Fess up time...

I bought a Coopers kit. There I said it! It was something easy my wife could get me for our anniversary.

Anyway, I think I got a bad batch of yeast. It has been siting for 4 days and my gravity is exactly the same as it was at teh start...1040. Is it OK if I stop at the LHBS and get some good yeast to try and jumpstart it? It looks like the yeast was actually doing something (sediment at bottom and ring at top). Do I give it a good shake to get the sediment off teh bottom and add yeast?

If you guys think I am wasting my time, I'll just dump it. It was only the Lager that came with the kit.

TIA,

John

Make certain you've de-gassed the hydrometer sample, as both the ring at the top and sediment on the bottom are indications of fermentation. Re-pitch the yeast if necessary.

Lots of us started with kits. My first batch was a "boiling water in a plastic bag" fiasco.

david_42 said:

My first batch was a "boiling water in a plastic bag" fiasco.

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Mmm, that sounds tasty! Could you help a brother out with a recipe?

Well, I stopped by my LHBS. First time I have been in there and they were really nice so I'll give them a shout-out:

Weak Knee Homebrew Supply
Pottstown, PA
http://www.weakkneehomebrew.com/

Anyway, after a nice discussion about my plight, we concluded that there would be no harm in trying to pitch another pack of yeast. So, that is what I did (Coopers dry so I rehydrated). I guess we'll see how it goes.

John

Update? Did fermentation kick in?

jdinger29 said:

Update? Did fermentation kick in?

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I added the fresh yeast last night @ 5:00pm EST. I'll check when I get home but I'm still not expecting to see any activity in the airlock but I really do not want to use that as my end-all-be-all determinign factor. I'll take another hydro reading in a few days.

John

Update: Still no visible sign of fermentation other than what was already there. Not a single bubble.

I'm going to take another hydro reading tonight but I will be sure to de-gas the beer first. Thanks for the tip david.

John

Took a hydro reading at 4:00pm yesterday and got down to 1.016. YAY. Not sure if it was the new yeast or the fact that I de-gassed the tube, but heading in the right direction finally.

If you ever get Coopers kits in the future, you may want to buy some liquid yeast seperate.

Good, when I started, I was surprised at how hard it was to get all of the carbonation out of a sample.