Dave wrote:

I'm wondering if it has something to do with the water used (hardness?
don't know) that causes this delay to vary amongst people. With my regular
DIY CO2 setup (2qt juice bottle, 8 cups sugar, 1/4 tsp yeast), I always
need to wait at least 24 hours before I get an adequate amount of CO2,
while others have said that they only need to wait a few hours.


I wouldn't say that water hardness has anything to do with it. I have liquid
rock here.

Personally I think it has more to do with the preperation of the batch itself.
I run a DIY yeast system on my 75 gallon tank. 3 2-liter bottles, with a
staggered change ~2 weeks on each bottle.

My recipe is a bit different though. 3/4 cup sugar, 1.5l water, 1/4 tsp yeast.
I use tepid water in a small cup with 1 tsp of sugar to "foam" the yeast
before introducing it into the bottle. Tepid being slightly warm, not quite
cold. I let the bottle sit open for 30-45 minutes at room temp (74F). I always
get production in an hour.

I grew up in a bakery which is where I learned the benefits of foaming the
yeast first. It gets them cranking faster.. YMMV