I brew up a 3 gallon batch of Jamil’s oatmeal stout (OG 1.055) and pitch a very fresh vial of WLP002 - a yeast I’ve never used before. I place the fermentor (a plastic bucket) in my basement where it’s 66-67 degrees and go to bed. 8 hours later - no activity in the airlock, nothing. 24 hours later, same thing…nothing. I open up the bucket and see no sign of activity - no kraeusen, no ring around the bucket, etc… I move the bucket upstairs where it’s warmer. 36 hours…still nothing. The wort looks exactly like it looked when I poured it in the bucket after brewing.
So, I figure there’s a problem with the yeast. I decide to pitch a packet of US-05, but before I do,I go to take an SG reading just to check and I drop the stupid hydrometer…glass bits all over the floor. So, I figure what the heck, and I pitch the rehydrated US-05.
Later that day, I have an unexpected chance to go to my LHBS and buy another hydrometer. As soon as I get home, I take a SG reading (this is about 3 hours after pitching the US-05) and much to my surprise, the SG is down to 1.015…which seems to indicate that the WLP002 worked after all.
SO…I wondering two things:
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Anyone else have a similar experience with WLP002? I’ve read that it’s a slow starter, but my experience was that it worked very quickly and quietly - so quickly and quietly that there was absolutely no sign that it had happened/was happening.
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I assume that the US-05 I added will probably result in a lower FG than it would have from the US-05. Am I going to get a yeasty flavor or any other problems as a result of the additional yeast?