# My first Pee not fermenting



## bluerdg (Jan 18, 2011)

I followed Lon's recipe, but I didn't have a slurry so I made a starter from a recipe I found online. The starter set for 3 days and I thought it was mor e than adequate but apparently not. After 2 days I'm not getting any sign of fermentation from my pee. I don't think it's temperature related, I've got a batch of wine that I started the same day going right next to it and it's going to town. I did some searching and I'm not seeing any clear suggestions. I added the correct amount of energizer and nutrient to the pee and the starter per recipe. Can I try more yeast, nutrient, energizer - not sure? I was going for a blackberry lemon with the pee so I juiced 2 qts of blackberries to make my starter. I suppose I could wait a few days and add the slurry from my wine batch and see how that goes, but I was trying not to push too many flavors on the pee. Any help is greatly appreciated.


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## Brian (Jan 18, 2011)

Hey Bluerdg a couple of things. What is the temp because SP can be a little harder to get started it might just be that, even though the one next to it kicked right off. 

How long has it been since you pitched you starter? Was the fermentation in your starter really going or just starting? You can add another starter if you want and you can use some of the SP you have already. I use malt from my home brew store to make my starter and it does not add flavor to the mix but there are many way to make a starter.


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## bluerdg (Jan 18, 2011)

Brian said:


> Hey Bluerdg a couple of things. What is the temp because SP can be a little harder to get started it might just be that, even though the one next to it kicked right off.



Temp is a bit lower than I'd like (room has been in mid 60's). E. Texas temps are normally a bit warmer, but we've been experiencing cooler than normal temps since Christmas. I was a bit concerned about temp initially, but after the wine fired up, I figured I was OK. I moved one of those oil filled radiator style heaters into the room (mud room) earlier today, maybe that will get things going. I pitched the starter about 3 days ago, but it hadn't lifted the bulb on the airlock through this morning.


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## Brian (Jan 18, 2011)

Yea I would get the temp up. SP is a bugger to get going. I have a brewbelt but I live in the NE. So if you can get the temp up about 70 and that hopefully will kick it off..


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## mxsteve625 (Jan 18, 2011)

Yeap temp is way to low. i would shoot for 75 degrees. Stir O2 into it at least two times a day. It won't hurt to stir three to four times a day


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## Arne (Jan 19, 2011)

If it was me, I would get rid of the airlock at least til your fermentation is really cooking. S.P. seems to need a lot of oxygen. Leave the lid on your primary loose, put a towel over it, I usually put a dish towel over it and just set the lid on top of that. Makes it easy to get in there and keep it stirred. With you getting it warmer, and stir the heck out of it, it will probably take off. Must be all the acid or something in the lemon that makes it hard to start. But I think when it is done, you will find it is worth all the trouble. Take care and good luck. Arne.


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## Medieval (Jan 30, 2011)

Lalvin EC-1118 has never failed me yet ! What kind of yeast did you use?


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## bluerdg (Jan 31, 2011)

Should have updated but other things have had me tied up for the last week or so. Thanks to all that replied - Always good to ask the experts. It must have been a temp issue in the room I use for working on wine. We had some abnormally cool temps for this area so I moved one of those oil filled heaters into the room, sprinkled a pkg of Lavin across the top. Next morning the fermenter temp was steady at about 75 and airlock was going full steam.


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