No bubbles after 36 hours in bucket. Am I screwed?

First off, just found this site and it is great. Thank you all as I have been reading a ton of threads, but have finally run into my first issue.

First time homebrewing. Thought we had done very well as far as sterilizing, following instructions, and everything, but we put the wort into the bucket with yeast and a quick stir around 10PM on Sunday night. As of now (Tuesday 8PM) I am seeing no bubbles in the airlock.

Any ideas?

Temperature has been constant at 70 and it is not exposed to light.

Just give it some time. You may have a poor seal, you may not have pitched enough yeast; 36 hour lag is not so unusual. If you still haven't seen any activity tomorrow, pop open the top and see if there are any signs of krausen, if not, maybe give the fermenter a little shake and repitch.

Is it ok to take the lid off and take a look in? Or is that a cardinal no no?

FortFunFoSho said:

Is it ok to take the lid off and take a look in? Or is that a cardinal no no?

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I did on my first batch. From what i have read, their is enough c02 to keep airborne bacteria off. But i also had bubbles 8 hours after i pitched the yeast. What yeast did you use? Also did you do a full boil or a partial?

Ryanh1801 said:

I did on my first batch. From what i have read, their is enough c02 to keep airborne bacteria off. But i also had bubbles 8 hours after i pitched the yeast. What yeast did you use? Also did you do a full boil or a partial?

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Yeah, if he ain't fermenting, there ain't any co2. At any rate it should be avoided, but it's not an absolute killer.

You might try warming it up a bit, adding some energizer and repitching yeast in that order if it doesn't start soon.

And the lid deal is a good suggestion to, it actually happens more than you'd think to first timers.

I swore when we pushed the lid down, it made loud noises when we "snapped" it into place.

We used a dry yeast that was in the "Brewer's Best" kit we used.

Even when the lid snaps into place there is a possibility for a loose seal. Opening the fermenter for a quick peak shouldn't hurt too much (some folks still ferment in open vessels).

FortFunFoSho said:

I swore when we pushed the lid down, it made loud noises when we "snapped" it into place.

We used a dry yeast that was in the "Brewer's Best" kit we used.

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Try putting a slight pressure on the top of the lid. I know on mine it shows bubbles in the air lock. Which IMO would show that it is sealed good.

I have pushed down on the center of the lid to expel some air and it comes out through the airlock.

Is it possible though, that my force would cause it to choose the easiest route out? Or if there is a bad seal, would it be escaping through that bad seal and not the airlock no matter what?

FortFunFoSho said:

I have pushed down on the center of the lid to expel some air and it comes out through the airlock.

Is it possible though, that my force would cause it to choose the easiest route out? Or if there is a bad seal, would it be escaping through that bad seal and not the airlock no matter what?

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Yes, but the c02 is going to go the same route. I would just give it some more time.

give it some more time and invest in a hydrometer

Yeah, used a hydrometer initially and it came out about 1.036 and it was supposed to be ~1.054

Well, I went to visit the guys at Perfect Brewing today and they were very helpful and we came to the conclusion that the initial yeast must have been bad. So, bought a new packet and tossed it in and already have bubbles.

WOOHOO!

Well, added the new packet of dry yeast last night around 5:20 PM. Initially we had some bubbles, like right after I capped.

But this morning I came down to check and no bubbles, I also noticed that the temp had fallen to the 66-68 range. So I moved to a warmer location and am now on target for temperature.

Give it some time. Is there some "skuzz" on the surface of the brew? If so...all is well.

Use that hydrometer in another 3-4 days and see what the reading is. Bubbles in the air lock are not the drop-dead indicator of fermentation progress.

I've seen some brews that did-there-thing in 24-36 hours. Your beer may be fermetnted. Not likely, but ya need to consider all possibilities.

You can't tell what your blood pressure is without a BP cuff and a stethoscope and you can't tell what your beer is doing without a hydrometer.