was at fridge temps when i added it and the wort was at around 18 deg. the brew is now in the fridge at around 12 deg. Would this have killed the yeast? or do these liquid yeasts take longer to get started esp if i dont allow the pack to swell?

any help would be appreciated.

nick

Assuming the yeast was OK, at 12 degrees the lag time will be fairly long. The good news is that bacterial activity will be reduced at that temp. I doubt you would have killed the yeast. Lager yeasts, especially temperamental ones like that 2278 are not usually vigourous fermenters even at higher temps. If you are worried dump a dry yeast like W34/70 or else leave it and don't be tempted to open.

 

[Nickb167]

cool, thanks for your advise guys... thinks i might leave it until next weekend and see what happens. if it hasnt done anything by then ill just add some dried yeast. And that pack was dated May 06

 

[Ross]

Should be fine Nick, raise the brew a few degrees if you're worried until it kicks off, but personally I'd leave it like you've suggested... Very nice yeast the 2278 but it can be a bit slow.

cheers Ross...

 

[Screwtop]

Should be fine Nick, raise the brew a few degrees if you're worried until it kicks off, but personally I'd leave it like you've suggested... Very nice yeast the 2278 but it can be a bit slow.

cheers Ross...

Nick, good advice from Ross above. Don't panic, far to many people believe yeast to be some tender little organism. Heat will kill it! just about nothing else except extreme acidity. Lots of situations will knock it about and stress it a bit. So don't panic just wait, you gave it a bit of a bashing, not the normal gentle coaxing that is required for preparing a smack pack and starter.