Almost 5 days of fermentation and no good signs...

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mcampinell

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I made my first batch of Palmer's Cincinnati Pale Ale on Sunday the 12th and I haven't seen any activity in my fermenting bucket yet. I got an OG of 1.045 after I put it in the fermentation bucket. Today I just got a measurement of 1.045 again. I rehydrated my yeast before I put it in my fermentation bucket and it was bubbling strong. My bucket has been at a pretty consistent 68 degrees since Saturday. What else could I have done wrong and what should I do now?
 
I'd pitch another batch of yeast. Perhaps stir it up a little to get O2?? Seems odd! How about posting the recipe, maybe that will get the thread going.

What temp was the wort when you pitched ???
 
Are you sure you've read the hydrometer correctly in both situations and corrected for temp? If you pitched and it's been bubbling but hasn't changed - that's...odd...to say the least.
 
look closely at your hydromiter. mine had small hairline cracks at the bottom and had soaked up a little water. float it in pure water and check to see it it is on 1.000
 
If you decide to check your hydrometer calibration, make sure the water is at 60*F or whichever temperature its calibrated at...

If you were getting air lock activity, it sounds like it started fermenting...
 
My recipe was John Palmer's Cincinnati Pale Ale...
* 3-4 lb. Pale malt extract syrup, unhopped
* 2 lb. Amber dry malt extract
* 12 AAU of bittering hops (any variety)
* 5 AAU of finishing hops (Cascade or other)
* 2 packets of dried ale yeast
I'll checked my hydrometer and it was fine. I couldn't see any cracks and it was at zero in water. The wort was around 85 degrees when I pitched it. Just the rehydrated yeast was bubbling, so this is before I mixed it with my wort. I haven't seen any bubbles or any other signs of fermentation in my airlock. I am going to try moving it to a warmer room and see if that does anything. If not, I will repitch some more yeast and put that in. Any other suggestions?
 
Well...I think that you should check the accuracy of your thermometer. Yeast are hardy little creatures, and based on what you said you did, everything should be fine. If you got no fermentation (the same SG readings confirmed what the lack of bubbles in your airlock indicated)then your yeast buddies might have bought the farm. I'd start with the thermometer, maybe it's broken. Two packs of yeast...There should have been a bunch of activity. FWIW, my 'rehydrated' yeast has never bubbled... What process did you follow to rehydrate it?
 
Are you sure it was only 85F? Too hot kills the yeast.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking with the 'check the thermometer' comment, I couldn't agree more. I can't think of anything else unless the yeast was bubbling because he didn't cool the boiled water necessary to sterilize the water used to reconstitute the yeast...
 
I mixed 11.5 grams of yeast into 1 cup of water. Then I warmed up a spoonful of extract and 1/2 cup of water. Once that cooled enough I mixed them and covered them in plastic wrap. Thats when I was getting a lot of yeast activity. Should I try putting a second packet of yeast into my fermenting bucket?
 
It sounds like the mixture was too hot...You may have killed all of your yeast. Using dried yeast, try the following;
Boil 1/3 cup of water (I do this in a Pyrex measuring cup in the microwave, this step is intended to sterilize the water)
Cover said water with Saran wrap and refrigerate (or pop it in the freezer for a bit, this step cools the water so you don't kill your yeast...)
When the water has cooled to 38 degrees, remove from fridge and add dry yeast (whole package, do not stir)
Allow to sit for 15 minutes (essentially bringing the temp up to room temp
Stir and add immediately to wort.

I would do this if your SG still hasn't moved...It can't hurt.

Post a follow up so we can see what happens. Good luck!
-E
 
With the rehydrating bubbling action, you have "proofed" your yeast, so it was def alive and healthy when you put it in. The only thing I can see happening is that your temp was too high. Or, maybe you accidentally left something in the fermenter that could have killed the yeast. What do you use for sanitizer?
 
If you did not boil the water (or anything else) you used to rehydrate the yeast then you may have a contamination during your fermentation. I would not get upset over it until you know for sure that you have an infection. You may get lucky.
 
Good news! Its bubbling now. I think the temperature in the room was still too cold and my thermometer was off. We had a real warm day yesterday and it started bubbling. I moved it to a warmer room today because its starting to get cold outside. Thanks for all the help. I'm sure I'll be posting on here again during bottling day.
 
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