Windsor yeast question

Yesterday morning (3 am) I added a pack of reconstituted Windsor to my 3 gallon batch of wort. It started to bubble in about 4 hours, and after that, I saw krausen through the side of the bucket. This morning. the airlock was stopped, and even after moving the bucket a bit, the airlock didn't budge. This is only my fourth batch of beer, and I have read a silent airlock doesn't mean the yeast have quit, but being a noob, I am still concerned about my beer to be.

Here is the recipe:

6 pounds, 12oz Pale Malt (2 row)
12 oz Caramel/Crystal 60 L
1/2 oz Amarillo @60
1/2 oz Cascade @20
1/2 oz Cascade @ Flameout

My LHBS owner had me continue to sparge with boiling water until the tailings were no longer sweet tasting. This gave me around 7 gallons to boil down to 3. The reducing boil took at least two hours before I added the hops and started counting the time. No, I didn't take an OG yesterday 2:30 am) or one today to see where I am at. I guess I should take a gravity this am. Is it possible the long boiling tied up some of the fermentables?

Quick response: no. Wait a few days and take a gravity reading. You're stressing out for nothing.

MindenMan said:

My LHBS owner had me continue to sparge with boiling water until the tailings were no longer sweet tasting. This gave me around 7 gallons to boil down to 3. The reducing boil took at least two hours before I added the hops and started counting the time. No, I didn't take an OG yesterday 2:30 am) or one today to see where I am at. I guess I should take a gravity this am. Is it possible the long boiling tied up some of the fermentables?

Click to expand...

The beer is probably fermenting just fine, or even about finished, so don't worry.

But for your next batch, you aren't going to want to do the same technique. First, you don't want to sparge with boiling water (no higher than 170 degrees), and you don't want to go by taste, either. You really risk oversparging by using that much volume in that amount of grain. You only want to put about 3 quarts of water (total!) per pound of grain.

Also, taste isn't the way to gauge the runnings. If you want to sparge as much as possible, then use your hydrometer! Stop sparging when the wort reaches 1.010 at the latest.

An easier way to do this is to sparge up to your boil volume. For a 3 gallon batch, that's probably about 4.5 gallons. You won't risk oversparging and you won't have to spend hours boiling down the wort.

In any case, this batch is done and is sitting. So, keep it under 70 degrees (preferable at 65 degrees or under), and check the gravity in a week or so.