Re-pitching yeast???

[ncoutroulis]

Lol... that he did.

Just throw some more yeast in there OP... I would personally shake the ever loving crap out of it, pitch rehydrated yeast on top and let it work.

Thanks, now I'm thoroughly confused

should I sprinkle the yeast? or re-hydrate and pour it in and then shake the carboy?

 

[Psylocide]

Thanks, now I'm thoroughly confused

should I sprinkle the yeast? or re-hydrate and pour it in and then shake the carboy?

Lol... listen to joshesmusica.

Ignore mine, I'm obviously lacking in the reading comprehension department atm.

 

[joshesmusica]

Lol... that he did.



Just throw some more yeast in there OP... I would personally shake the ever loving crap out of it, pitch rehydrated yeast on top and let it work.

Sorry getting confused between two threads. You're right he didn't mention mixing methods. But I did already ask him about aeration. Either way it's been three days. So my suggestion stands.
Rehydration isn't for everyone, but it's often recommended as good practice.

 

[Psylocide]

Sorry getting confused between two threads. You're right he didn't mention mixing methods. But I did already ask him about aeration. Either way it's been three days. So my suggestion stands.
Rehydration isn't for everyone, but it's often recommended as good practice.

Sounds like we all need to RDWHAHB (or whatever you've got), lol.

 

[flars]

I think the production date was Nov 2014.
when you say "under pitched", is that my fault? or the fault of the yeast not working?

I'm pretty sure I didn't add enough water back in, after the initial boil, and that's why the OG was higher than the suggested target of 1.049. My fault, right?

thx

I think it would be worthwhile to start at the beginning.
Was the beer you brewed an extract kit?
What is the volume in the fermentor?
What was the estimated OG of the beer?
Did you do a partial boil and then add the top off water to the fermentor?
What yeast did you use?

If this was a partial boil with topping off in the fermentor, your 1.060 SG reading most likely was from a poor mix of the boiled wort and the top off water. This is not a problem because the yeast would take care of the mixing when they began to work.

The poor mix of the boiled wort and top off water would be a result of less than adequate aeration.

A 1.049 brew would need a target pitch rate of 172 billion cells. A Wyeast smack pack produced in mid November would have approximately 57 billion cells. The yeast would have required a starter to begin a good ferment.
http://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitch-rate-and-starter-calculator/

Your LHBS should have been ready to offer advice rather than just needing to make a sale.

There is still hope though, but need the questions answered.

 

[ncoutroulis]

Sorry getting confused between two threads. You're right he didn't mention mixing methods. But I did already ask him about aeration. Either way it's been three days. So my suggestion stands.
Rehydration isn't for everyone, but it's often recommended as good practice.

here's an update...
just got home and saw this happening!!

 

[ncoutroulis]

I think it would be worthwhile to start at the beginning.
Was the beer you brewed an extract kit?
What is the volume in the fermentor?
What was the estimated OG of the beer?
Did you do a partial boil and then add the top off water to the fermentor?
What yeast did you use?

If this was a partial boil with topping off in the fermentor, your 1.060 SG reading most likely was from a poor mix of the boiled wort and the top off water. This is not a problem because the yeast would take care of the mixing when they began to work.

The poor mix of the boiled wort and top off water would be a result of less than adequate aeration.

A 1.049 brew would need a target pitch rate of 172 billion cells. A Wyeast smack pack produced in mid November would have approximately 57 billion cells. The yeast would have required a starter to begin a good ferment.
http://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitch-rate-and-starter-calculator/

Your LHBS should have been ready to offer advice rather than just needing to make a sale.

There is still hope though, but need the questions answered.

From the beginning:

The brew is Belgian Mustache Pale Ale.
Its a partial mash brew.
Carboy is 6 gal, i probably have about 5 gals
OG was supposed to have been 1.049 BUT mine was 1.060

I did do the boil, then added some water, but i don't think i added enough water.

Yeast used was Wyeast, 1214, Belgian Abbey.

hope this is helpful.

thanks for the help

 

[halcyondays]

Thanks.
If i do that (take the airlock and bung off), don't i risk contaminating the wort?
its in the carboy, so would i just shake it around, with the bung off? then recap it?

going to try to repitch tonight, with the same strand.

thanks

Just for future reference, shaking the heck out of the carboy does probably slightly risk an infection. And I mean very slightly. But without an oxygenation/aeration system, it's one of the only ways to get the necessary oxygen into your beer so the yeast can eat it up. I do it every time, sometimes I'll splash it around into my fermenting bucket, but you need to do something to get oxygen in there, or it'll stall. And do it without the bung on, I don't see how having a solid bung on the carboy allows any oxygen to get in there...

 

[joshesmusica]

here's an update...
just got home and saw this happening!!

was this before or after the repitch?

 

[ncoutroulis]

was this before or after the repitch?

This is before the repitch. And this morning it's bubbling away. I can hear it through the airlock. This is good news, right?

 

[joshesmusica]

this is great news! for some reason i assumed yesterday you were giving an update at the 72 hour mark with still no activity whatsoever.
at this point just leave it alone and let it do it's thing.

 

[McKnuckle]

Yes, it means your original yeast finally got a move-on. Time to relax.

 

[ncoutroulis]

this is great news! for some reason i assumed yesterday you were giving an update at the 72 hour mark with still no activity whatsoever.
at this point just leave it alone and let it do it's thing.

Thanks for your help. It was at almost 72 hrs yesterday and I was anticipating coming home to no new progress so I had the new yeast ready to go. Walked in and saw that and was surprised. So how long should it usually take to ferment now?

Thanks!

 

[joshesmusica]

all yeast are different. changing from sugar to alcohol can take anywhere from 2-5 days after activity has started. though this isn't all you're looking for in the fermentation process. the yeast still will do lots of cleaning up some of the byproducts that they made for some time after fermentable sugars are eaten up. i usually leave mine in the fermenter for at least 2 weeks from when i pitched the yeast.
some people do what they call a diacetyl rest, which means after the major activity has slowed down (after 5-7 days) they will increase the temperature up to around 69-70F in order to encourage that cleaning up process.
i personally have had good results when waiting about 9 days, bringing it into my living room (which is about 21C) and dry hopping it for 5-7 days. (or any other flavorings that most people would do in a secondary).

 

[ncoutroulis]

all yeast are different. changing from sugar to alcohol can take anywhere from 2-5 days after activity has started. though this isn't all you're looking for in the fermentation process. the yeast still will do lots of cleaning up some of the byproducts that they made for some time after fermentable sugars are eaten up. i usually leave mine in the fermenter for at least 2 weeks from when i pitched the yeast.
some people do what they call a diacetyl rest, which means after the major activity has slowed down (after 5-7 days) they will increase the temperature up to around 69-70F in order to encourage that cleaning up process.
i personally have had good results when waiting about 9 days, bringing it into my living room (which is about 21C) and dry hopping it for 5-7 days. (or any other flavorings that most people would do in a secondary).

Just an update to this post.
yesterday was incredibly active with the bubbles, about every 5-10 secs. today the bubbles have slowed to about 1x every 25-30 seconds. Just wondering if this is normal, and when to stop fermentation and move to the next step?

thanks

 

[joshesmusica]

give it time. i leave mine in the fermenter for at least 2 weeks. do hydrometer readings to make sure that it's hit your FG.

 

[MattyIce]

I would give it two weeks from the time that you started seeing the active fermentation. Then check gravity.

 

[ncoutroulis]

I would give it two weeks from the time that you started seeing the active fermentation. Then check gravity.

Thanks. Today it's been 8 days since i pitched the yeast, but only about 5 days of actual activity. This morning I'm not seeing any bubbles at all. Does that mean fermentation is complete? if so, can i leave it in the carboy until next weekend and then bottle it?

the recipe doesn't call for secondary fermentation

thanks

 

[mfgann]

I have a Hefeweizen in the fermenter right now that I directly pitched a white labs liquid yeast on (wlp300). it took about 72 hours to take off and hasn't stopped completely yet. Tomorrow will be week 2 in the fermenter.

If yours goes like mine it'll be a long slow, but steady fermentation. Can't wait to pop it for its gravity reading and sample it but I'll probably wait another solid week since there is still activity .

 

[actionjackson905]

all yeast are different. changing from sugar to alcohol can take anywhere from 2-5 days after activity has started. though this isn't all you're looking for in the fermentation process. the yeast still will do lots of cleaning up some of the byproducts that they made for some time after fermentable sugars are eaten up. i usually leave mine in the fermenter for at least 2 weeks from when i pitched the yeast.
some people do what they call a diacetyl rest, which means after the major activity has slowed down (after 5-7 days) they will increase the temperature up to around 69-70F in order to encourage that cleaning up process.
i personally have had good results when waiting about 9 days, bringing it into my living room (which is about 21C) and dry hopping it for 5-7 days. (or any other flavorings that most people would do in a secondary).

Listen to this fine fella, he speaks the gospel.

I have been HB for 20+ years. From kits through to all grain. Relax, wait, be patient and stop worrying. I've seen yeast wait 6+ days before finally kicking up. As for the process: primary 5-14 days depending on brew type and peasonal preference, secondary 2-3 weeks for resting, clearing and aging. This is for ales, lagers have a different process and temps. You can't go wrong with long.. but can fall short without patients.

Would love to see a photo if you decide to transfer to secondary. and a final pic of the product in a glass if you can remember this post ;-)

 

[MattyIce]

My low gravity stuff is usually done with active/visible fermentation in less than a week. You should be just fine to leave it in there until you bottle. That puts you around two weeks, which is plenty of time.

 

[ncoutroulis]

Listen to this fine fella, he speaks the gospel.

I have been HB for 20+ years. From kits through to all grain. Relax, wait, be patient and stop worrying. I've seen yeast wait 6+ days before finally kicking up. As for the process: primary 5-14 days depending on brew type and peasonal preference, secondary 2-3 weeks for resting, clearing and aging. This is for ales, lagers have a different process and temps. You can't go wrong with long.. but can fall short without patients.

Would love to see a photo if you decide to transfer to secondary. and a final pic of the product in a glass if you can remember this post ;-)

Hey thanks!
recipe doesn't call for secondary fermentation. Right now it's lighter than the other pic i posted, and much, if not all the krausen has disappeared.
It's called "Belgian Mustache pale ale".
Guess ill wait till next weekend, then it will have been in the carboy for 2 weeks. Take a gravity reading, and see. The recipe doesn't state what the final gravity reading should be, only the OG, which was supposed to be 1.049 (mine was 1.060)

thanks for the help!