fermentation?

Alright so I'm on my third batch of beer. This one is a chinook ipa from northern brewer. Wyeast American ale. 6 pounds malt. 1 pound Dme and of course chinook hops. Just summed it up a bit. Well anyways. Their are a couple things. First I didn't get my DME in the package . So I called em up and they said hey we are sorry and are sending it to me now. He told me I could go ahead and brew now without it and when I got it in the mail 4 or 5 days later. I could boil it in a quart or two of water and dump it in the fermenter. Does anyone see a problem with that? He said it wouldn't make a difference but I'm just curious If anyone else has an opinion. Ok now second. My first batch was very active and I had to do a blowout tube. Second took about a day and started to go good. I had already had a blowoff tube on it. And my third. The chinook hasn't really made any fuss, I popped my Wyeast the evening before I did it and it was pretty blown up when I dumped it in. . Did I need a blowout tube? Is that bad that its not bubbling at all. Today is the third day and no noticable activity. I mean I didn't sit there for ten minutes and watch but... Does it have anything to do with the DME not being in it? Am I just to over anxious and crazy about this. Haha. Need advice and maybe some guidence on what's going on. Oh and by the way. I wish I had some pictures but I'm using a gromet hole fermenting bucket. It has the smaller hole instead of a big hole for a plug or cork. I put my blowout tube right in the hole. Plenty plenty of room for the beer. Just thought I would throw that bit of info in.

The DME will boost your gravity but the 6lbs of LME will ferment just fine on its own. The :add it later" situation is not ideal, but would work in a pinch like yours. It will still ferment out (if it ever get started) just make sure after you boil the DME you cool it to room temp before adding. And try not to splash it!
Here's what I want you to do.
Go to your bottling bucket (primary fermenter) and gently pull the lid off.
What do you see?
If you have krausen (foam on the beer) your fine.
If it looks like iced tea, your probably not fermenting..
If you do see krausen then your bucket lid is not sealed well.
In my early days of brewing I turned a lager into a cali common trying to get it to start.
Let us know what your beer looks like.

Well just by looking at it earlier today it looks like it has foam on top. Not 100% sure. I'll double check tomorrow and get back to you. But if it has foam its not good? What am I looking for then?

FarmBoy530 said:

If you have krausen (foam on the beer) your fine.
If it looks like iced tea, your probably not fermenting..
.

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Krausen is the active live and happy feeding yeast on the top surface of the beer.This creates a layer of white to off white foam. Its a good way to tell whats going on in your primary. If your still not sure take a gravity sample 2 days apart and see if the gravity drops.
If it does, your fermenting.

Also krausen falls usually in 3 to 5 days so its possible to miss it if your not checking on it regularly.

Here is what it looks like. Is this good?

Today is the third day. I took off the blow out tube and put in a air lock.

Lookin' good!

It's supposed to look like that right?

It's, It's beautiful....haha. lookin good!

I've got the same kit but I haven't brewed yet. By the way, this one is dry hopped. My plan is to leave it in primary for 3 weeks, throw the last oz of hops in my carboy and rack the beer on top 5-7 days before packaging.

Haha. They forgot my DME. So I'm adding that on Friday. But it take off like my other brewer did. I didn't need a blowout tube. Is that because there is so much room? Or could it just not be as active? Is it a bad thing?

Sometimes the slightest little leak, I mean slightest, will cause the co2 to escape thus no active evidence. Right now, get it out of your mind that blow off or airlock activity mean anything, they don't. Always, always, always take hydrometer readings to gauge fermentation. For the record, I never use blow off, just airlock, but I use a 6.5 gal fermenter and I don't do yeast starters...yet.

Alright, I will do another one. I did one right when it went it. So ill do one now and two days from now. We will see . I'm just to over anxious

Understandable, believe me. By the way, I drink my hydrometer samples...won't hurt you and will amaze you at how great it tastes even flat. Although, it makes you even more anxious for exposing your taste buds to the final product. Ok, I just talked myself in a circle...that's what those darn Belgians do to ya!!!

Haha. Well I might have to try.