terryf3661 said:
haha ano but you read that much stuff online you don't know weather to chill or freak out lol
It has taken some of my brews up to four days to start fermenting...
It sounds like you have a handle on the temperature, But keep in mind if it does drop below the desired temperature for the yeast it could be going to sleep at night and then slightly waking up once you get the temperature back up in the morning. Again I doubt this is the situation but I thought I would throw that out there.
When I first started brewing I had a batch in the garage and it kept getting down to about 37°F at night and that made my fermentation go very slowly... It would go to sleep then wake up then go to sleep then wake up. Once I brought it inside and stabilize the temperature at 65° it started going strong.
Also, as you said with the 3 gallons in the 5 gallon bucket, Maybe it's just taking a few days for all the CO2 to build up in that big headspace and start pushing on the airlock.
Either way don't worry about it. Just make sure your temperature always stays above about 62°F... If you are sure that your temperature is okay then if you still do not see any activity in the airlock give it about a week and then add half a package of Lalvin EC-1118....
I don't know if this is accurate but I have heard that if yeast is not stored properly after some time it can get a little funky... Again, Not hundred percent sure on this...
I bought a $10 digital thermometer and it records the high and low temperatures.... It's great for when I am away because I can come back and see exactly where my temperature was...
It was seriously the best $10 investment I've ever made on brewing equipment!
You're supposed to mount the thermometer inside and run a probe outside of your house so we will tell you the inside temperature in the outside temperature but what I did was put the probe on the inside of my blanket against the carboy. This way I can tell what the temperature is in my house as well as the temperature of the carboy. I highly suggest something like this for any beginner because, again, the recordable temperature