The Wyeast 3278 which I pitched at about 3:00 p.m. on 5/13/2020 (nearly 48 hours ago) is not fermenting. There are no bubbles in the wort. Period. The temperature is in the range of 66F – 68F. The wort temperature was cool when I pitched the Wyeast 3278, maybe upper 60’s or low 70s degrees Fahrenheit. I had broken the smack pack, etc., and let the sealed package sit on the counter about 1.5 hours. It did increase in size during this time, maybe doubled, but not to a great increase. The manufacturer’s date on the Wyeast 3278 was mid-October 2019, so a month past the 6-month recommended date, but I kept it really cool since getting it. The refrigerator stays at 40F or a degree or two less. What are my options to get this 3-gallon batch of beer going again? – or is it a lost cause?
If the pack doubled in size over a period of 1.5 hours that would seem to indicate there are viable yeast cells within the pack. So, while you have some viable yeast cells as indicated by the pack swelling a package that is 7 months old will have less viable cells than it did out of the factory. Continually storing this pack cold (refrigerator temperature) is a proper storage but cells will die off regardless. I just did a web search on Wyeast 3278 to discover: "Wyeast 3278 Lambic Blend is a combination of Belgian style wheat beer yeast, sherry yeast, two Brettanomyces strains and lactic acid bacteria for producing lambic-style ale." Wow! There are a lot of different microorganisms in that package. I wonder whether over 7 months the ratio of viable cells is the same as when this package came out of the factory. At this point you have two options (as I see it): Just let it ride and see if tomorrow or the next day fermentation starts If you have a sachet of dry yeast in your refrigerator you could pitch it to produce beer (but different than you originally intended) My choice would the "let it ride" option. Out of curiosity, what was the OG of this batch? Cheers! P.S. Another thing you could do if you are curious is to give the fermenter a swirl to see if any CO2 comes out of solution - this would indicate that some fermentation is occurring.
There is the thinnest line on the glass carboy right at the wort line. It's so tiny I can't say that it is crusty.
That is a moderate gravity from my perspective and for 3 gallons of wort and a fresh Wyeast smack-pack would contain more than enough cells to ferment that batch. The 'wild card' here is since you pitched a 7 month old package we really do not know how many viable cells you pitched. I have never done a direct pitch with a Wyeast package that old so I have nothing to relate here. Best of luck with your batch. Cheers!
You pitched this yeast “blend” with the intention of aging it for a substantial amount of time correct? That’s why you chose this yeast right? The saccharomyces yeast in that blend might not be in the best shape as it’s a bit old but the Brett should be fine. Depending on the strain it can take Brett quite some time to grow and show signs of fermentation. I’d just leave it and check back in 6 months. You’ll probably find it fully fermented and already developing a nice mixed culture flavor profile.
I am experimenting, but with a large variable given the viability of the yeast isn't known. I am willing to wait, but without carbon dioxide coming off, there is no alcohol being produced. This has me a little worried. The brewing process was done in a very sanitary fashion, but I feel alcohol would help preserve the batch for the long haul. This preservation is my biggest concern. If you have any advice on that, I'd like to hear it. Someone, and I don't see it to quote it here, suggested adding yeast. I was thinking to add some US-05, easy enough to get. Wyeast 3275 isn't available in my town and it's too hot to ship, otherwise I night add a fresh packet of that after hitting the nutrient pack and waiting three hours for it to swell. Reason for having such an old packet of Wyeast 3278: My plan last winter was to make a Sour Blonde Beer (All-Grain Recipe) - (If you search that on-line you'll find it on kegerator's site) with - in the secondary - 6 lbs of tart frozen cherries that never showed up in the big box store, before physical distancing started anyway. Now that I look back, perhaps I should have followed the plan without the cherries (adding fruit is optional to the recipe). I used 3.75 lb Belgium Pilsner malt and 3.25 lb of Wheat Malt for a 3-gal batch. Some of the German Hallertau hops (4.1AA) were old from my original batch a couple of years ago and nice and cheesy and the rest of the German Hallertau hops (3.8 AA) were fresh, and I did this big calculation to have the AAU be 3.75. That's not much bitterness, so this beer really needs some souring to keep it from being cloyingly sweet.
That was me discussing that in post #3 above with the caveat of "produce beer (but different than you originally intended)". So, if you are looking to 'save' this batch and produce beer pitching some US-05 quickly will do that but you already seem to recognize it will be a 'different' beer. Have you tried swirling your fermenter to see if CO2 is coming out of solution via this agitation? Cheers!
Bump up the temperature a bit if you're worried about a "preservative effect". Should get whatever sacchromyces that remains going again, as well as increased activity from the Lacto and Pedio in the blend. Then you'll get some alcohol as well as acid to preserve the beer. Once you see activity, allow to return to upper 60s/low 70s, slowly. If you're worried about off-flavors due to this, the Brett in the blend will probably take care of them given enough time.
If there is Brett in that blend I wouldn’t worry about it at all honestly. That blend is designed to in theory replicate the flavor profile of Lambic. Often times true lambic won’t begin fermenting for quite some time and the fermentation is purposely designed to be slow and steady. Just because you’re not seeing Co2 doesn’t mean the yeast aren’t working. A better indicator of fermentation would be pH drop. Do you have a pH meter. Unless you see some mold start to grow I’d just leave it. I pretty much guarantee you it will ferment and be totally fine to age. Brett is an amazing thing. You can find live Brett in incredibly old bottles of beer.
Brett is pretty much set it and forget it unless you bottle too soon. You should also bottle any Brett beer in heavy glass that can take the pressure, even if you think it's done.
An interesting observation about Brett. If you don’t add a diastaticus yeast a lot of Brett won’t take the gravity all the way down. Did a recent test with 4 different Brux strains and 1 Brux blend. Primary with non diastaticus and then split and pitched the different strains. Only one got to 1.000 (the blend) all others stopped at 1.004-1.005. They were aged for 14+ months so fair assumption they wouldn’t go further. Found it interesting. Can’t remember if I shared this recently or not.
Cheers![/QUOTE] I'd jiggled it a bit early today, as yesterday and it all looked flat, just the slightest buildup on the glass at the level of the wort, then still too tiny to tell what it was. Just now I checked again, and, almost 72 hours after pitching the Wyeast 3278, there are tiny bubbles ringing the wort and a skim of bubbles forming across the surface of the wort! Cheers! indeed! I will leave it alone for the time being. Depending how the fermentation goes, maybe raising the temperature to low- or mid- 70's once it settles down might help the overall flavor. I appreciate all the support and information. I have a well-fitting blow-off tube set up, and just observed my first CO2 bubble come out.
On another forum I got into a discussion and was advised that now, after five weeks of fermentation, I should reduce the temperature to the low 60s for maturing. The overall plan now is to wait about five more months and then bottle. Does anyone have advice on temperature over the next five months? I had emailed the supplier five weeks ago when I stated this thread because of the initial concern since nothing appeared to be happening. Once it had started to visibly ferment, the advice from the supplier was to wait about three weeks, bottle, and let it mature/age in the bottle within the fermentation range (63 - 75F). Any thoughts on this?
