Need Help or Advice (Could be bad)

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upandcomer

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So I have my first brew in the primary for a little over 2 weeks. Took the top off to get the volume. It didn't seem to change at all. No more bubbling or anything. Other than nothing what's gone on for the past couple of weeks?

I'm wondering do I need to be more patient and wait longer than another week or is it so bad that its a lost cause?

Thank you in advance for any tips, suggestions, or advice.
 
You say you were getting the volume. Do you mean you were checking your gravity? The volume of beer will not change. You need to be checking gravity, not volume. You will not be able to determine just from looking at the beer whether it has been active. You shouldn't have any bubbling in your airlock after 2 weeks anyway - so that's not a problem. I'll wait to say more until I find out just what you are checking. However, I'd say you are probably fine and you should do nothing for the moment.
 
What temperature did you pitch the yeast at? Did you use a slap pack? If so did it swell? If you used powdered yeast, did you rehydrate? It sounds like you had bad or dead yeast. You can try aerating using an aeration stone and adding more yeast. You should see some bubbling within 12- 24 hours with a properly aerated wort.

Disregard my advice. I misread the OP.
 
+1 to what monty said. Checking volume won't do anything. There may be krausen that will rise, but other than that, the volume of your beer will be the same. I would say just leave it in the primary for at least 3 weeks. That is, unless you're going to dry hop. Then you can rack to secondary and dry hop for another 7-10 days. And still, that can be done in primary as well. Primary fermentation is done by the first 2 weeks, but the yeast still need to tidy up after themselves. Leaving it longer won't cause any harm, and actually you will be rewarded for your patience with GREAT BEER!

EDIT: Sorry. Internet's on the fritz, took too long to reply. So you're gravity hasn't changed in 2 weeks?????
 
upandcomer said:
I'm sorry I don't have the terms down yet but yes the gravity has not changed.
Click to expand...

If your gravity hasn't changed in two weeks then you have a problem - but one that is probably easily fixed. Can you tell us the style and OG? Then we can help you determine what and how much yeast to pitch. You can pitch again and you will be fine. However, in the mean time rock your fermenter around a bit and let's see if you get anything going. At risk of sounding like a Philistine, check for airlock activity (yeah, I said check for airlock activity:rockin:)

Prost!
 
No more bubbling, meaning you had bubbling to begin with?

What was your Original Gravity?
If your gravity hasn't changed from that, then yes you do have a problem, but if it's lower, then it is fermenting. Just because your airlock stops bubbling doesn't mean your beer is done fermenting.

You need to be more patient. Most brewers don't understand that there's a conditioning phase the beer goes through after attenuation (gravity drop).
 
monty3777 said:
If your gravity hasn't changed in two weeks then you have a problem - but one that is probably easily fixed. Can you tell us the style and OG? Then we can help you determine what and how much yeast to pitch. You can pitch again and you will be fine. However, in the mean time rock your fermenter around a bit and let's see if you get anything going. At risk of sounding like a Philistine, check for airlock activity (yeah, I said check for airlock activity:rockin:)

Prost!
Click to expand...

1.051 is the OG gravity in a Robust Porter. I did shake it quite a bit last night but no activity tonight. I wasn't able to check throughout the day but no activity. It smells really good but it doesn't have any sort of yeast smell about it all. Not sure if it should or not but it defiantly smells very malty.

Please let me know what I need to do bro. Anything to save it is good by me!
 
I am extremely novice at this whole thing. This is my first batch of beer period and "thought" I did my homework but is it resulting from something I did improperly? I know yeast isn't always 100% but what else would cause the gravity not to change?
 
upandcomer said:
1.051 is the OG gravity in a Robust Porter. I did shake it quite a bit last night but no activity tonight. I wasn't able to check throughout the day but no activity. It smells really good but it doesn't have any sort of yeast smell about it all. Not sure if it should or not but it defiantly smells very malty.

Please let me know what I need to do bro. Anything to save it is good by me!
Click to expand...

O.K., I am working on the assumption that you had absolutely no fermentation and that you are still at 1.051. If it were me, I'd repitch the yeast, but I'd use twice as much. So two 5 gram packs of dry yeast (last porters I did were Safale us-05 and s-04, choose either or go with two of what was recommended in the recipe). If you use liquid yeast it's always best to get a starter going. However, since you are a new brewer I'd use 2 vials or packs (maybe Wyeast 1968 London ESB or 1187 Ringwood ale). Again, you may be better off going with what the recipe called for. Either way, pitch two.
 
Your original gravity was 1.051, but I didn't see where you mentioned what it is at now.
What is the gravity reading now, you mentioned it did something at the start so maybe it's finished, what is the gravity?
 
+1 to Eoinmag. With out the FG it's hard to determine anything for certain. As a side note...Smells malty for a robust porter? Sounds like everything is fine to me:D What temp are you fermenting at? You could warm up the temp a couple degrees and wake the yeast back up. Then just let it sit for a couple more days and check again but all and all I don't think your beer is ruined.

upandcomer said:
I know yeast isn't always 100% but what else would cause the gravity not to change?
Click to expand...

Many things effect this. The yeast strains attenuation percentage, ideal fermenting temperatures, the amount of yeast you pitch, the quality of the wort and the quality of the yeast.
 
What is your current gravity reading and at what temp did you pitch your yeast? If you pitched at too hot of a temp (over 100F) you probably killed your yeast.

I'd recommend pitching a dry yeast if your gravity hasn't changed yet, go to the LHBS and pick up one 11.5g packet of Nottingham, S-04 or US-05. Any of those will make a fine Porter. Pitch that in to the fermenter and you'll get fermentation and have beer in a few weeks.
 
EoinMag said:
Your original gravity was 1.051, but I didn't see where you mentioned what it is at now.
What is the gravity reading now, you mentioned it did something at the start so maybe it's finished, what is the gravity?
Click to expand...

Perhaps re-reading posts 1, 3, and 10 will help. The author of the OP indicated that the gravity has not changed (though in the OP he used the term volume instead of gravity)
 
monty3777 said:
Perhaps re-reading posts 1, 3, and 10 will help. The author of the OP indicated that the gravity has not changed (though in the OP he used the term volume instead of gravity)
Click to expand...

OP said:
No more bubbling or anything.
Click to expand...

I did reread, but it was unclear to me if he was saying that the gravity had not changed at all since the beginning or if it had changed since the bubbling stopped.

If there was no more bubbling, surely there was at one stage bubbling???
What bubbling? The airlock? The Krausen? The foam from the initial aeration?

I appreciate you may read between the lines better than me, but I don't see any substantial information anywhere, so I'm unsure as to where your clarity about his statements is coming from.
 
upandcomer said:
1.051 is the OG gravity in a Robust Porter.
Click to expand...

This sentence is also throwing me a curve. I read "in a Robust Porter" as referring to the style guide lines and may not be the reading (if any) he received.
 
It is not at all unusual to have a beer stop bubbling after 10-14 days out. It doesn't take healthy yeast long to do their job. I just bottled a dark wheat beer that was only in the primary for about 10 days. I'm going to give it another 2 weeks in the bottle to condition and carbonate.

What was your initial and current gravity reading? I saw 1.054 (guessing that was original). What's your current gravity reading?
 
The OP to me indicates that he looked at it and it didn't look any different. And then
I wasn't able to check throughout the day but no activity.
Click to expand...

Didn't sound like he took a gravity reading.

Also,
No more bubbling or anything
Click to expand...
Tells me it was fermenting at some time.

OP, give us a current hydrometer reading and all your answers will be had. In the meantime, STOP shaking it until you know what's wrong. Your beer is likely fine and just needs another week to finish up. Hydrometer measures activity, bubbles in the airlock don't mean too much.
 
It appears that those trying to help the OP are more engaged in the process than the OP.
 
monty3777 said:
O.K., I am working on the assumption that you had absolutely no fermentation and that you are still at 1.051. If it were me, I'd repitch the yeast, but I'd use twice as much. So two 5 gram packs of dry yeast (last porters I did were Safale us-05 and s-04, choose either or go with two of what was recommended in the recipe). If you use liquid yeast it's always best to get a starter going. However, since you are a new brewer I'd use 2 vials or packs (maybe Wyeast 1968 London ESB or 1187 Ringwood ale). Again, you may be better off going with what the recipe called for. Either way, pitch two.
Click to expand...

I went with Safale us-05. Going to add that tonight and wait it out another 3 weeks?


Also I want to thank everyone for adding your feedback! I really do appreciate the help.
 
Also there seems to be some confusion on my part when asked some questions to help me figure out my next move.

Beer Kit: Brewers Best Porter
First Hydrometer reading 6/20: 1.051
Hydrometer reading on 7/5: 1.051
Air lock: bubbled for 2 to 5 days then stopped.


Today I bought some Safale US-05 to re pitch. And I am going to stir that in tonight and wait it out.

Also as I didn't let the wort cool enough before adding the yeast. That's where I think I made my mistake.
 
Well if the wort still smells good I guess it still is:) Just remember to rehydrate before the pitch and it should work out. I'm guessing you got air lock bubbling because of the heat escaping. Have you done a taste test yet when you took a hydrometer reading?
 
No I didn't take a taste test. I will take a taste before I add the additional yeast. Also when you say rehydrate what exactly are your referring to? I don't want too many more bumps in the road.
 
I don't rehydrate anymore, there's so many healthy yeasties in those dry packets that it really doesn't matter.

To rehydrate just boil & cool 1 cup of water to 80F, pour that packet of yeast in and stir it around a bit. Let it sit covered for 20mins or so then pitch. It's easier on the yeasts cell walls if you do it that way.
 
upandcomer said:
I went with Safale us-05. Going to add that tonight and wait it out another 3 weeks?


Also I want to thank everyone for adding your feedback! I really do appreciate the help.
Click to expand...

Well, you should see rigorous air lock activity by tomorrow if you pitched two packs of yeast - that is if you're measurements were correct. However, from another of your recent posts you cleared up one point some of us have been wondering about. You clarified that you did indeed have airlock activity for a couple of days. In all honesty (despite the fact that some would say airlock activity is irrelevant as an indicator of fermentation) if your airlock was bubbling then the beer was fermenting. So I am at a loss as to why, despite obvious signs of fermentation, your gravity was the same. If I was a betting man -and I am - I'd say you misread your gravity. And if your beer is fermented out you may not have much in the way of fermentation happening.
Re=pitching the yeast won't hurt you beer - but it would be good to get this cleared up before your next brew.

I have a favor to ask - if you haven't yet pitched the yeast please take a gravity reading. If you can post a picture of the hydrometer and your impression of the gravity. Then we can check to see if you are reading it right. I don't mean to insult you but I'll admit that it took two brews for me to figure out which of all those numbers to pay attention to! :mug::tank:

Prost!
 
monty3777 said:
Well, you should see rigorous air lock activity by tomorrow if you pitched two packs of yeast - that is if you're measurements were correct. However, from another of your recent posts you cleared up one point some of us have been wondering about. You clarified that you did indeed have airlock activity for a couple of days. In all honesty (despite the fact that some would say airlock activity is irrelevant as an indicator of fermentation) if your airlock was bubbling then the beer was fermenting. So I am at a loss as to why, despite obvious signs of fermentation, your gravity was the same. If I was a betting man -and I am - I'd say you misread your gravity. And if your beer is fermented out you may not have much in the way of fermentation happening.
Re=pitching the yeast won't hurt you beer - but it would be good to get this cleared up before your next brew.

I have a favor to ask - if you haven't yet pitched the yeast please take a gravity reading. If you can post a picture of the hydrometer and your impression of the gravity. Then we can check to see if you are reading it right. I don't mean to insult you but I'll admit that it took two brews for me to figure out which of all those numbers to pay attention to! :mug::tank:

Prost!
Click to expand...

I did actually pitch the yeast. I have no problem posting a pic of the hydrometer but it would be after the repitch. I surely will post it up in a week or so. No offense taken on that at all.

Also I did a taste test prior to repitching the yeast and it tasted like it was "missing" something but was very porterish.
 

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