1st Brew Dilemma

Hi guys,

first time here and first time brewing. So I went ahead and did all the things i was supposed to do (extract style brew) on saturday the 21st, it only bubbled the air lock a bit, maybe a day. I am using a bucket with a lid and lock, i was waiting to see if it would take off, nothing, i took a reading at the beginning of 1.040. so today i checked it not much activity with a reading of 1.020, no visible sign of mold, slime or any of that. room temp is about 68 degrees. question is wait or chalk it up as a loss.

on another note, as the first batch did not seem to be doing much and i will not be beat, i started another yesterday in a glass carboy and it is just bubbling away, seems to be a very addictive hobby. LOL any advice would be good.

Lack of airlock activity doesn't mean that there's no fermenting going on. Leave it alone through the fermenting period, and go by the hydrometer readings.

(almost) Never toss your beer

Leave it alone. Forget you even have a fermenter for a couple of weeks, then take a hydrometer reading. If it gets stuck at 1.020 for a week, gently swirl the fermenter to get the yeast roused and leave it for another week.

Like everyone will say the airlock is not a fermentation gauge. The hydrometer tells the truth. I brewed my second batch and put it in a primary and the airlock NEVER bubbled at all. I let it sit in the primary for 4 weeks and bottled it, of course the hydrometer reading had dropped from 1.068 to 1.011. I had one about an hour ago and it is very good.
Cheers,
Brian

well thanks, pretty much what i wanted to hear, gona pu that on the back burner LOL