16 hours and no airlock activity

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Sixstring78

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So I made my first batch of extract beer yesterday.
I tried to follow the instructions of the kit as best I could, however, they were not the best and fairly vague.
I'm starting to wonder now if I've screwed up though. It's been 16 hours since I put everything into the primary and there is no airlock activity. Is this normal and I just have to wait longer? Or has something happened?

So here's what went on:

1. Put 18L water into carboy (room temp)
2. Boiled 2L of water then added sugar and extract
3. Cooled wort to 80F (proofed yeast for about 10 minutes in 80F water)
4. Added wort to carboy and gave everything a shake
5. Pitched yeast
6. Orignially had the carboy sitting on the floor, but noticed it was at 65F. Picked it up and moved it to higher ground.
7. The temp is now 70F, with a big sedement layer at the bottom.

What do you think?
 
I think a little more time and your worries will be over.... Your yeast are working even though you can't see it - sometimes it can take 72 hours before you 'see' signs of life
 
There are alot of factors that can affect when you see the actual process happening...you should be fine...I recently made a scottish ale that did not "start" for almost a whole day...
When it does take off though you may want to return to where it was cooler, as the temp will increase during fermentation...good luck and have fun!
 
Keep in mind that airlock activity is NEVER to be used for indicating fermentation. Only a hydrometer or a refractometer can indicate if your brew is fermenting.
 
I suggest you get plane ticket for several days to the Caribbean come back home and check you specific gravity. I bet your fermentation will be done.

I got real nervous when I didn't get fermentation for nearly 72 hours, and WHAMMY on the 72nd hour fermentation was going. Yeast have personalities. They do what they want when they want. You will have beer in good time.

As master Kenobi said "Learn patience young Padawan!"
 
Sixstring78 said:
So I made my first batch of extract beer yesterday.
I tried to follow the instructions of the kit as best I could, however, they were not the best and fairly vague.
I'm starting to wonder now if I've screwed up though. It's been 16 hours since I put everything into the primary and there is no airlock activity. Is this normal and I just have to wait longer? Or has something happened?

So here's what went on:

1. Put 18L water into carboy (room temp)
2. Boiled 2L of water then added sugar and extract
3. Cooled wort to 80F (proofed yeast for about 10 minutes in 80F water)
4. Added wort to carboy and gave everything a shake
5. Pitched yeast
6. Orignially had the carboy sitting on the floor, but noticed it was at 65F. Picked it up and moved it to higher ground.
7. The temp is now 70F, with a big sedement layer at the bottom.

What do you think?
Click to expand...

Mine took 36 hrs before anything happened. So just relax

Deltac
 
Agreed, give it time, if you can at all help it, forget about it for 3 or 4 weeks, then check the gravity, check it again 3 or 4 days later, if it is the same, bottle away!
 
It's like the old saying I guess "a watched pot never boils".
Thanks for all the replies.
I'll just grab my hydrometer in a couple of days and check.
But I like the idea of taking off to the Caribbean! lol
 
Sixstring78 said:
It's like the old saying I guess "a watched pot never boils".
Click to expand...

It's worse than that! Those yeast need to reproduce and here you are being a voyeur, peeking into their bedroom. Cover that carboy up and let them have some "quality time" in the dark and then check on it in a day or 2.:D
 
Hey.....I had the same issue with my first batch. I actually didn't get any activity for around 5 days, then went and took a gravity reading and nothing had changed. I must have stirred it up a bit, because it started fermenting after that. It turned out great! Just be patient, and give it a little shake.
 
I find that when I used the yeast in a couple beer kits, the fermentation took a while to start showing VISIBLE signs.
 
Well everything's been bubbling along quite nicely now since last night.
It was going so nicely that I actually had to drain some liquid from the carboy. There was quite a large amount of foam being produced and was starting to seep into the airlock. (another reason I'm going to use a bucket next time for extra volume compared to my carboy)
Sanitized my auto syphon and emptied a couple of inches.
This seems to have helped out as the foam is no longer reaching up near the airlock.
 
Next time just pull the airlock off and set your carboy in a plastic tub and let it bubble over. When it settles down you can put the airlock back on. That liquid you poured out to make room in the carboy was beer. We discourage people from dumping beer unless it has some very serious defects and then we try to get people to drink it anyway.
 
I have noticed that it always takes my beer a good 24-72 hours before it starts showing good airlock visability. Then it's like a bubble every 30-60 seconds. Just relax have a beer and check tomorrow.
 
RM-MN said:
Next time just pull the airlock off and set your carboy in a plastic tub and let it bubble over. When it settles down you can put the airlock back on. That liquid you poured out to make room in the carboy was beer. We discourage people from dumping beer unless it has some very serious defects and then we try to get people to drink it anyway.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't this ruin the whole sanitization process by leaving the carboy open to the air?
Maybe I should bottle what I took and serve it to someone at the next get-together! lol Mmm... malty yeastie sugar water!
 

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