Recently I ordered a couple of extract kits just because I didn’t have a lot of time and wanted to get a couple of brews in over the weekend. So the first kit was a Caribou Slobber. Pitched the yeast directly on the wort and it started to ferment that evening but was pretty much done in 24 hours. I believe from the OG and the next gravity reading I took 2 days later it did actually ferment that quickly. So I racked to a secondary and put back in fermentation chamber at 70 deg. OK we’ll see how this turns out.
So yesterday I brew an Irish Red, did a perfect brew…no issues so I actually decided to re hydrate this yeast (Danstar Nottingham) this morning it is still not fermenting? WTH? I bumped up the temp in the chamber to 72 thinking this may help? I did pretty much everything right. Both the yeast and wort were at 72 when I pitched, I gave it a good 50-60 seconds of Oxygen. I have double checked the seal on fermentor …I can only surmise this is bad yeast?
May be a stupid question, but what type of fermenter are you using? Did you check to make sure that you have a tight seal so that any CO2 isn’t leaking?
Catch22, Yes I double checked seal.
Flip, I usually always have good activity in airlock withing 12-24 hours no matter what type of yeast I use. I prefer dry yeast, just simpler and IMO every bit as good as liquid, but these lase two brews are making me wonder. I ordered a pack of Safale-04 off Amazon which will be here tomorrow just in case…
Was the Nottingham hydrated in spring water or untreated (without chlorine or chloramines) tap water? Using RO or distilled water will damage the cell wall structure.
Both of these yeasts perform with fewer esters being produced when the fermentation temperature is near 60°F.
Nottingham range, if used;
The recommended fermentation temperature range of this strain is 14° to 21°C (57° to 70°F) with good tolerance to low fermentation temperatures (12°C/54°F)
Windsor;
Recommended fermentation temperature range for Windsor is 17° to 21°C (64° to 70°F).
[quote=“flars”]Was the Nottingham hydrated in spring water or untreated (without chlorine or chloramines) tap water? Using RO or distilled water will damage the cell wall structure.
Both of these yeasts perform with fewer esters being produced when the fermentation temperature is near 60°F.
Nottingham range, if used;
The recommended fermentation temperature range of this strain is 14° to 21°C (57° to 70°F) with good tolerance to low fermentation temperatures (12°C/54°F)
Windsor;
Recommended fermentation temperature range for Windsor is 17° to 21°C (64° to 70°F).
What was the expiration dates on the packages?[/quote]
I used about 8 oz of city water (we have excellent water here) boiled it in a Pyrex cup and put tin foil over it. I actually did this right as I started brewing so it sat for about an hour and I checked and it was cool to the touch so I sprinkled the yeast over the water and sealed back up. When I got close to pitching I checked temp of yeast and it was 85° so I cooled it to 72° before pitching. I have used this exact same method before with no issues?
I normally always hydrate my yeast and very seldom do a starter. I know there is a lot of debate about doing starters but I couldn’t see that it made a lot of difference. I guess the great thing is you are 100% sure the yeast is healthy and happy before pitching.
So this morning it’s happily bubbling out of the airlock. I guess it was just slow to start visibly fermenting, which is not to say it didn’t start earlier but just not very vigorously. Normally I use Safale-04 and hydrate and pitch and it starts fermenting much quicker.
