Crestfallen: yeast appears dead. Can I repitch?

If you're worried about whether or not fermentation will take off at all, it's probably too soon to worry much about it, IMO.

If you are worried about whether you pitched enough yeast, well, one smack pack wasn't really enough (ideally) for this beer, regardless of how healthy it was. This statement applies even if you believe the yeast manufacturers' dumbed down recommendations.

I'm usually not a fan of repitching, but I'm be tempted to do it in this case, as long as you do it fairly quickly.

 

I do not want to come across as condescending, but you made several mistakes. The biggest mistake is you pitched a yeast you did not know was healthy . . . and it was underpitched . . . and you have no back-up yeast.

I looked at Ferocious, it's a 1.064 beer. If your Wyeast was just delivered from the manufacturer you have less than half of what you need.

Was it alive and healthy when it arrived? There is no way to know without making a starter. In addition to getting the cell count up, this tells you they are alive and puts the yeast in a good mood to be ready to ferment. Was it defective from the seller, or died in shipping, or is it just lagging terribly? No way to really know at this point. That's why a starter is your friend . . . it tells you what to expect before your wort is at risk. When I have liquid yeast shipped I time the order to ship on Mon/Tue so it arrives mid-week (no week-ends in the UPS warehouse) and I always order two ice packs. Is that overkill? Pretty sure you would have gladly paid for two ice packs to avoid your current dilemma.

I keep at least one pack of dry yeast on hand at all times. It will easily keep a year+ and I just rotate through them as needed.

No zinger intended . . . the reason I say all of this is it has happened to me twice. I haven't brewed without making a starter since then and there is always a packet of US05 in my fridge. Now to answer your question: Yes, it can be re-pitched. I have re-pitched as long as five days after starting and had fermentation take off and be completed. The danger is your wort is very vulnerable to infection. Every time you peek in there is a chance the air will carry in some bacteria (experience speaking again). I would recommend giving it another 24 hours (48 total) and if no activity then re-pitch. Then learn about yeast calculators (Brewcipher or yeastcalculator.com are good starting points).

EDIT: I just read the Midwest instructions for this beer. Step 1. Inspection and Yeast Evaluation: Their guidance is actually pretty good. Other than ignoring the under-pitching problem this would have saved you.

 

Aside from perhaps the yeast being dead, I would pretty much speculate with out knowing your batch size and OG, that you underpitched.

That would be some of the issues with lag time.

 

Dry would get you a better pitching rate, and for less at the moment. Unless you want the character of the liquid, which I assume you would, then I'd get atleast another pack, maybe 2.

 

@PortLargo stated: “Was it alive and healthy when it arrived? There is no way to know without making a starter.”

That is not the case with Wyeast Smack Packs; one of the reasons for the smack pack feature it that it by smacking the pack and witnessing the swelling of the pack you know there is live yeast in the pack.

For a beer of OG = 1.064 a yeast starter should have been made.

Cheers!

 

should I repitch with two packets since one could be bad or use one package of rehydrated dry S-04

Maybe I should try being condescending. When you brew do you weigh grains, measure your water, and divide out your hops? Now with the yeast you are considering just pitching another packet (or two). Any thought about deciding how much you need and then adding that amount (just like water, grain, hops)? There is a real chance that two packets of liquid yeast may not be enough. Then you're back to the problem of determining if they are healthy and having them prepped for fermentation. These concerns can be addressed by using a calculator and making a starter (or to a lesser extent by smacking).

But time is not your friend here. It may take as long as a day for a good smacking to show results, a starter will take 1-2 days if all goes well. I would use dry yeast.

 

at this point I would definitely pitch a package of dry yeast, but would start thinking about pitching rate calculators and making starters for your next batch.

 

Getting yeast locally vs from a major supplier is no guarantee of viability, vitality, or an adequate number of cells when they get to your wort. Making a proper starter is.

 

Welcome to the internet.

Something to consider: all opinions are an entitlement, but not all opinions are equally qualified. Figure out which people tend to give the best advice and trust them until you have practical experience of your own. It doesn't take long to get a sense of who around here does/doesn't know what they are talking about. Many folks here are very accomplished as competition brewers, authors, pros, brewing tool developers, etc. You'll find that those people tend to give the same advice as each other. There's a reason for that.

Last thought...don't listen to the guys at your LHBS! Not unless you know them to be experts. Many are not.

 

@ronobvious2

Conflicting reports and advice in homebrewing is very common. Hence the reason for all the books, sites, and advice tossed around. You are right, find a process that works for you, regardless of it being "right" to the masses, as long as you are happy with the end result.

That said- check out a yeast pitching calculator. Generally the rule of thumb is this, if it's liquid, and you are under the 1.040-1.050 OG range, and the yeast is really fresh and handled well, you MIGHT can skip a starter. Not always, but if you want to be lazy and risk it, then this is the best bet for a good outcome.

Anything older than say.. 2-3 weeks on the yeast, or a bigger OG, then I highly suggest a starter.

Dry yeast, is just as good, give you larger pitching rates at less money, but limits your ability to grab a bunch of different strains to make certain distinct styles or flavors in your beer. More generic selection if you will.

Dry yeast should be hydrated, 1 packet I'm fine pitching into a 1.060-1.070 wort. Anything over 1.080, I use two packets per 5 gallons.

Point is, yeast is the #1 thing in beer to make it good. It's not your killer grain bill, or your massive hop schedule. It's your yeast. Treat it right, handle it well, and you are good.

Too many times, people focus on the newest hop, the perfect grain bill to get the driest finish, and then when brewing it done and cleaned up and it's time to pitch, they grab 1 smack pack thats 2 months old, shake it around, dump it in, put the airlock on it and set it in the corner.. They've done 2/3 of the work and gave up on the rest.

 

^
OP: This is good advice.