Yeast starters

[GFHomebrew]

I agree with barbarian
How did your starters go you get good propogation?
If there is no change in gravity you could pitch that saved starter.

 

[Buxton]

How are you judging the lack of fermentation activity? I ask because airlocks on buckets are notoriously silent due to the lids not sealing tightly and CO2 escaping via that path instead of the airlock. Do you see kreuzen or remnants of one on the sides of the bucket? The only way to know for sure is to take a gravity reading. If the gravity is still at your OG then you need to pitch new yeast. Lastly what temperature are you fermenting at? Cooler temps, which is where most lager yeasts like to be, take longer to get going. But, I would expect you would be seeing some evidence of fermentation after 3 days.

i am just judging it on the fact I have no gas coming through the bubble trap. I have a froth. I carefully double checked and there is a carbon dioxide smell. It doesn’t have the malty beery smell that I get with pale ales though, it is more earthy (I have chucked batches for having that smell). I just didn’t know if the yeast may clean it up.

perhaps one to put down to experience. (Or lack of)

 

[Herm brews]

Carbon dioxide is colorless and odorless, so there is no way to smell it.

 

[GFHomebrew]

i am just judging it on the fact I have no gas coming through the bubble trap. I have a froth. I carefully double checked and there is a carbon dioxide smell. It doesn’t have the malty beery smell that I get with pale ales though, it is more earthy (I have chucked batches for having that smell). I just didn’t know if the yeast may clean it up.

perhaps one to put down to experience. (Or lack of)

Sounds to me like active fermentation then

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

Carbon dioxide is colorless and odorless, so there is no way to smell it.

CO2 may be odorless but, other compounds are leaving the fermenter at the same time. So there can be an aroma/smell/odor. Plus there is also the sharp biting assault on the nasal passages if you take a whiff of a fermentation chamber like a chest freezer.

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

i am just judging it on the fact I have no gas coming through the bubble trap. I have a froth. I carefully double checked and there is a carbon dioxide smell. It doesn’t have the malty beery smell that I get with pale ales though, it is more earthy (I have chucked batches for having that smell). I just didn’t know if the yeast may clean it up.

perhaps one to put down to experience. (Or lack of)

The froth is the kreuzen! Strong sign of a healthy fermentation.

Are you detecting a sulphur/rotten egg smell? Lagers tend to throw off nasty sulphur smells during fermentation. At least the few lagers I've brewed did. Had I not been warned in advance to expect this I might have tossed it! They turned out delicious.

 

[Herm brews]

CO2 may be odorless but, other compounds are leaving the fermenter at the same time. So there can be an aroma/smell/odor. Plus there is also the sharp biting assault on the nasal passages if you take a whiff of a fermentation chamber like a chest freezer.

I know, but my response was to the OP saying “ I carefully double checked and there is a carbon dioxide smell.”
I love the aromas/odors/smells of fermentation that carbon dioxide pushes out of the fermentation vessel - makes my fermentation closet smell like fermentation is happening.

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

The froth is the kreuzen! Strong sign of a healthy fermentation.

Are you detecting a sulphur/rotten egg smell? Lagers tend to throw off nasty sulphur smells during fermentation. At least the few lagers I've brewed did. Had I not been warned in advance to expect this I might have tossed it! They turned out delicious.

Yes! Nearly every lager fermentation smells like ass. Don't worry, the odor will pass and the co2 escaping the fermenter will carry a lot of it out. Sulfur is produced by lager yeasts and they produce more at lower temperatures. Some sulfur will carry over to the beer, but it should be very faint, almost unnoticeable. It blends in with the malt and adds a crispness to the beer. To me it has a "German" aroma.

If you have krausen, make sure you seal that fermenter so you see air lock activity. If you don't, air (oxygen) will make its way into the fermenter and wreck the beer.

Good luck!

 

[AHarper]

I just had my most successful - hang on the ONLY successful - starter made from top skimmed yeast cake from a Verdant IPA yeast brew last week.
This was 1 litre water plus 200g LME, brought up to boil, cooled and the yeast pitched. This is after 2 hours of leaving it on top of the stirrer that I now have to clean up as this stuff overflowed big time.

It is now sitting in a tray to catch the overflow.

I guess I will have to brew tomorrow.