Help, is my beer worth rescuing??

I would pitch another packet, 30 hours with no signs of fermentation (did you check gravity?) would lead me to repitch

 

I've had good luck with rousing the yeast, just swirl the carboy to get those guys back into suspension.

 

I'd wait another day or 2. Assuming a sanitized fermenter with an airlock, nothing bad will happen in this time.

 

I've had dry yeast have slow lag times in the past. I think after 48 hours you'll see a thin layer of froth on the surface and at 72 hours you'll have a full krausen. Just a troubleshooting question, did you aerate well? Low oxygenation will extend lag times.

 

If you've got more yeast then it won't hurt to pitch it now, but I'd wait another day. If you followed good sanitation procedures, and you're not lifting the lid of your bucket every 2 hours which allows unwanted air to get in (assuming you're fermenting in a bucket), then you don't have to worry about your wort spoiling.

 

How are you judging whether or not fermentation is happening?

 

Did you rehydrate the yeast?

 

Give it another day, and take a gravity reading. I recently had Weizen yeast not move the airlock, only a small kreusen... but when I took a gravity reading... it was down to 1.014. Sometimes you just don't get a good seal on the bucket (assuming you're using a bucket).

 

General homebrew question based off the concerns of a couple posters here: IF the fermentation was just slow to start, or if the OP repitches more yeast and is successful, why has it been mentioned to be bad to keep opening the lid,allowing oxygen in? Doesn't yeast need oxygen? Assuming that oxygen is let in, the yeast would consume any oxygen in there(if and when fermentation finally/does occur), right?

I understand that post fermentation, one would want to keep air(oxygen) out, but if it hasn't fermented yet, or is still in the process, is air still bad?

 

Yup. Unless the yeast pack was quite out of date and stored poorly, I'd lean more towards insufficient or low aeration, low yeast nutrient, and maybe yeast rehydration (or lack of) being a more likely culprit of a long lag time or stalled fermentation. Either way, the O2 shouldn't hurt at this stage.

 

The wort is a sterile solution, and there are occasionally bad things floating in the air that would just love to get inside the bucket by traveling with whatever air is let in. If a bucket (or any fermentor) is in a basement or garage, or a bathroom tub (I've done it), etc. the surrounding air is of an unknown quality. The risk may be low, but...

Plus, hopefully the yeast are not relying on using the oxygen is in the head space, but rather whatever oxygen has been put into the solution during aeration.

 

what temperature is the Fermentor? too low will stall or slow the yeast. I do agree with those who posted and said just wait for a day or 2 even. as long as you keep the lid closed you have a safe environment for the wort.

 

Are you using a bucket or carboy? As mentioned if using a bucket you could have a bad seal. Or you do not have enough liquid in your air lock. I have had batches not show signs for three days then blow the lid off my bucket. Good luck.

 

This is a valid question. OP, what are you basing your "no signs of fermentation" on? If it's a bucket and you are going solely on airlock activity, don't. That's not always an indicator. Remove the airlock and peep through the hole and see if there is a krausen forming. If it's in a carboy, well then you have a visible confirmation of little or no fermentation. It is possible to have complete fermentations without any airlock activity. Rare but can happen. As was eluded to, a bad lid or airlock seal will account for this. Although by now... I'm betting we are seeing some fermentation action. Hopefully anyway!

 

Pitching at 80F would not have prevented or delayed fermentation. It's not ideal for flavor, but the yeast would love it.

 

I think it´s been enough time for a dry yeast to start working, I would add another pack of dry yeast very soon.

 

Here's a dumb question.... but when you rehydrated your yeast... what was the temperature of the water when you introduced the yeast?