Poor Fermentation

Guys,
Hope someone can give me some guidance before I lose my mind here (not really). Brewed a Founders Breakfast Stout clone from a recipe that I found online. The brewing went well and I pitched a single vial of WP001 when I got the wort in the bucket. Now, nothing happened for about 24 hours, and when the airlock started bubbling, it only lasted about 4 hours. After that, nothing else happened. I lifted the lid today, two weeks later, and there was hardly any krausen. I'm planning on taking anoter hydrometer reading tomorrow before I rack it, but I was curious if anyone had any insight. Should I pitch another vial of yeast when I rack it, or should I just hold my horses? Any help will be appreciated!

My guess...bad yeast. Take a gravity reading. What was your OG? If it hasn't really moved at all, I'd repitch.

OG 1.040 and i'll have to grab a reading tomorrow... no problem pitching a second vile? Should I restart the two week timer again and basically start over?

There's no such thing as poor fermentation. There's fermentation or there isn't. Bubbling amount and krausen size, MEANS NOTHING. You don't know that you have anything wrong. You THINK so because you're looking at "signs" that are usually faulty. It doesn't matter how big or how your krausen looks, or how the airlock bubbles or doesn't. Airlocks start, and they stop...they're vents for EXCESS co2...NOT fermentation gauges. The same yeast can make completely different sized and shaped krausens in different beers, and all be fine.

Take a gravity reading, that's the ONLY way to know what a fermentation did...NOTHING else. Don't rely on anything else.

You will find, once you take a gravity reading that everything IS fine.

edtheitguy said:

OG 1.040 and i'll have to grab a reading tomorrow... no problem pitching a second vile? Should I restart the two week timer again and basically start over?

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That OG seems kind of low, are you sure the hydrometer is calibrated and did you correct your reading for temperature?

Liquid yeast should have a starter and how well did you aerate the wort?

Take a gravity reading to verify its moved and isn't finished. What temperature did you ferment at?

duboman said:

That OG seems kind of low, are you sure the hydrometer is calibrated and did you correct your reading for temperature?

Liquid yeast should have a starter and how well did you aerate the wort?

Take a gravity reading to verify its moved and isn't finished. What temperature did you ferment at?

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I bet it's an extract/top off batch and he got a falsely low reading.

Malt was the only extract, pitched @ 75 and fermenting in a pantry @ 72. Only stable temp in the house. I used the OG adjustment tool here, http://www.brewersfriend.com/hydrometer-temp/, and it looks like I'm giving the proper OG. I will check to see if it moved ASAP and post an update.

Thanks for the quick replies guys. First post on HBT and you guys couldn't have been more informative.

I'm sure it's fine. But og is kinda low.

What's the current gravity?

Okay guys, gravity right now is 1.01. So, I either got a false low reading because of the extract/partial boil, or I didn't have enough yeast since I didn't have a yeast starter and just pitched a single vile.

On a positive note, the sample I pulled for the reading had a good aroma and the taste was on par with what I was expecting. So, worse comes to worse, I'll have a tasty breakfast stout session ale. AMIRIGHT?!?