# OOPS



## brew master (Mar 20, 2009)

I FORGOT TO ACTIVEATE THE YEAST ,SO I JUST POURED IT IN.WILL THAT WORK ITS BEEN 2DAYS NOTHING IS HAPPENING.


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## Tom (Mar 20, 2009)

brew master said:


> I FORGOT TO ACTIVEATE THE YEAST ,SO I JUST POURED IT IN.WILL THAT WORK ITS BEEN 2DAYS NOTHING IS HAPPENING.




Check your temp. If its to cool it may take a while. It should be no problem. I bet it will start soon. Also, If fermenting in a bucket check the seal. better yet take a peek and see it any action.


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## smurfe (Mar 21, 2009)

Why type of beer, What type/brand of yeast? How old was the yeast?


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## brew master (Mar 21, 2009)

it was only 3 weeks old.it is a pale ale.and wyeast.


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## smurfe (Mar 21, 2009)

Hmm, dunno about that one. I don't know what the cell count in the yeast in the packets are. You can take a gravity reading to see if it has dropped any at all if you took an original gravity. If it hasn't dropped any at all, there may be a chance it isn't going to go anywhere. If there has been some fermentation you can wait it out, warm it up some,or pitch some more yeast. The longer it sets the more chance of infections, oxidation, and spoilage. Beer wort can't set as long as wine must with no fermentation activity.


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## Trubador (Mar 22, 2009)

brew master said:


> it was only 3 weeks old.it is a pale ale.and wyeast.



If using Wyeast, I think it is a liquid yeast, right? Did it come in a vial you kept in the fridge, or was it in a packet?


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## brew master (Mar 22, 2009)

it was a packet .had to break inside pouch.


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## Trubador (Mar 23, 2009)

brew master said:


> it was a packet .had to break inside pouch.



If you did not break the inside pouch prior to pouring it in, I doubt it will ferment, but then again it may, so whatever you do, dont' toss it yet. Do you have access to a local Homebrew shop? If you can get another yeast in there quickly, you may be able to save it.

Those yeast packets you have usually work great. Just remember to "pop" the inner packet about 8 to 12 hours prior to adding to the fermenter. The inner packet is a source of food for the yeast to 'wake them up' prior to their future work.


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## Travisty (Mar 23, 2009)

The little packet inside the Wyeast smack packs aren't absolutely necessary for fermentation (as far as I know) as they are just nutrients which should be available in the wort. You can pitch only the yeast without the little pouch and be fine assuming you have enough viable cells. The inside pouch, when broken, allows the yeast to "wake up" and begin fermenting a bit. That way when you see the pouch swell you know the yeast is good. However I have fermented a few batches without letting the pack swell at all. Also I usually make a starter so I know if the yeast is good or not anyways.


Was this a propagator pack or an activator pack? The activator packs areadvertised to be sufficient to ferment a "normal" gravity wort. However most of what I have read is that you should really make a starter regardless. Check out this website (http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html). It will tell you how much yeast you need to pitch to properly ferment a wort of a given OG.


If the pack was a propagator pack than you _really_ need to step up the yeast count with a starter regardless of the OG of the wort.


My guess is you underpitched. I'm definitely not an expert but I believe two days is a very long lag time. I'd try repitching with a proper amount of yeast and see what happens though. I definitely would not dump the batch until you absolutely know it's infected or oxidized. Who knows, it could still be very drinkable beer!


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## brew master (Mar 24, 2009)

Thanks to all.its fermenting.


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## smurfe (Mar 25, 2009)

Glad to hear that. I am going to have to buy a pack of Wyeast and open it up just to see what is all inside of it. I have used it a fewtimes but never looked to see what's inside the bag. I guess I will use it more now though as both the brew shops that opened around here carry Wyeast instead of White Labs.


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