Unusmundus
Well-Known Member
Okay, so I know there are a lot of threads on this, so I guess I'm just looking for some reaffirmation. Today I decided to brew pretty much my all time favorite style of beer; a Belgian Tripel. My LHBS put together a pretty simple recipe for me;
250 grams of cara pils steeped for 20 minutes (I know you're not supposed to, but I always gently sparge my specialty grains just once )
Then a 30 minute boil with 2.6 kg's of light liquid malt extract, 2 oz's of Hallertau, and 2 pounds of blond (clear) Belgian candi sugar.
Here comes the part I'm nervous about; The yeast-- My recipe called for WYeast strain 1214 (Belgian Abbey Ale), but I have NEVER used liquid yeast. It WAS refrigerated at the store, and I DID refrigerate it over night until I was ready to use it. I 'smacked' and activated it a good 30 minutes before starting my brew, and by the time I pitched it, it had been activated for ATLEAST 2 and a half hours. The package didn't seem all that swollen, but it did say on the back you didn't have to wait for the package to swell completely before pitching. So it's now been aboooout... 10 hours since I pitched my yeast. I DID stir and aerate the wort well, and this on its own of course produced foam, but as of right now, there is literally ZERO foam on top of the wort. I took a whiff a few minutes ago to see if I could pick up any C02, but all I can smell is warm yeast-- It smells like dough rising. There is NO fermentation happening here Did I do something wrong? I did notice that on the front of the package it was dated January 8th, 2013, though I assumed this was the manufacture date. Does WYeast put their expiration dates on the package? I could only find one date. Could my yeast be expired? If nothing happens in a few days, is the wort still good to pitch another (presumably active ) pack of yeast onto it? I was REALLY looking forward to this brew, am I just being impatient? I've only ever used dry ale yeasts like Coopers, or Nottingham, and have NEVER not seen any krausen, or signs of fermentation by this time. Anything helps here guys. Thanks a lot !
Cheers
250 grams of cara pils steeped for 20 minutes (I know you're not supposed to, but I always gently sparge my specialty grains just once )
Then a 30 minute boil with 2.6 kg's of light liquid malt extract, 2 oz's of Hallertau, and 2 pounds of blond (clear) Belgian candi sugar.
Here comes the part I'm nervous about; The yeast-- My recipe called for WYeast strain 1214 (Belgian Abbey Ale), but I have NEVER used liquid yeast. It WAS refrigerated at the store, and I DID refrigerate it over night until I was ready to use it. I 'smacked' and activated it a good 30 minutes before starting my brew, and by the time I pitched it, it had been activated for ATLEAST 2 and a half hours. The package didn't seem all that swollen, but it did say on the back you didn't have to wait for the package to swell completely before pitching. So it's now been aboooout... 10 hours since I pitched my yeast. I DID stir and aerate the wort well, and this on its own of course produced foam, but as of right now, there is literally ZERO foam on top of the wort. I took a whiff a few minutes ago to see if I could pick up any C02, but all I can smell is warm yeast-- It smells like dough rising. There is NO fermentation happening here Did I do something wrong? I did notice that on the front of the package it was dated January 8th, 2013, though I assumed this was the manufacture date. Does WYeast put their expiration dates on the package? I could only find one date. Could my yeast be expired? If nothing happens in a few days, is the wort still good to pitch another (presumably active ) pack of yeast onto it? I was REALLY looking forward to this brew, am I just being impatient? I've only ever used dry ale yeasts like Coopers, or Nottingham, and have NEVER not seen any krausen, or signs of fermentation by this time. Anything helps here guys. Thanks a lot !
Cheers