Wyeast 2206 pitch and fermentation temperatures

[mschoenn]

Brewed a German pilsner yesterday. Used the Wyeast 2206 smack pack. It was swelled up nice and was at room temperature before I pitched. Hard to get to 50F quickly in south Louisiana, so I pitched the pack in the wort at 76F and put it in the keezer set at 50F. It's been 19 hours and there's no activity. Is this normal for a lager and this yeast? Only one yeast pack with no starter. Worried I may have severely underpitched. Any suggestions?

 

[giraffe]

You severely underpitched. Especially if the pack was old. All in all, if your sanitation is ok, you may be fine. But you will likely see activity on day 3.

 

[mschoenn]

Thanks giraffe for the reply. Would adding more 2206 help or hurt anything? Earliest I would be able to add more yeast would be tomorrow, 48 hours after I pitched the first pack.

 

[Remos112]

My guess would be that it would be helpful, can't think of any scenario that it wouldn't be as long as you keep thing sanitary. But then again I am a newby so others possibly could have a better reply

 

[KepowOb]

Also, nothing wrong with letting your very get down to temp overnight and then pitch in the morning when the temp is spot on.

 

[mschoenn]

Should I go with the same yeast 2206? And how many should I pitch? According to mrmalty calculator I should have used about 4 total with no starter. Do I need to add 3 more?? 48 hours after the initial pitch.

 

[giraffe]

I mean more packs arent going to be that effective without o2 to reproduce which is gone from the wort. ( it wont hurt, but 3 packs are expensive) At this point, id let it ride. Give it 4 weeks, and make a starter for lagers in the future. If you see nothing by day 4, maybe id pitch 2 packs of rehydrated dry lager yeast. That will be cheaper and have a o2 reserve built in.