How long should it take to see evidence of primary fermentation on Megalodon? It’s been 12 hours since I’ve pitched my yeast and I am not seeing any evidence that it has started. However, I have also not ever brewed such a high gravity beer before. I did use yeast starter and pitched the yeast at about 76-77 F. I know it is not yet time to panic, but I wonder how much longer it should be before panicking is reasonable.
I’d wait another 12 hours before getting concerned. Another day after that before panicking.
My megalodon has been in the bottles about 2 months now. It’s worth the wait.
Visual evidence of primary fermentation has been achieved 13.5 hours past pitching the yeast. The beer is bubbling in the airlock and getting more rapid as time moves on. Patience is the key as people keep reminding me.
Just curious, what yeast are you using and why are you fermenting the beer at such a warm temp?
There are two things you have to know about me; I’m new at this and don’t have many people I can talk to about it. So, here we go. I actually ferment the beer at 70-72F. If I could get it cooler I would. 64 degrees seems to be the recommended temp. I pitched the beer at such a warm temp not intentionally. I don’t have a wort chiller and use an ice bath to cool the wort. So, rightly or wrongly, I figure its best to get the wort to a temperature where the yeast will survive as fast as possible, pitch it, and then seal the fermenter up as fast as possible to avoid contamination. Then I allow the beer to ferment and cool further in my basement.
Not knowing much of anything beyond the very basics about yeast, I just use the dry yeast pack that came in the recipe kit.
Do a search on here for swap cooler it’s cheap way to keep your fermentor cool.
Just read the whole thread about dry year starter and that you shouldn’t ever do it. Well I did it. Awesome. :? Oh well. There is a bunch of airlock activity now, so I guess I won’t sweat it this time. I’ll just remember to rehydrate next time. I am not god at this.
No worries, we were all new at this at some point. Keep reading and brewing and you’ll learn fast. Another question: when you say ferment at 72, do you mean the beer is 72 degrees or it is in a room that is 72 degrees? Also what size batch is this?
The batch size is 5 gallons and the ambient temp in my basement is 70 degrees or a little lower and the temperature strip on my fermenter reads 70-72 degrees. I did notice today that the temp strip read 72-74 degrees so I wrapped wet towels around it and put a small fan blowing on it. Read about that last night in this forum. I don’t know if it will work but I thought it couldn’t hurt. BTW, I use a plastic bucket for a fermenter. The plastic does not conduct heat well so I’m doubtful I can cool the beer down much. But maybe. Who knows?
You can always get one of those big plastic tubs that people use to fill with ice and beverages for parties and put your bucket in that, with some water in the bottom and maybe some ice, then wrap with a towel and put a fan next to it.
I did this for my first one, almost exactly, except I used my spare bathroom tub. Got the temp down to about 67-68.
I did a Christmas style beer (getting it ready early) on Sunday and the OG was high, like 1.078. I pitched my yeast starter that I stepped up properly and it took off in about 6 hours. I was impressed because it was the fastest start I have had since I started brewing earlier this summer. I believe the key is having the right cell count for yeast, right temperatures, and sanitized equipment.
Use this link to get the proper cell count required for your beer:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitc ... alculator/This will tell you if you need a starter or not. If you’re using dry yeast, just buy an additional pack if one isn’t enough, but rehydrate it to get better viability. I have also read about the downsides of doing a starter with dry yeast, so it’s probably best to just rehydrate.
