I am at a loss and can't tell if it's a good idea to pitch more yeast in my batch. Its been about 7 days since my boil and the bucket isn't showing any signs of fermentation. I'm not sure if I still have the opportunity to pitch or if my batch has been spoiled somewhow I'm brewing a beer (1 of 2) for my sister's wedding and I have never run into this problem before. I'm brewing an amber ale using wyeast 1056 american ale liquid yeast. I'm pretty new at making starters, but I tried, and I think I killed the yeast. About 24 hours before pitching I got the bag out of the fridge, smacked it and let it expand, threw it in my sanitized beaker, and proceeded to check on it and swirl it regularly (don't have a plate of any kind, which also forced me to use a stovetop in order to keep my yeast warm when it got too cold. Here's where I start feeling embarrassed. 1) I wanted to keep it as sealed as possible, but still have the thermometer set up, so I used a combination of tin foil, ceran (seran?) wrap, and electrical tape to make a seal, which still was not entirely sealed 2) The morning of the boil I noticed it was getting cold, so I turned on the burner on the lowest heat witch just a corner above the flame...walked away for too long and it had reached 155...I brought it back down quickly and hoped for the best, but really I have no idea what this may have done to my yeast 3) I'm an idiot and forgot to buy a new hydrometer to replace the one I broke last time. Instead I got a fancy new thermometer but still have no idea where my gravity was at any point 4) I'm a gigantic moron and accidentally let a little hose water into my cooling wart when a bad connection to the chiller revealed itself I'm assuming you're thinking what I am, that I just need to cut my losses, which is why I gave myself enough time before the wedding to brew again...but I really want to try and salvage this batch to see if I can make improvements on the recipe. So...is it worth it to try pitching more yeast? Help
points for a witty thread title. I'd consider pitching some dry yeast (US-05). Worst case - you waste 4 bux.
Where to begin? One place to start is this link, because sounds like you're going about your starter very wrong. http://howtobrew.com/book/section-1/yeast/preparing-yeast-and-yeast-starters And yes 155F will for sure kill your yeast.
An amber ale doesn't scream at me that it needs a starter, so when you make a trip to the homebrew store to get a packet of dry yeast you can pick up a new hydrometer too. By the way, welcome to the BA site and to the Homebrewing forum. Hang around as long as you'd like, and enjoy your time while here.
If you want to try save the batch, yes, you need to pitch some good fresh yeast ASAP. Since you already brewed and chilled the wort, buy sufficient dry yeast to adequately pitch the entire batch, basically assuming your starter is not going to contribute anything. You can still try to pitch the fresh yeast as late as tomorrow, assuming you need to hit up the store to get it.
Yeahh I thought so...so my yeast is definitely dead, and yes I didn't do the starter properly at all. Thanks for the link. I got confused because I did dry yeast for my first starter and this is only my second time trying to make one, should have brushed up before diving in. Yes, this is a problem for me as the nearest brew supply store to me is about an hour away and closes shortly after I get off work. I'll race over there when I get a chance and try pitching a couple of packets of dry yeast.
I'd just get a keg or two from a decent local brewery for the wedding, then try again if she has a second marriage
Totally agree with this sentiment. Also I would consider re-boiling the wort since it's been sitting for 7 days with no yeast to kill any rogue yeasts/bacteria that might have taken hold.
A buddy of mine pitched his yeast in a barleywine when it was still around 150F (lots of beers on brew day), so it obviously killed the yeast and there was no fermentation. He went back to the LHBS and bought more yeast and pitched it the next day when it was at room temp. Ferment took off, so I'd do that before you start worrying about a little bit of water in your wort, or not knowing the OG from your hydro reading. As for wanting to know the fermentation temp, get one of those stick-on thermometers. They're super cheap and they last a long time if you take good care of them. Good luck man!
Yeah, its been a while (probably about a year) since I brewed last. Thats why I made this batch early, I knew I'd probably have a couple kinks in my process. I still have enough time to re-brew, and I'm actually brewing a second beer for him. I just wanted to salvage this batch so that I could see how I liked the recipe I picked for it. Also, its like 60 bucks literally down the drain if I don't.
The couple are craft beer drinkers and frequent the local breweries, I think they might be kind of offended if I told them I was brewing them each a beer and showed up with someone else's Could I really dump the wort back into a kettle and boil it again? Would that change anything else about the beer? Gravity? I actually don't have a kettle that large. I'm still on a partial liquid extract set up. If I could do that though I'd consider finding one though, I have until May, but would waiting even longer make this not possible? Definitely going to brew this one again before the wedding either way but really want to salvage this new recipe to see where I'm at.
US-05 should do the trick. If you have kept the bucket under airlock I wouldn't bother boiling it again. A little hose water is something we have all done before, chances are your wort was still plenty hot and took care of it just fine. US-05 is the exact same strain as 1056, you just pay extra for the "starter" smack bag. A Hydrometer is essential to brewing successfully. Not a rule but something I follow and have never had a problem with is 1.060 and under SG worts do not need starters. Above 1.060 it is safer to use a starter or pitch more yeast packets. Pitch the US-05 and aerate the crap out of it. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Thank you. Well I got 2 packets of dry us 05, but of course they were out of hydrometers. Went home and opened the fermentation bucket. It smelled great, had a nice deep red color to it, and a layer of black mold growing on the underside of the lid. I don't think I'm going to bother reboiling it. I think the color and smell were enough to tell me I'll want to use the same ingredients and times and all, so I'll just dump it and start over. Made for a nice learning experience though. Thank you guys for all your help.
yeah, that's a little disconcerting. If your sanitation is good and everything's been sealed up? There really shouldn't be anything growing in there - even after 7 days. I'm not suggesting you keep the batch (at all) - but you might want to revisit your cleaning and sanitizing routine before the next batch.
To re-enforce what was stated by @DunkelFester, if there is black mold growing at day 7 sanitation practices need to be re-visited. Cheers!
