Beer Forum

I've noticed a seemingly higher than usual number of posts regarding long yeast lag times. Has this trend struck anyone else? I experienced long lag times myself with Wyeast 3942 (Belgian Wheat) and Wyeast Northwest Ale recently as well (August). The Northwest actually took about 48 hours to get going. I really thought about re-pitching, but since I don't have a LHBS I patiently waited it out. I wonder if all these problems with lag times lately is because of the warm weather of the summer season or some other common connection. I've never had this problem before and I've just noticed a lot of posts here lately. Guess we'll see if things change as autumn approaches.

I would venture to guess that the long lag times are more a product of not using a starter.

In my short experiences with homebrewing I can tell you that it really does make a difference in your starts when using a starter vs direct pitching.

When I use a starter, (1000 to 2000ml) my starts are always very agressive and very fast. Lag time in a five gallon batch at 74 degrees F with a 2000ml starter was less than three hours. I do advise using a blow off tube into a bucket as your ferment will blow off a large volume in a huge agressive way. I've used both carboy and plastic bucket for the primary fermenter and I prefer the plastic, mostly for safety as I have a toddler and pre-teens in the house. The plastic is easier to clean and sanitize also.

When I've direct pitched, I've got results similar to what you are experiencing. The start sometimes took days, and the attenuation ability of the yeast was much less than when using a starter.

I never said anything about using a starter or not. In fact, I DID make a starter with the Belgian Wheat yeast but admittedly not with the Northwest. Still, the time to krausen in the fermenter was longer than usual (days) for a relatively low alcohol level (4.8%). So the trend that I questioned has little to do with making a starter or not.

Have you done the recipe before and had better lag times with it?

Kai