Brewed my all grain schwarzbier on Friday night, used the Wyeast 2206 liquid. My first lager. I didn’t make a starter, just followed the directions on the wyeast package. It has now been about 60 hours and no bubbles in air lock, the lid is tight as well. Initially I started fermentation on concrete floor in basement at about 65 degrees. After about 30 hours I realized my mistake and put it in the fridge at 48 degrees. Thats the warmest my fridge gets.
Thoughts? Wait for the 72 hours rule? Pitch some dry yeast and throw it in the basement again? Have another beer and leave it alone? I have read the other recent posy about this topic so it is likely that I am just not allowing enough time? Thanks, Duckydoo
48 is a bit on the cool side. So you will likely see an increase in the lag time for that.
You under pitched for a lager, addition lag time.
I would not do anything. Don’t warm it up, don’t pitch new yeast. Unless it’s another pack of the same yeast.
See my signature line of an inexpensive temp controller to get your fridge to warm up a little.
Just a side note. I can see from the side view of the plastic ferment bucket that there is a layer of yeast building on the bottom. I assume it’s yeast. It looks like it is about 1/2 inch thick. But no activity in air lock. With the small pitch of yeast, I think it is simply going to take longer. Patience, we all need a little.
It’s been over 4 days since the yeast was pitched. Since I didn’t do a starter like I was supposed to, I am going to let the beer continue on as is. I am going to be away for a couple of days, so maybe by Friday evening there may be some life. I can see a layer forming on the bottom of the bucket. I guess now my question is at what point do I consider pitching some additional yeast? Could I just bring back to the 65 degree range and pitch some dry yeast? Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated. I have been learning the hard way lately and pretty discouraged. My lack of knowledge and doing research. Thanks
Take a gravity reading to determine if the fermentation is proceeding. If not, at four days, I would pitch a pack of dry yeast to get things going fast.
