No yeast activity

[Jennifer Patterson]

How long does it normally take for the juice to show activity? I have fresh pressed apple juice, added sugar, nutrient, tannin and campden on Saturday. Added pectic enzyme late Saturday night. Hydrated and pitched my yeast on Monday afternoon. As of this afternoon, there is still no activity. Do I keep waiting? What steps should I take?

 

[salcoco]

may take 24-48 hours make sure ambient temp is at least 70deg F

 

[Jennifer Patterson]

may take 24-48 hours make sure ambient temp is at least 70deg F

It has been almost 48 hours now. The room temp has been hovering between 68 and 74

 

[Scooter68]

My personal approach, not something I read or was told to do... start at the upper end of a yeast's tolerance, not above it but at the upper end. Once the wine must shows signs of activity, then lower the temps back down. To me that's one reason yeast starters normally involve starting with a very warm water. A little like placing bread dough in a warm oven to get it to rise quickly. 68-74 isn't that coo but...perhaps your yeast packet has a rough life before you got it. (Low level of living/active yeast cells.)

 

[Ajmassa]

Longest I had to wait was just over 2 days. I suggest giving it until tomorrow morning. If still no activity then I would inoculate again with new yeast.

When you rehydrated the yeast did you do it the typical way and saw the yeast activity in the starter before adding it?

How much juice is this? And how much Camden was added ?

 

[BigH]

As of this afternoon, there is still no activity. Do I keep waiting? What steps should I take?

Three things that could be wrong:

• Yeast were killed in the process of pitching.
• SO2 levels too high
• pH too low

How many campden tabs did you add, and to what volume of must or juice? Do you know the pH of the must? Beware that the dosage of campden tabs are not all the same. Mine say that they add 30 ppm of SO2 to 1 gallon, but I have seen references to campden tablets that provide 75 ppm.

I would re-pitch another packet of the same yeast now. Be careful to obey the rehydration water temp and make sure to use plain tap water. When pitching, check that the yeast slurry is within 10 degrees of the must temp, but don't let the yeast slurry sit for more than 30 minutes. In the meantime, get your hands on some EC-1118 yeast. It is a good backup if this second pitch fails.

H

 

[Scooter68]

Waiting more than 30 minutes is not going to hurt the yeast starter. In fact pitching too soon is more than likely going to cause a problem I've waited over an hour and the ferment fired up just fine. And that was with a yeast almost 2 years beyond the Best By date. if the yeast starter is allowed to sit for 30-60 mins it should be at the room temp which should match the must temp. worry about a temp differential between the yeast and the must.

The key is was the starter mix foamy at all? If not then your starter probably failed

If not started within 72 hrs - make a new starter batch.

Most likely issues:
pH to High (above 3.8)
Old Yeast
SO2 levels too high

 

[Jennifer Patterson]

So, while it might not look like it's working, I took an SG reading, it was 1.096 when I pitched the yeast on Monday, today it's at 1.090. I will take this to mean the yeast has started to do its job.

 

[Ajmassa]

72 hours kinda lengthy for my taste. If mine id pitch again in the morning- or hell, even tonight.
I’ve also let starter go longer than 30 min accidentally couple times. No issues. Was an hour maybe. But 20-30 min seems ideal

 

[Ajmassa]

So, while it might not look like it's working, I took an SG reading, it was 1.096 when I pitched the yeast on Monday, today it's at 1.090. I will take this to mean the yeast has started to do its job.

Aha! One of those ghost ferments it seems. Been there. Screw with your mind they do. After staring at the surface trying to convince yourself you see activity. Usually other way around. Activity seen before SG drop.
Let us know how she’s looking tomorrow. I’ve got a feeling you’ll be rippin and runnin by then

 

[Scooter68]

The low end of your room temp you mentioned could contribute to a slower ferment BUT if the SG is dropping that's a good sign. Give it a nice stir and re-cover it.

And be sure when reading the SG to use the same method. That surface tension dip make it a challenge sometime ESPECIALLY if there is foam in the sample tube too.

 

[meadmaker1]

This is why i like go ferm starters. Ive done the other ways and certainly will again but i like seeing the activity before i pitch and it has always worked.

 

[Scooter68]

This is why i like go ferm starters. Ive done the other ways and certainly will again but i like seeing the activity before i pitch and it has always worked.

I don't have GoFerm but I do have Fermaid-K. My non-standard starter mix is as follows
2oz purified water heated for 30 seconds in the microwave
1 oz Juice from the bucket
1/8 tsp Yeast Nutrient
1/16 tsp Fermaid- K
Yeast
The juice added to the heated water cools it a bit. I add the two other ingredients and mix and cool until the glass just feels warm in my hand. THEN I add the yeast stir, cover and wait 20 mins to an hour. Normally by 20 mins I've got a good amount of foaming and bubbling.
It's been working very well for the last 10 batches do I'll stick with it.​

 

[Jennifer Patterson]

Aha! One of those ghost ferments it seems. Been there. Screw with your mind they do. After staring at the surface trying to convince yourself you see activity. Usually other way around. Activity seen before SG drop.
Let us know how she’s looking tomorrow. I’ve got a feeling you’ll be rippin and runnin by then

Nope, looks like it's just sitting there, I haven't taken a SG today, but I am thinking I will pitch yeast again.

 

[meadmaker1]

I hydrate with go ferm then feed.
Ive done it your way, ive sprinkled lightly, dumped and stirred. They all worked

Based on what i ve read i should be multiplying the yeast as much as possible, even though i dont notice a differance in fermentation time.
I kinda enjoy to mad scientist aspect too.

 

[Jennifer Patterson]

Longest I had to wait was just over 2 days. I suggest giving it until tomorrow morning. If still no activity then I would inoculate again with new yeast.

When you rehydrated the yeast did you do it the typical way and saw the yeast activity in the starter before adding it?

How much juice is this? And how much Camden was added ?

This is just over 3 gallons of juice, I put in 3 Campden tabs when I first started. When I pitched the yeast on Monday I used 1/2 a 5-gram packet. I did see yeast activity in the starter before I added it. I think I will start the rest of the packet and pitch it again tonight. I added yeast nutrient about the same time I put in the Campden, should I add more nutrient now too?

 

[Scooter68]

Don't see any mention of which yeast variety you are using. Also check the date on the yeast envelope. They can often work well past the "Best By" date but that's not a given.
Specific yeast varieties have certain needs that have to be met to perform well.

And not all yeast varieties produce a lot of foam.

 

[Jennifer Patterson]

Don't see any mention of which yeast variety you are using. Also check the date on the yeast envelope. They can often work well past the "Best By" date but that's not a given.
Specific yeast varieties have certain needs that have to be met to perform well.

And not all yeast varieties produce a lot of foam.

Checked the SB, still at 1.090, so I hydrated and added the balance of the yeast package. The yeast is Lalvin 71B-1122.....and I don't see a date, but it might have been on the part of the package I tossed already.

 

[meadmaker1]

No more neutreants now.
Yes on rest of the yeast.

 

[abrewkat]

I have used Red Star Cotes des Blancs (I know, different yeast!) a few times and it always takes about 3-4 days to show any activity. I generally "proof" the yeast in about a half a cup of warm water with a tsp or two of sugar for 15-30 min before I pitch. Good luck! Oops, saw after I posted that you used 71B-1122 yeast. I recently used some, and it took about 3 days to really get rolling. I had SG drop 0.01/day for two days, then it started dropping .04-.05/day. This was in a tropical dragons blood batch.