No fermentation ???

[SYoung1970]

I've been brewing for about 3 years , but only about 8 batches . Mostly due to a move where equipment was in storage . I brewed Sunday the 29th , pitched us-05 at around 74 degrees . As of Tuesday evening no bubbles in jar . I panicked , and rehydrated some Lalvin for wine , and pitched it . Wednesday morning I had bubbles . Did I screw the batch up ? I use a Stout conical so I couldn't tell what was going on . This is a amber ale o.g. 1.050 suppose to end at 1.010 .

 

[Arminius757]

I have had batches that havent shown a single sign of fermentation for anywhere around 2 to 5 days. How fresh was the yeast that you used? Did you rehydrate it/make a starter? There can be some major lag times for yeast. For example, I just brewed a weizen with Munich Wheat dry yeast and that took almost 72 hours to show any signs of fermentation. I cant speak for what the Lalvin will do to the beer, but its always best to use a hydrometer to see if the wort is undergoing fermentation or not. Also, patience is key. Sometimes it just takes a little longer than you think. Let the yeast do its thing.

 

[SYoung1970]

Thanks for the response . Don't know about freshness , Got it Friday with my grain bill . I've used safale 05 exclusively up until this point, always had activity within 12 hours until now . Making this for July 4th just want it to be decent.

 

[Arminius757]

Dry yeast normally has a pretty long shelf life, and if you got it locally I think its safe to say that you are fine. Did you pitch it straight or rehydrate? Also, was this a 5 gallon batch? You may have just under pitched the yeast. That could make them work a little harder than normal to try and get up to speed.
Unless your batch gets infected (unlikely if you remain vigilant with sanitation), your beer will come out fine in the end! Though there could be some unexpected flavors from the wine yeast... For future references, I would google a yeast pitching calculator and see if you need a starter or maybe more than one pack.

Hope it all turns out well!

 

[kh54s10]

Take a gravity reading. If it is lower it is fermenting. The wine yeast is probably going to make your FG very low.

 

[SYoung1970]

Pitched straight I have thus far . 5 gallon batch , never had this trouble before . My local homebrew shop stays pretty busy ,so I would think it is fairly fresh . I panicked , after thinking about it , just wondering if the head space in the 14.7 conical needed time to fill with co2 .