Fermentation

[thorr60]

My first all grain attempt
My yeast smack pack was partially expanded when i removed it from fridge
No sign of bubbling in air lock after about 10 hours
Wondering if I should add some new yeast ?

 

[Dolomieu]

It can take up to 72 hours for signs of fermentation to show. Also if you are using a bucket there could be gaps in the seal (happens to the best of us). If you decide to look in the bucket, you might see a ring of gunk or a full on krausen. Be patient.

 

[TopherM]

When did you smack the yeast pack? Before or after you put it in the fridge?

How long after you smacked the pack did you pitch it?

It sounds like you added the yeast too soon after smacking it, and possibly too cold as well. No big deal, though, you just underpitched. The idea of the smack pack is that there is a small colony of yeast in the smack pack, you burst the nutrient packs in the smack pack, and those yeast start to create a larger colony, so that there are 3-4X more cells when you pitch than when you smacked the pack.

So, ideally, you want to smack the pack at the beginning of your brew day and keep it at room temp for the whole 4-6 hour brew day to allow the yeast to propogate into a colony that's closer to the proper pitch rate for most 5 gallon batches.

Anyway, back to you dilemma. The fact that you likely underpitched is very consistent with what you are seeing. An underpitched fermentation means the smaller yeast colony goes through the available sugars much more slowly than the proper larger colony would, so fermentation is very slow to start. Eventually, though, the colony will propogate to the point that fermentation will get back to what you are used to seeing, you just need to give it a little time.

Be patient!

Good luck!