slow start.. temp question

[metaltim]

here's what happened, i brewed sunday, i put in primary, but didn't pitch, i just put it in primary then into my ferm. fridge to bring the temp down, my IC only gets to about 110, the last 30 deg. just wastes a lot of water. anyway, i didn't get around to pitching yeast until wed. about 7pm. by then the primary was a bit cool, cause here in houston we've had a deep freeze for 3 days.. so this morning i check, still no activity, i notice fermomter says like 50 (15 degrees colder than what my controller is set at.. it's cold here!) so i brought in inside and put in my tub.
so just now i check, thurs. at 5, still no activity, and it's still about 55 deg. i noticed heater vent was closed in bathroom, so i opened it to warm it up.

so my question is, will yeast not start to work if it's that cold? this is ale yeast of course. should i wait until it gets in mid 60s before i take any further action?

 

[BigB]

Just let the fermenter warm up. The yeast will be slow to start, but eventually they will get motivated and do the job. Ideally you would have pitched within a few hours of brewing, but #%Q$ happens so RDWHAHB.

 

[breez7]

What yeast did you pitch? You need to warm that up to 65 and even then cross your fingers you were perfect in your sanatizing since you waited three days to pitch. Should be fine but you need to get that bad boy going!

 

[metaltim]

it was white labs american V.. yeh i had no intentions at all to wait 3 days before pitching, normally i put it in fridge and pitch about 5 hours later.. i just forgot that day, and somehow let two days go by w/o getting it done!

and then when i did pitch it was way too cold

hopefully that yeast will find some life. wondering if i should give it a nice vigorous stir.

 

[BigB]

Unless there is no change in the gravity, I wouldn't give it any more than a gentle stir.

 

[metaltim]

well i checked the gravity and it's down to 1.015 so it's def. fermented, but i have been checking on it every day twice a day, and there has been no fermenting activity, i took off lid and there was very little krausen.. so can a beer ferment with no bubbling? i'm confused here..

 

[Calder]

If the lid doesn't make an air-tight seal, you may not see any activity in the airlock.

 

[BigB]

If you are at 1.015, then you are likely close or done with primary... Leave that beer alone for another 2 weeks to let the yeast clean up after themselves. Yes a beer can definitely ferment without you seeing any visible signs in the airlock. Most times you will see airlock activity, and it will give you the warm fuzzies, but never rely on it. Further, in the conditioning phase you will rarely see any activity in the airlock, but rest assured them little bastards are hard at work.