Is yeast working.........

[ntc]

Made my second brew yesterday, This morning I checked to see if yeast was working and there is nothing happening anything I should do to get it going?
or should I give it more time, temp is at 20c .
thanks if you can help......

[boingy]

Sanitise a spoon and give it a good old stir then check it again this evening. If you don't have any spare yeast knocking about it might be prudent to pick up a sachet from your LHBS or Wilko, just in case. If there is no sign of fermentation starting by this evening then chuck some more yeast in.

[dave-o]

Did you make a starter or pitch it dry?

[ntc]

pitch it dry..

[EoinMag]

When you say not working, is there no head at all on the top of the wort?
Are you going on a bubbler that is not bubbling?

Please elaborate.

[ntc]

There is little or no head at present, my first brew I had a head in hours?...

[EoinMag]

There is little or no head at present, my first brew I had a head in hours?...

A little head is some head in this case.....take a hydrometer reading and compare it with your OG to know if something is fermenting or not.

[Wolfy]

Be patient and give it time, it seems you have some yeast-activity so most likely everything will be fine.
Different yeasts, different worts, different temperatures and conditions can all effect how the fermentation progresses and what it 'looks' like.
Even if you are using the same yeast as last time, it's possible that you did not aerate this wort as much, or the yeast was less viable due to how it was stored before you purchased it, there are a vast range of reasons why you might be seeing differences, so just give it a few days and it should be OK without you having to do anything more.

[ntc]

I'd Like to thank everyone for there help, I added more yeast last night and this morning we have a nice rocky head

[dave-o]

It'll get started more quickly if you make a starter in future.

[RichardG]

Just curious as to which yeast to was?

[ntc]

S-04 yeast, may look into a yeast starter for my next brew..

[boingy]

Just to stress the difference between a starter and rehydrating dried yeast.

Dried yeast already contains enough cells so does not need growing on in a starter. All it needs is rehydrating in a small amount of water. And I have to say that yeast like SO4 is so rampant that I have not noticed any improvement in performance between pitching it dry and rehydrating it. Some folks rehydrate, some don't. Try it both ways and see what you prefer.