It has been 36 hours since I added yeast - and the wort does not appear to be fermenting. I read that fermentation should occur in less than 24 hours.
2006-08-14 09:29:44 · 5 answers · asked by Bryan C 2 in Food & Drink ➔ Beer, Wine & Spirits
Your airlock should definitely be hopping and popping by now. In fact, you should be getting the most vigorous fermentation.
You might check to make sure that you have a good seal around your airlock. It could be that air is finding another way to escape and you may not be able to tell that fermentation is happening. You might not be able to see any visible signs by looking at the wort.
Perhaps you pitched before the wort cooled sufficiently? If so, you could likely re-pitch and still have it turn out fine (see reference below).
2006-08-14 09:40:56 · answer #1 · answered by jugglestar 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Very common problem. Long lag times like this indicate one or both of two difficulties. Either you didn't pitch enough viable yeast, or you didn't aerate the wort enough (or both).
Without going into all the details about these, the best thing to do, if it hasn't started fermenting by the third day, is simply add a fresh package of yeast. You may find the flavor has suffered a bit, since the nasty critters from the air have had all this time to affect the taste of the beer before the yeast could overwhelm them, but it should be perfectly drinkable.
2006-08-15 05:21:08 · answer #2 · answered by Beer Geek 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If the wort was too warm when you first added yeast you may have killed the first batch, or the yeast wasn't active to begin with. Do you have a yicky-looking foam atop your wort? You should have, if you don't the fermentation never started. Try adding some more yeast (mix it with warmish water and a teaspoon of sugar in a cup, let stand ten minutes, make sure it's a-bubbling before you pitch it into your waiing wort).
2006-08-14 10:23:31 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Take a reading of your specific gravity. If it has dropped by 30% or more you are fine. If you didn’t take an original specific gravity reading you should probably re-pitch yeast just to be sure. This is a good time for a pack or two of dry yeast such as US-56. Re-hydrate the yeast in warm water and pitch. Good luck. Also if you are not aerating your wort you should start.
2006-08-14 09:40:49 · answer #4 · answered by daoco 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Check the seal on your lid/airlock. My first few batches refused to bubble and I found that I had a bad seal.
As mentioned before, check your gravity to see if it's changed any, check your pH to see if it's not to high (yeast likes it on the acidic side). Also, when you pop the top for the sampling, if you get a hefty blast of CO2 in your nose, that'll indicate it's fermenting along.
2006-08-14 19:31:17 · answer #5 · answered by Trid 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋