slow gervin yeast..

[loady]

I used some wilkos gervin ale yeast, i dropped it into some ambient boiled water and left for a while then swirled and added when i finished brewing, its been nearly 48 hours now and no sign of activity except for a sediment layer and the bottom of fermenters, the temp is around 18-20 where they are and i would normally have expected them to be in full swing by now...does this yeast work differently or something ??

 

[oldbloke]

What volume? 48 hours is a long time but not quite "give up" time if in say 5 gallons.
I've used a lot of Gervin wine yeast, various strains, in single gallons and never had to wait more than a half day before obvious activity, but I've not bought them from Wilko's, ISTR reading of others with problems with yeast from there? Dodgy stock control?
Give it a good stir and cross your fingers, maybe.

 

[danb]

I've used it for the last 4 brews. I rehydrate in 100ml of water at 35'c while the wort is cooling then add when draining the boiler. Its usually around 7/8 at night when pitching and by morning every time there's a big krausen on top at 18'c

 

[Jeltz]

doesn't sound good, I usually just sprinkle muntons gervin on the wort about lunch time and check the next morning and the FV always bulging (I don't use and airlock) I'd do as Oldbloke suggests and give it a stir but be prepared to pitch some more yeast if that doesn't do the trick.

 

[Duxuk]

Did you whisk your wort to get the neccessary oxygen in? If not then a good beating may be all it needs. I have often used Gervin GV12 with no problems.

 

[mickthetrick]

i rehydrated a pack of this yesterday in some cooled boiled water with a teaspoon full of dme. after 30 mins it was showing good, so i pitched it at about 5pm. this morning i can see its going great guns and krausen is hitting the top of fv.

 

[morethanworts]

i rehydrated a pack of this yesterday in some cooled boiled water with a teaspoon full of dme. after 30 mins it was showing good, so i pitched it at about 5pm. this morning i can see its going great guns and krausen is hitting the top of fv.

The info I've seen says NOT to add any DME or other sugars when rehydrating . The fact that any particular brew carried on ok despite doing so should probably not be taken as evidence that it was best practice. I know there are people who have also had many successful brews where they've always pitched dry directly. I can see why they'd continue - if it ain't broke... But as soon as you look into it the science says otherwise and it's just one of the things I've learnt to do on here to improve the chances of good results.

I've followed Danstar's Nottingham instructions for Wilkos Gervin for rehydration and all has been good.

 

[mickthetrick]

i rehydrated a pack of this yesterday in some cooled boiled water with a teaspoon full of dme. after 30 mins it was showing good, so i pitched it at about 5pm. this morning i can see its going great guns and krausen is hitting the top of fv.

The info I've seen says NOT to add any DME or other sugars when rehydrating . The fact that any particular brew carried on ok despite doing so should probably not be taken as evidence that it was best practice. I know there are people who have also had many successful brews where they've always pitched dry directly. I can see why they'd continue - if it ain't broke... But as soon as you look into it the science says otherwise and it's just one of the things I've learnt to do on here to improve the chances of good results.

I've followed Danstar's Nottingham instructions for Wilkos Gervin for rehydration and all has been good.

i used to just sprinkle the dried yeast onto the top but i stopped doing it after i had a duff packet that come with the coopers stout kit.
now i rehydrate and i get an idea if the yeasts ok or not.
ive started yeast with table suger, dme, golden syrup and its all seemed to have done the job. might not be best practise but its working so ill just keep on doing it that way :thumb:

 

[loady]

Well I have bubbling in all three fermenters now but there is little or no krausen. I did give it a good beat by hand with a stirring paddle, maybe not long enough ?... after beating it there was foam right to the top so I assume it was oxygenated. Normally I go from boiler to to a holding vessel for the break to settle and then rack to primary from a height which creates as much foam. On this occasion as it was a 75litre brew there was so much hop in the bioler the break was filtered out initially hence I beat it...maybe foam on top is not a good indication of oxygenation ?

 

[morethanworts]

You'll only really know when you take an SG.

So you're around 3 days on? When I've used 11g Gervin in 23L, rehydrated, for a standard 1.040-1.045ish ale, I've been down to around 1.020 or just under after 3 days at 20C.

 

[loady]

All three bubbling now like i would normally expect but the krausen is really unimpressive, should i worry about that if they are bubbling away as normal ??..i noticed the yeast is all clagged/clinging to the inside of the fermentor so its deffinately been growing...i banged the sides and it all dropped out...still not sure about the low krausen though..anyone had a good ferment after a poop krausen ?