Does anyone experience long-ish lag times with this yeast? One reason I generally like White Labs more is they allow users to post reviews of a particular yeast, but I had to go to a different LHBS and they only carry Wyeast.
I used it a week back to make a Cali Common (OG 1.052) and noticed that even though I pitched about a 1L starter (made with a new smack pack, which I also HATE as I never know if I’ve punctured the inner package), it took awhile to start showing visible activity at 62 degrees.
Once it got going, it actually fermented out pretty quickly, and made what is so far a great beer (still in primary) in about 7 days (gravity of 1.012 after a week).
I bottom-harvested some yeast from this vessel, and since my new chilling process involves me racking the beer off the majority of the trub prior to pitching. I pitched over a cup of what should have been mostly pure slurry(~400bi cells) into an Octoberfest.
this is my first lager, so I don’t feel totally awful asking noobish questions…no airlock activity yet.
[quote=“dobe12”]You didn’t give us any sort of time line. When did you brew and pitch? Active fermentation can take up to 72hrs to start.
(starting to feel like a broken record. must have typed those words 4-5 times over the last few days)[/quote]
Pitched at 11pm last night
bring on the noob roast!
Again, I know patience is the key to homebrewing, RDWAHAHB, etc., etc., etc…I’m just trying to find some practical/experiential knowledge on this particular strain because this potential lag issue aside, it seems like a great strain, at least for hybrids. Pitching this sort of volume of slurry or starter with other strains will give me a VERY brief lag phase and start rocking quickly, so maybe the apparent lag time isn’t even an issue.
So you’re still under 12hrs… you’re fine. I bet it’s showing signs by 11pm tonight… but there’s no need to worry until you get to about 72hrs. There can be many different reasons for lag time (yeast age, amount of yeast pitched, amount of O2 in the wort, etc), but you’re still well within normal fermentation start times.
I’ve never used that yeast specifically (I also think you mean Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager), but lager yeasts are slow and steady because of the colder temps. Don’t expect a fast and violent fermentation like an ale yeast. Actually a fast fermentation for a lager would tell me the temps are too high and that you’ll have some off flavors to deal with.
I’ve used 2206 many times. I pitch at about 48-50 F. Takes maybe 24 hours or so to start, but that’s not a problem. It’s a reliable yeast that seldom throws diacetyl and produces great beer.
