Dogfish Head 60 Min IPA Clone Fermentation

Not to insult you, but this is your first post, so I don't know your background. .. How do you know your wort hasn't begun to ferment?

 

What are you using to determine that your yeast isn't fermenting? what yeast did you use, and in what manner did you use it? what was your pitching temperature? what is your fermentation temperature?

Vikeman is right, more details = better answers to questions.

If you are using airlock activity as a means to gauge fermentation, this is not a good marker. I have one bucket that has never bubbled at all, yet has produced many good batches of beer. I suspect it doesn't completely seal tight. This isn't an issue. I have a larger bucket (meant for ten gallon batches) that has no airlock at all, the gases are released via the lid, which covers completely and wraps around the sides, but doesn't seal completely. So you'd NEVER see airlock activity from that one, yet it still brews beer just fine.

 

To just figure out if there has been any activity at all...
- Hydrometer reading: if lower than Original Gravity, something was/is happening, or
- Open the lid and look for krausen (or a residue ring from a fallen krausen)

 

75F is really too warm for most yeast strains. Actually, it's great for the yeast, but not great for flavor, because it will tend to make excessive esters and perhaps fusel alcohols.

Conversely, 60F is a bit cool for some yeast strains. But I bet you're measuring ambient temp. What's the actual wort temp?

Also, regarding 75F --> 60F, you generally want to pitch your yeast into wort that's at or below the temp at which you want to ferment. And ideally, the difference between the two temps should be relatively small.

 

Fermentation can reliably be gauged by measurement with a gravitometer (hydrometer to you earth folks). You need two identical readings a couple of days apart. I wouldn't take the first reading till at least two weeks in primary have passed. BTW I don't usually use secondary, and you can leave your beer for three or four weeks in primary without concern.

Rehydration of yeast - I recommend following instructions on package, which is usually to boil some water, let it cool to 96F, then add yeast and swirl gently. Not sure distilled water is best for this, I generally use tap water (caveat: my tap water makes good beer and is sufficiently balanced for most beer applications).

Get that pitching temp below 70F next time for ale yeasts.

edit: on vikeman's comments on temperature: AMBIENT temperature is not the same thing as fermentation temperature. 70F is probably max fermentation temperature, but slightly lower is better for most ale yeasts. If you are using ambient temperature as your gauge, it needs to be lower than 70F for optimal fermentation of ales. I've used 64F ambient temperature (in a temperature controlled freezer/controller unit) with fine results.

 

I missed the part about distilled water for rehydration. That can be very bad for the yeast, but people have successfully done it that way.

 

Is that amount of yeast correct? If you actually added 500g (1.1#) of yeast when you pitched a 5gal batch, it may have fermented out before you noticed anything.

 

Wow, I missed that too! Aren't dry yeast packs usually 11g?

 

The lack of minerals in the water causes too much osmotic pressure too soon, damaging and/or killing yeast cells.

No.