No fermentation!

[Brewer #403039]

My wort is not fermenting! It's been 6 days and no activity in the airlock, no foam starting to grow- nothing. I cooled the wort to about 72 degrees and aerated it for about 20 mins. then added White Labs WLP001 to the batch. I let the yeast get to room temperature before adding it in, and all equipment had been sanitized that morning. Being a somewhat new brewer, I have never encountered this and have no clue what to do. My previous brews have started in 1-2 days. Should I throw it out and start over?

 

[Zambi]

Does your fermenter have a spigot?
If so, then take a sample and measure thr gravity.
Remember that the reading needs to be adjustef if you use a refractometer, but even without that, it will give you an indication.
Airlock activity is not the best way to assess fermentation. Your fermenter may be leaking, or fermentation could be so quick that it is over before you check.

 

[GFHomebrew]

Amen what's the gravity at?

 

[Herm brews]

I don’t have an answer regarding whether or not to dump the batch, but 6 days without any fermentation activity might be too long? As others have said, check the gravity of your wort.
Was the yeast fresh? If you still have the yeast package, you can see a Best By date listed.
Was the yeast kept cool from supplier to you? If the yeast was not kept cool, it might have died.

 

[Donoroto]

My wort is not fermenting! It's been 6 days and no activity in the airlock, no foam starting to grow- nothing. I cooled the wort to about 72 degrees and aerated it for about 20 mins. then added White Labs WLP001 to the batch. I let the yeast get to room temperature before adding it in, and all equipment had been sanitized that morning. Being a somewhat new brewer, I have never encountered this and have no clue what to do. My previous brews have started in 1-2 days. Should I throw it out and start over?

Ok, don't panic.

Take a sample and measure the specific gravity. If it changed, it is (or has finished) fermenting. If no change, pitch more yeast.

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

Looks like you did everything correctly. Are you using the airlock alone to determine no fermentation has occurred? Airlocks are not so good at assessing fermentation activity, especially in buckets that often have leaky lids. If you can't see the beer itself, open the fermenter and take a look. There should be a kreuzen ring around the top if fermentation had occurred. If you've already done this then it's mostly likely the yeast. As others have said, check gravity and possibly pitch more yeast. What yeast did you use and how much did you pitch?

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

Was the yeast WLP001 dry version or liquid version? What was the expiration date? Starter?

 

[Sandy Feet]

If you didn't see any foam or krausen after 24 hours with an ale yeast, you have bad yeast. Check the date.
Zero activity, no foam, no krausen? It ain't fermenting. Try a sample to see if it tastes contaminated. If not, try repitching being very, very careful about sanitizing everything.
If so, dump it, and start over.
24 hours is my cut off time. If something isn't happening by then, something is wrong. Not necessarily airlock, but you should see something.

 

[Minbari]

If you didn't see any foam or krausen after 24 hours with an ale yeast, you have bad yeast. Check the date.
Zero activity, no foam, no krausen? It ain't fermenting. Try a sample to see if it tastes contaminated. If not, try repitching being very, very careful about sanitizing everything.
If so, dump it, and start over.
24 hours is my cut off time. If something isn't happening by then, something is wrong. Not necessarily airlock, but you should see something.

Under pitch on liquid ale yeast can take 2 or 3 days. But no activity after a week is definitely suspicious

 

[Sandy Feet]

Under pitch on liquid ale yeast can take 2 or 3 days. But no activity after a week is definitely suspicious

I take it back if an underpitch, but I overpitch.

 

[Brewer #403039]

Does your fermenter have a spigot?
If so, then take a sample and measure thr gravity.
Remember that the reading needs to be adjustef if you use a refractometer, but even without that, it will give you an indication.
Airlock activity is not the best way to assess fermentation. Your fermenter may be leaking, or fermentation could be so quick that it is over before you check.

Does your fermenter have a spigot?
If so, then take a sample and measure thr gravity.
Remember that the reading needs to be adjustef if you use a refractometer, but even without that, it will give you an indication.
Airlock activity is not the best way to assess fermentation. Your fermenter may be leaking, or fermentation could be so quick that it is over before you check.

Ok, don't panic.

Take a sample and measure the specific gravity. If it changed, it is (or has finished) fermenting. If no change, pitch more yeast.

My OG was, before adding yeast, 1.044 and is now reading 1.021. Is this enough of a change? There is a small ring around the fermenter and a few "spots" on the top of the wort also. I've always used the airlock to tell if fermentation is done or not.
Thanks!

 

[Brewer #403039]

Under pitch on liquid ale yeast can take 2 or 3 days. But no activity after a week is definitely suspicious

I used White Labs WLP001 (liquid), I let it get to room temp before pitching. There is a small ring around the fermenter and a few "spots" on top, now. But the airlock is still not bubbling. Thanks for your help!

 

[Minbari]

My OG was, before adding yeast, 1.044 and is now reading 1.021. Is this enough of a change? There is a small ring around the fermenter and a few "spots" on the top of the wort also. I've always used the airlock to tell if fermentation is done or not.
Thanks!

that would indicate that fermentation did occur. wait a couple days and check again. if it is still 1.022 then it might be done. that would be pretty sweet, meaning the yeast was prolly not healthy or your wort was not as fermentable as you might want. if it is lower, then it is still going.

after this batch, check to to make sure you don't have any leaks. dried up seals or debris on a seal will keep it from sealing and your airlock wont bubble.

 

[Sandy Feet]

California yeast doesn't show a lot of activity, but it does show some. You DID have some foaming if that thing is fermenting. I rely much more on looking at the liquid than I do the airlock. CO2 can escape in other places around the top.

 

[Donoroto]

Definitely enough of a leak to keep the airlock from bubbling. No harm! It will be beer.

 

[Sandy Feet]

If you really want to see some activity, try the Ardennes yeast. It might blow the airlock out and the top off, but you will have activity LOL

 

[Zambi]

Yep, she's fermenting
How did you measure your gravity?
If you used a refractometer without the correction for alcohol, you'll actually be done, with close to 88% apparent attenuation

 

[The Brew Mentor]

First of all, RDWHAHB.
You are fermenting.
Keep it closed up, give it a swirl, move it to about 70° F and give it another week.
Don't mess with it until bottling.
You have a leak somewhere in your seal, no big deal. Back in the day, there weren't lids or airlocks!
In the future, make sure the yeast is fresh, or if not, make a starter. This is assuming you used liquid yeast.
Congratulations, you made beer!

 

[Ulteemit]

My wort is not fermenting! It's been 6 days and no activity in the airlock, no foam starting to grow- nothing. I cooled the wort to about 72 degrees and aerated it for about 20 mins. then added White Labs WLP001 to the batch. I let the yeast get to room temperature before adding it in, and all equipment had been sanitized that morning. Being a somewhat new brewer, I have never encountered this and have no clue what to do. My previous brews have started in 1-2 days. Should I throw it out and start over?

-- Agree with the others recommending that you take a gravity measurement. That being said, assuming little change from your original gravity, your liquid yeast was probably dead or mostly so. I therefore recommend adding a packet of dry yeast like SafAle S-05 (also known as US-05), which would be similar to WLP-001. Dry yeast are much more stable and in recent years many good, reliable strains have been developed by Ferments (SafAle & SafLager) and Lallemand. I stopped using liquid yeasts about 5 years ago and have never looked back.

 

[Redline]

My wort is not fermenting! It's been 6 days and no activity in the airlock, no foam starting to grow- nothing. I cooled the wort to about 72 degrees and aerated it for about 20 mins. then added White Labs WLP001 to the batch. I let the yeast get to room temperature before adding it in, and all equipment had been sanitized that morning. Being a somewhat new brewer, I have never encountered this and have no clue what to do. My previous brews have started in 1-2 days. Should I throw it out and start over?

If your using a plastic type fermenter it's easy to check for leaks. After you setup your airlock give the fermenter a squeeze and you should get bubbles in the airlock.