Is my yeast dead?

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dalehughes

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Hi everyone,
I started a lager about 36 hours ago now, and there are still no signs of activity.
I pitched one pack of Wyeast 2124 which I had stored in my fridge, into 3 well aerated gallons of wort. OG about 1.060. It was well within the use by date, but didn't inflate too much over the 4 hours or so it was out of the fridge. I was a tiny bit worried then, because id also noticed a tiny bit of ice on the plastic bag I had the smackpack in, but I put that down to it touching the back of the fridge. The smack pack definitely didn't seem frozen when I brought it out.
I pitched it at around 22 degrees, not ideal I know but I did a lager once before this way and it turned out well. I've been steadily reducing the temp down to the 13 it's at today. Still no airlock activity or krausen though.
Could my yeast have been dodgy, or are they still acclimatising to the lower temperatures?
 
Happy to be proven wrong as I'm no expert, but I thought you had to take the yeast out of the fridge for a good few hours before pitching, to allow it to warm up gradually before pitching.

I was once told to try to get the wort temp and yeast temp within 5C at the time of pitching. If your wort was 22C and your yeast was at fridge temp around 4C, that's a whopping 18C difference, could have put the yeast under huge strain?
 
Liquid yeast packs have short use by dates. The older they get, the fewer active yeast cells remain. So you may have a low yeast cell count. I don't do lagers though, so I am not sure how long they usually take to get going. I believe lagers require more yeast than ales though. It might be an idea to pitch another yeast pack, a dried yeast would be a lot cheaper. Hopefully some lager brewers can advise.
 
darrellm said:
Happy to be proven wrong as I'm no expert, but I thought you had to take the yeast out of the fridge for a good few hours before pitching, to allow it to warm up gradually before pitching.

I was once told to try to get the wort temp and yeast temp within 5C at the time of pitching. If your wort was 22C and your yeast was at fridge temp around 4C, that's a whopping 18C difference, could have put the yeast under huge strain?
Click to expand...
Ah, should have mentioned it had been out of the fridge and had been smacked for about 4-5 hours at this stage, it had inflated slightly as well.
 
Seems you may have started the largering process too early - from the wyeast site:

"For lagers, we recommend inoculating the wort at warm temperatures (68-70°F/ 20-21°C), waiting for signs of fermentation, and then adjusting to the desired temperature"

You started reducing the temp before signs of fermentation?
 
Yeah, it was pretty well aerated alright. I wasn't so sure about that guideline, many would suggest pitching at the temperature you intend to ferment at, in this case around 13 or so, so I was more trying to get it down to that temperature, but pitched the yeast when it was cooling.
 
Krausen! The yeast must have just been put into a dormant state by the temperature decrease. Thanks everyone for your advice.
 

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