First ag lager- help please!

[Robusto]

Hi guys. I need a little help here. So I made my first ag lager yesterday and I'm worried that the yeast may have arrived DOA. I used Wyeasy 2124 in the smack pack. When the package arrived, the cold pack that came with it was warm. When I smacked h pack it didn't puff up much (if at all). My fermentation chamber is at 45deg F. The corrected OG was 1.059.

It's been about 17 hours and I don't see any signs of fermentation. So what do you guys think? Was my yeast dead before i pitched? Is my chamber too cold? OG too high?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Did you make a starter? One pack isn't nearly enough yeast for a typical lager. Also, IME, smack packs don't always swell, the only way to really know if they're viable (and to have enough yeast to brew) is to make a starter.

 

[Robusto]

I did not make a starter but its only a 2gal test batch

Sorry should have said that.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Yooper]

With only one package of (apparently) not very active yeast, you may be in for a long wait before fermentation starts. Lagers need a LOT of yeast- two packages would have been more like the proper amount- so it needs time to reproduce and get going.

If you don't have signs of fermentation in 72 hours, then I'd worry. But it will take probably 36 hours or so to get going, due to being underpitched by about 50%. (Yes, two gallons of 1.059 wort would easily need two packages for a lager!)

As far as temperature, you could try warming up your chamber to 50 degrees to see if that encourages the yeast to get going.

 

[Theis]

One option would be to let your primary warm up to 60-70 degrees to spur yeast growth- once you have krausen or airlock activity then you could lower the temp back down.

 

[pjj2ba]

One option would be to let your primary warm up to 60-70 degrees to spur yeast growth- once you have krausen or airlock activity then you could lower the temp back down.

If you do this, then make sure to do a diacetyl rest (~2 days in the upper 60's) when fermentation is ~80% complete. Lager yeast fermenting at warmer temperatures produce more diacetyl