My first batch, did a bad job, and I have a few worries

So after lurking Homebrewtalk for 2.5-3 years I finally pulled the trigger on
some ingredients and made a somple amber ale with Hallertauer hops and
Nottingham yeast. First observation is I respect all homebrewers, as even
a simple extract brew is an awful lot of work. I can't imagine any other
hobby where a guy can be passionate about it even though he has to
clean up at the beginning and end! Anyway about my brew, I bought
all my ingredients from Midwest, which seems like a good place to order
from. For a fermenter I used a Deer Park water bottle. They recently
changed the plastic for their bottles to PET (#1), so I am thinking it will
be fine. I wish I had a bag for the hops during the boil but I did not.
They were loose in the wort, and they still are. When fermentation is
complete I will be evaporating the alcohol out for a nonalcoholic beer.
I know there are quite a few naysayers on here who have given theory
about how it is impossible but there are others who have posted in these
forums that they have done this and reported good experiences and even
though their methods don't qualify as scientific proof I choose the believe
them. My biggest concern for now is Notty is supposed to be a beast
and mine seems to be acting like a *****cat! I brewed on friday and
see a little white foam at the top, not a pellicle as far as I can tell,
and I have heard volcano like stories about Nottingham putting brew
on peoples' ceilings. I have another packet. Should I re-pitch or just
wait another day (that would be 72 hrs)?

At three days take a gravity reading and see how it compares to your OG.

Wait, be patient, there's not always alot of visual signs of fermentation. The hydrometer is the real telltale but I would wait AT LEAST a week or two before even checking out of curiosity.

I would wait. You may have under pitched.

jaycount said:

Wait, be patient, there's not always alot of visual signs of fermentation. The hydrometer is the real telltale but I would wait AT LEAST a week or two before even checking out of curiosity.

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Hmm, IMHO 3-4 days is fair. If its at the same exact gravity reading on day 4 as it was on brew day, I'm not sure that waiting 2 weeks gains much of anything....but that's the beauty of this forum. Tons of thoughts and ideas, and all by people that brew great beer.

nottingham is usually very good, and is probably my favorite, but it can be temperamental (weak or strong). the only blowout i ever had was with notty. i've also had to wait for 3 days for it to get visible signs. danstar is even changing their packaging because of this unreliability. let it go for another couple of days, since there is some activity

VTBrewer said:

Hmm, IMHO 3-4 days is fair. If its at the same exact gravity reading on day 4 as it was on brew day, I'm not sure that waiting 2 weeks gains much of anything....but that's the beauty of this forum. Tons of thoughts and ideas, and all by people that brew great beer.

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You said it

I'd wait because there are bubbles on top, so theres SOME sign of fermentation which is why I'd wait and RDWHAHB then check the hydro reading after 1-2 weeks (SOP for me).

You are absolutely correct though, there most certainly should be a gravity drop in the first couple days.

Yeah, i kinda missed the bubbles on top. That's activity and its def fermenting, and probably just fine.

Thanks very much for this input, everyone. I will wait till tuesday at least and make
a decision or indecision then.

Well. three weeks and two days after brew night, I gave my brew a taste, and my
worries are over, I made beer! I tastes flat but spot on other than that! I am
going to de-alcoholize, prime and repitch more yeast tomorrow! Happy Independence
Day everyone!!

I meant to add that I will bottle tomorow as well, and be back here to update
after my first taste. This truly is exciting! I didn't think it would turn out!

Let us know how the de alcoholing goes.. sounds like too much work to ruin beer.. to each their own.

I will be glad to let everyone know here to know how it goes. As far as too each his
own, I have been drinking NA beer for 27+ years because I cannot drink regular
"good" beer. I will be alot of work, it does work, and I would rather ruin the beer
than my life.

Well, I am a happy brewer! I bottled last Sunday after heating the brew to evaporate
the alcohol(seemed to work!),and today the soda bottles were mostly rock hard. I tried
one of the smaller bottles, it was delicious, and almost fully carbed! I know Nottingham yeast can ferment fast, I guess it could prime fast as well (any one know for sure about this?). Anyway I am thrilled! The 2+ years of lurking here has paid off handsomely as
far as I am concerned. Thanks for being here!