Slow Fermentation startup?

Question

I just brewed my first hef, using a honey wheat kit. I am used to brewing with dry yeast, but this was vial of WLP320. I bought it Sunday Morning, and used it the same day so I didnt refridgerate when I got home. It sat on a shaded picnic table in about 70F weather.

Before I realized it, I'd gotten the temp of the wort down to about 65 (colder than I had anticipated). I pulled the bucket from the ice and pitched the yeast (I dont have a hydrometer yet, So I dont know the OG, I just usually go for at least 3 weeks in primary then bottle or keg). Then lugged it into the house. That was Sunday evening just after dark.

Monday night I came home from work and there was no activity yet. This is about 27 hours after pitching. With the dry yeasts, I usually see activity as soon as 12-20 hours.

Is this normal for this type of yeast?

thanks and cheers

Answer 1

Typically when there's a significant lag-time, it can be attributed to any of the following:

• Poor yeast health
• Insufficient yeast pitching rates
• Lack of aeration

I'm going to guess that the 3rd error above is likely the cause of your issue, but it could very well be a mix of all three. You may see it start either tonight or tomorrow. If it does, that indicates that your yeast are struggling. I'd recommend aerating it and possibly pitching another vial/packet of yeast to be doubly certain. To aerate, you can either pour the wort between your boil kettle and the bucket several times (once is not nearly enough), you can stir it using a stir rod attached to a drill, or you could use pure O2 and an aeration stone that you'd submerge into the wort and aerate for a minute or two. The higher the OG of the recipe, the more oxygen it needs. If you get into high gravity brewing, pure O2 is almost a must, unless you want to use the stir-rod, and give it a good second and possibly third aeration 24-36 hours after you've pitched your yeast to re-introduce more oxygen right as the lag phase ends.

The longer it sits without fermenting, the more likely it is to become infected. A short lag time is key to a good, solid fermentation, which is doubly important for German/European style ales where a good chunk of the flavor is attributed to the yeast and it's fermentation byproducts.