Wyeast Bohemain Lager troubleshooting

[astroman]

I brewed my second lager on monday, but for lack of a temperature controller I was forced to use my fridge to control the fermentation temperature. It works okay, holding at between 9.5 and 10.5 degrees celsius, on the low end of the scale for the bohemian type yeast, but functional. Unfortunately, I wasn't thinking about temperature differences when I pitched the yeast and I subjected the yeast, which was between 20 and 25 degrees celsius, to a wort which was cooled to between 10 and 15 degrees.

It's been three days now, and I have seen no sign of active fermentation... did I thermally shock my yeast and kill it all, or is the lag time just extended by the cold temperatures? Can I pull the fermenter out of the fridge and keep it room temperature for a day or two to kick start the fermentation? I do not have a homebrew shop in the area, thus I can't just go out and buy a new package of yeast and re-pitch it at the correct temperature, I have to order all my yeast online.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I'm going on vacation on Saturday night and need to get this beer going before I leave!

 

[Aleman]

OK, Did you make a starter or just pitch the smack pack?
Was it the XL pack or the small one?

I doubt very much if you have temperature shocked your yeast . . . it does happen but its not as bad as widely reported.

What I suspect you have done is simply underpitch your lager by a goodly amount and this is accounting for the long lag phase. I would suggest you move it into the warm until fermentation is just starting then get it back into the cold . . . it is a standard commercial trick to producing lager without pitching the 'proper' amount of yeast.

Don't worry I once pitched a Rauchbier with a small Wyeast Smack Pack, at 4C and wondered why 4 days later there was still no sign of fermentation . . . . Moved it into the warm until fermentation started around 18 hours later, and then back into the cool . . . Beer got excellent reviews at a brewers BBQ i took it to.

 

[Bribie]

Yup with Wyeast - even a top fermenter like Ringwood or London 3 - I usually start it for at least 36 hours in a sterilized 1 litre lab jar with a couple of tablespoons of light spray malt (boiled first) just to bump up the yeast count if doing a colder fermentation.

Also don't trust your airlock, bottom fermenting yeasts can be beavering away with very little apparent activity on the surface and although they are chucking out CO2 if the FV is not sealing perfectly then there's no way of knowing from looking at your fermenter. As the fermentation picks up you should start getting some foam on the top as the yeast breeds up and works more vigorously.

I'd agree to raise temp for a wee while then drop back down again once it's working well.

 

[Varnish]

I pitched the same yeast into my larger on Saturday 15th.
I didn't make a starter as I didn't have time.

I pitched the yeast in @22*, then just left it at room temp for two days.
After that time there was yeast activity (foaming on top and bowed lid on FV), so I put it in the fridge. Which like your's is around 10*C.

I might give the thing a longer Diacetyl rest because of this. Maybe three days inside a switched off fridge instead of the two I was planning.