Does a slow start give a good final result?

[Bobcatbrewing42]

I just did a 3 carboy batch of India Red Ale. I used saved yeast from previous batches. Two of Saf 05 and one Nottingham. The Notty was two months old and probably a bit underpitched according to "Mr Malty." The two 05 batches started within 8 hours and look normally vigorous.
The Notty carboy took 32 hours to show any activity but now has started and shows a decent krausen and movement. The closet temp is 63 deg. and all of them are together.
I wasn't worried since I had another package of Notty on hand to repitch if needed.
My question is this: If a ferment is slow to start, are the yeast cells reproducing enough for the batch to catch up...or if you are underpitched, does that mean that attenuation and the final result will be lacking?

Since some Belgian brewers just let the yeast in their brewhouse that are floating around start their ferments, common sense would tell me that reproduction catches up eventually.

 

[PoppinCaps]

I don't feel like a slow start is a good indication of whether or not the final result will be good. Sometimes the strain needs a little more or less time depends temp swings, O2 content, etc. It is known that underpitching will encourage some increased ester production as well as may end in under attenuated beer. I don't fear either of these things, many times it's my preferred taste. If you've got a krausen, it will ferment fine, no need to catch up.

Let us know how they turn out, sounds like an interesting experiment.

 

[BigFloyd]

It depends on the reason for the slower start as well as how long of a lag period.

If a long lag time is due to underpitching, that's probably not going to improve the final result and may cause some off-flavors.

Generally speaking (there are exceptions), if you pitch the right amount of yeast into cooler wort, like 2-3*F under the optimal range for the strain, you'll likely have activity begin a bit more slowly and not as vigorous, but that's fine and will typically produce a cleaner-tasting result.

Fermentations can sometimes take off like gangbusters. That's usually OK so long as it's not associated (as they often are) with pitch and/or ferment temps that are significantly too high or massive over-pitching.

 

[Bobcatbrewing42]

I don't feel like a slow start is a good indication of whether or not the final result will be good. Sometimes the strain needs a little more or less time depends temp swings, O2 content, etc. It is known that underpitching will encourage some increased ester production as well as may end in under attenuated beer. I don't fear either of these things, many times it's my preferred taste. If you've got a krausen, it will ferment fine, no need to catch up.

Let us know how they turn out, sounds like an interesting experiment.

The beer is OK. Alcohol level is fine. FG spot on. No estery notes. It was my first HERMS batch with a homemade setup and a recipe based upon leftovers so it is just OK.