isaacandreas
Member
I started brewing a batch of Coopers English Bitter ale two weeks ago.
This is my second batch, as the first one is still conditioning in bottles.
I am a huge fan researching and not posting as there is always answers out there. I've been using this site for a month now through my brewing process's and just registered as I am stumped, and I am not sure what to do now, looking for advice.
So its been two weeks now, I pitched the yeast while the brew was at 73 degrees. I set the brew in my back room, as the tempurature back there had been a steady 65 degrees and spring was on its way, so I thought I'd be fine. Well just my luck two days after I set it back there, bubbles had started in the airlock and fermentation had started. Since then the temp has gone from 70 to 65 to 55 and back up. I checked the airlock every day for the first week and the airlock never really bubbled like I thought it should, I checked under the lid and there was a small layer of foam. the temp went all over the place for a week, and I finally set it in my closet at a steady temp of 74 degrees hoping to keep it more steady. I opened it to check with the hydrometer and a extremely strong sweet smell and a reading of 1.170 which is right where it was when I initially pitched the yeast!
I'm not sure what to do. Is my yeast dead? Will it activate? has it been to long? Should I buy and pitch more yeast?