It’s been almost 48 hours now since adding Wyeast 1214 Belgian Abbey to my wort.
Nothing so far. I had the yeast in my refrigerator for a week PAST the expiration date…
I popped the little packet inside the Wyeast and let it sit overnight around a total of 16 hours before adding it to the wort. The package never did swell up like it always does. Is this batch ruined now or can I buy a non-expired pack and proceed? Any help/comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
With liquid yeast, you really need to make a starter for every beer. There are only enough viable cells in a vial/smack pack to ferment 5 gallons of a 1.040 ale. And that is only when it is fresh. An old, especially expired smack pack is simply going to give you all kinds of problems. Fermentation is the most critical part of the brewing process. You really have to make sure you pitch enough viable yeast.
Always make a starter with liquid yeast or stick to dry yeast. Alternatively you can pitch multiple packs but that gets expensive.
The batch is made; therefore, you have nothing to lose by letting it go. You will eventually see fermentation, but you are going to experience a much longer lag phase. The older the package, the more important it is to make a starter.
You want to shake the snot out of the wort before you pitch it and maybe for a bit just after pitching. I normally do this for about 5-10 minutes and then give it another shake up every hour or so for a few hours.
I’m just thinking maybe there is very little oxygen in there which is further reducing your chance at the fermentation cranking up. Give the responses some time, I feel like most of the active folks on this forum are on the Best coast.
At 48 hours, I really start worrying. Pitch more yeast! If you can, go buy another pack or 2 of the same yeast and pitch it. Don’t toss the batch.
Or have some dry yeast on hand for these situations. Either way, I think I’d pitch more yeast.
Yes, aeration is extremely important. I highly recommend a good homebrewing book too, especially if this is a hobby you plan to continue in. There’s a lot to learn. Try www.howtobrew.com.
I didn’t use a kit. This was my first batch using ingredients that I purchased. It’s all good now…I tossed in 2 packs of dry yeast as was recommended and she’s bubbling pretty good now. Thank you for your help, I sincerely appreciate it.
Rock it +1 … I do it in a circular way rolling on the bottom of the carboy for 5-10 mins and get a good 4" of heavy foam and lots of friendly oxygen waiting for my yeast!
But not sure if that is the cause of no action in 48h. I made several beers in the past without aerating the worth and they all went thru a nice smooth fermentation right away. I also used liquid yeast without a starter and still did the job.
Don’t get me wrong ALL THE ABOVE IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT in order to reach good quality beer. Just saying it might not be the main cause of inactivity.
Fermentation temperature?
I am doing a Belgium with a Wyeast belgium saison yeast and its been bubbling for 6 weeks at 90 degrees! Almost at 1.010!
Pitch temperature? Worth might have been too hot…
Or as said above, just old yeast…
The batch might still be good, give it a chance, aerate it and pitch fresh yeast in!