Question about lag time from pitching from slurry

[gugguson]

Hello guys.

I have been looking through the forums for answer to my question but without clear answer.

I brewed a pale ale last monday and my OG was 1.046.

I had washed California Ale yeast which I washed two weeks prior from American IPA which had quite higher OG, 1.069. It was my estimate that it wouldn't matter that much. The IPA was fermenting for three weeks befored I put into bottles and washed the yeast.

I stored the washed yeast at 2-3C (about 35F) and took it out of the fridge about 3-4 hours before pitching. When I had aerated the wort I pitched about 200ml (recommendation which I got from Mr. Malty calculator). The wort was about 20C (68F) when I pitched.

I didn't see any visible signs of fermentation until this morning which is about 34 hours after I pitched which I would say is very high lag time. It isn't bubbling vigorously but I think that will take off with more power in the next few hours.

So these things come to mind that I could have done better/differently and it would be good to get comments because I plan to do another batch tomorrow with the same procedure:

1. Made a starter to let the yeast wake up (I don't know how much starter is prefered if that is the case). I have a stir plate so I could make a good starter.
2. The difference in OG is to much to repitch from IPA to pale.
3. Put yeast nutrition into the boil.
4. Pitched more than 200ml.
5. Something else I'm overlooking.

Could anybody give me a helping hand in working this out ... or is the lag time something I shouldn't worry about (this is my first time pitching from slurry)?

 

[Brew-boy]

A+ on number one I think it was because the yeast was two weeks old. I recently took yeast out of my conical and pitched into a new batch, I had an 1" of karusen in 4 hrs.
#3 is always a good idea.

 

[hercher]

Frankly, I don't think the lag time is a big issue. But yes, I suspect your best option would have been to do a starter either the night before or the morning of your starter. I've found that my lag times are shorter when I pitch a starter at high kraeusen.

Assuming you brewed 5.25 gallons, you only needed 60 ml of thick slurry, according to Mr. Malty, for yeast harvested two weeks prior to brew date.

 

[gugguson]

Ok, I will definately do a starter tonight for tomorrows brew. So you are saying use 60ml of slurry into how large starter (is there any way of calculating starter size for slurry in mr. malty's calculator?)?

Frankly, I don't think the lag time is a big issue. But yes, I suspect your best option would have been to do a starter either the night before or the morning of your starter. I've found that my lag times are shorter when I pitch a starter at high kraeusen.

Assuming you brewed , you only needed 60 ml of thick slurry, according to Mr. Malty, for yeast harvested two weeks prior to brew date.

 

[gugguson]

Ok, I will do a starter tonight ... the only thing is that I don't know how to calculate starter size for slurry.

Would you say half a teaspoon of yeast nutrient at the end of the boil is the way to go?

p.s. I read somewhere that it is possible to reuse slurry up to year after washing. Would I just calculate that viability for such an old slurry would be about 5-10% and do a starter?

Thanks.

A+ on number one I think it was because the yeast was two weeks old. I recently took yeast out of my conical and pitched into a new batch, I had an 1" of karusen in 4 hrs.
#3 is always a good idea.

 

[hercher]

Ok, I will do a starter tonight ... the only thing is that I don't know how to calculate starter size for slurry.

Would you say half a teaspoon of yeast nutrient at the end of the boil is the way to go?

p.s. I read somewhere that it is possible to reuse slurry up to year after washing. Would I just calculate that viability for such an old slurry would be about 5-10% and do a starter?

Thanks.

Go ahead and do a standard size starter -- a liter should be good.

For viability, Mr. Malty's calculator allows you to enter the harvest date - the day you washed your yeast, and it will estimate the viability for you.