Beer Forum

ok i know it makes for a better flaver profile and for some beer styles its a must. i wouldn't do a belgian without it but the shit almost never starts for me unless i make a starter. WELL I DIDN"T HAVE ANY FUCKING TIME TO MAKE A DAMN STARTER! its only a fucking 1.050 wheat beer. there is no reason for it not to start. piched at 75 degrees. it was at room temp.. i know i didn't shock it. and i'm gonna be gone till sunday and my homebrew shop dosn't open till tuesday! what the hell! now excuse me wile i go and oxigenate.. AGAIN!

tom

Relax. Take a deep breath. Have a beer.

How long ago did you pitch?

For many years I never made a starter and I used White Labs. I usually didn't see activity for 24-48 hours. It takes time for the yeast to reproduce enough to get started. And I have had a batch or two that fermented out overnight--I never saw any airlock activity.

+1 on relax

Another question is was the vial expired?

Another reason to have a couple packets of dry yeast in the fridge, just in case...

Now relax and have a beer before you go postal.

Wound a little too tight brotha.... +100 on the relax and have a beer. Wait and see what happens... Could could always open it up and get some spontaneous fermentation working... after all you did say Belgian.

+1 on relax, but I can understand in this respect: both companies claim to sell a pitchable product for average gravity beers, but it is clearly not based on a professional pitch-rate.

If you don't have the time to make a starter, maybe you just need to buy and extra tube of yeast, and make sure that it's FRESH.

Then again, if you buy a small erlenmyer (sic) flask, making a starter should not take more than 20-30 minutes a day before you brew. Considering all the prep that goes into brewing including cleaning, grain grinding, and recipe formulation, it's not that big of a time investment.

it was fresh. and i'm only really annoyed because i'll be gone till sunday and i wont be able to check on it.. i pitched it about 24 hours ago and there is nothing. not a single thing going on. no fome no bubles. just irritating... thats all

I remember Jamil saying that the wheat yeast really doesn't last well between batches. I wonder if it is strain related.

I always keep a dry cali yeast on hand in case I need to save a beer. Luckily I've never needed it!