Fermentation Problem

What went wrong? Was this supposed to happen? Should I throw it out? What do I do now?

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wamille
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Fermentation Problem

Post by wamille »

My yeast isn't cutting it... it's been over one week and still very little acitivity. I'm brewing an IPA... a strong one with a lot of DME/grain and hops (6 lbs of DME/8lbs grains... 6 oz hops... centenniel/chinook/simcoe). My yeast is WYEAST Northwest Ale 1332. I failed to take a gravity reading at first... so to test now would be useless. I certainly don't want to throw out the wort/weak beer. The room where I store it is fairly cool... maybe 65 degrees. I also didn't get a good chance to aerate the wort before pitching the yeast... I know I messed up. Is there a way to salvage the brew? Possibly pitching more yeast or heating up the wort? Also, if I were to pitch more yeast, should I aerate what is currently in the carboy?

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slothrob
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salvaging a fermentation

Post by slothrob »

I still think you shopuld take a gravity reading. Perhaps the beer finished.

If not, I'd pitch a pack of dry US-05 yeast. The cell numbers might be high enough in that pack to finish the beer without aeration (you could pitch 2 packs if you wanted some insurance). That yeast will work well at 65
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wamille
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Thanks

Post by wamille »

I appreciate the feedback. I'm living in Seoul, Korea and have limited access to good yeast. I do have the Northwest Ale liquid and will pitch that this evening (it's currently 3:36 AM here in Seoul) after I let it set for a few hours to warm up. Thanks again. Bill
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Re: Thanks

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wamille wrote:I appreciate the feedback. I'm living in Seoul, Korea and have limited access to good yeast. I do have the Northwest Ale liquid and will pitch that this evening (it's currently 3:36 AM here in Seoul) after I let it set for a few hours to warm up. Thanks again. Bill
You don't need to warm it up, that doesn't really do anything but give the yeast a chance to eat up their stored energy and give them less reserves to start the fermentation. You can pitch right out of the refrigerator. I'm talking about the white labs yeast vials and the small packs, not the Wyeast Activator, that is meant to be "smacked" then allowed to swell.

I don't know if you ever use yeast starters, but that gives you a chance to check the health of the yeast as well as increasing the yeast number.

Do you have access to any dry yeasts? If you can get any of the good ones, they are great insurance for when something goes wrong with hte liquid yeast.
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