I bought a couple NB kits a week ago and mistakenly thought I’d ordered dry yeast with both so I didn’t bother opening the box immediately. I started brewing a batch of Bourbon Barrel Porter and as it was boiling, I went to get the yeast and realized I had liquid yeast for this recipe. Figuring shipping time plus the time it sat in my basement, the yeast sat about 7 days at RT. The bag was partially inflated, so the yeast was doing it’s thing. I had no spare yeast, so I went about my business and finished the brew and pitched the yeast. After 24hrs there was no visible action, but at 48 hours fermentation was going pretty good and there was moderate kreusen. Clearly, things are going, but my question is this: Do I need to add more yeast? This recipe has about a metric crap-ton of fermentable sugar in it, so considering I probably had a lower than expected cell count in my yeast, do I need to add more yeast to make sure the batch fully ferments? I don’t have a hydrometer, so don’t know the O.G. and can’t monitor progress. I usually just let things sit a long time (at least 4 wks) to make sure fermentation is complete. The problem here is even if I let it sit extra time I don’t know if I’ll have completed fermentation due to the questionable yeast.
It’s probably too late to avoid any flavors (good or bad) produced by under-pitching, but I don’t think it would hurt to add another pack of the same yeast to help ensure a complete fermentation.
Since it started up within 48 hours I wouldn’t sweat it. Lag would have been longer if the yeast wasn’t healthy. Given that you didn’t make a starter 48 hours seems about right for liquid yeast.
My advice: Get a hydrometer! They’re cheap and you’re just flying blind without one.
I agree with Danny… Don’t worry now… It’ll be beer… How good, you’ll find out later… As Voltron sez, you could find a dry yeast that is similar and sprinkle it in… Lessons learned are very valuable. Sneezles61
Okay, thanks for the input, I think I’ll just leave it alone and see what happens. Im not too picky anyhow, so It’ll probably be fine. A hydrometer is definitely on the list of stuff to get. I appreciate the help.
What was the estimated OG?
It was 1065. I got home from work tonight and it was going like gangbusters, maybe just a false alarm.
only 1065? oh, yeah you should be fine. For some reason I was thinking this kit was over 1080.
