fermentation questions/issues

So, this is my first time brewing beer, i have been making mead for about a year now and thought i would make the step to beer. so, my question is simple. what am i looking for in my fermentation process. i guess more specifically, is there any way of knowing that my wort is fermenting. My wort is at a steady 72 degrees f, and i measured the gravity and i have a gravity of 1.000. i used 8 onces of a roasted barley and used 2 ounces of hops for a 2.5 gallon mix, and pitched at 80 degrees, and then again a day later at 72. is there anything i'm doing wrong, and can my low gravity be an issue that i can fix? also, how long do i have before my wort is no longer salvagable. thanks for your time.

how much extract did you use? can you post the full recipe?

pitching at 80° and fermenting at 72° will likely produce some esters from the yeast but you'll still have beer

have you checked your hydrometer in water at the calibrated temp? (most are at 60°) 1.000 is not likely for beer; what was your gravity before you pitched yeast?

i actually checked my hydrometer right before i checked it. i checked my brew and it was still at 1.000. and, i did not use any extract. I used

8 oz Briess roasted barley unmalted
4 oz Briess Caramel Malt 40L
2 oz Argentine Cascade Pellet Hops
8 oz Oak chips
1 packet Safale S-04 Yeast

Now, I read that it isn't necessary to use malt extract. Is this wrong?

rowland86 said:

i actually checked my hydrometer right before i checked it. i checked my brew and it was still at 1.000. and, i did not use any extract. I used

8 oz Briess roasted barley unmalted
4 oz Briess Caramel Malt 40L
2 oz Argentine Cascade Pellet Hops
8 oz Oak chips
1 packet Safale S-04 Yeast

Now, I read that it isn't necessary to use malt extract. Is this wrong?

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No, technically that's not wrong...but that recipe is definitely wrong (I hope).

For one, you have no base malts, only specialty grains. Specifically, a roasted grain (and WAY too much of it) and a Caramel/Crystal grain. Your recipe needs to mainly consist of something like 2-row (if you aren't using extract). Generally, depending on the style of beer you are brewing, you want your recipe to consist of no more than 10% roasted grains (and most styles call for less than that, if any).

Secondly, you should have way more grain than that. When I do a 2.5 gallon batch, I use at least 3-4 pounds of grain, if not more. The least amount I have ever used was 3 lbs. (2 lbs. 2-row, 1 lb. flaked corn) and that was for a "Lite" American Lager.

Finally, what temperature did you mash at (or did you even mash at all)? If you didn't mash at the right temperature (or not at all), you probably didn't extract any fermentable sugars from the grain (although I'm pretty sure your SG would be higher than 1.000 from the unfermentable starches).

I'm almost afraid to ask at this point, but what did you do with the oak chips?

i kinda thought that may be your problem but was hoping i was wrong

you don't HAVE to use malt extract but you need something to make up the majority of your fermentables - if you don't use extract you need to use grain and do a mash

looks like you just used the specialty grains which are used for flavor/color but don't add anything for the yeast to consume - your reading of 1.000 is accurate than, you didn't really extract any sugar for the yeast to turn into alcohol

for a 2.5gal batch you would generally need around 3lbs of malt extract to get you in the 5%ish ABV range

what exactly was your process? did you boil the hops? when/how did you add the oak?

you may be able to salvage what you have there by boiling it and adding some malt extract and some more hops dep how you used the 2oz previously. you will need another packet of yeast as well

if you haven't read it yet, http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html will provide you the basic steps, ingredients etc necessary to get you started. happy to help get you on track here as well though

Like i said this is my first beer brewing attempt. This was more of an experimentation, see what certain combos of stuff would do.

With the oak chips, i boiled them in water for about an hour and added them to the mash.

I heated the mash to about 150 degrees then let it sit at that for 30 minutes, then i boiled the mash with the hops for an hour.

rowland86 said:

i boiled the mash with the hops for an hour.

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Sorry .... But LMAO

If you have some malt extract handy, you could try adding it to the wort and hope for the best. I don't think you will get much hop flavor this way, though. Also, if you boiled the grains, you probably extracted a lot of tannins, which will give your beer a harsh flavor. The fact that you mashed the oak chips also worries me. Honestly, I would just call this a lesson learned, dump it out, and try again. Next time, use a base malt grain and/or malt extract for the bulk of your fermentable sugars.

As far as the oak chips, those are to be added after primary fermentation, which is usually a few weeks after the mash. I don't know how mashing the oak chips would affect the flavor, but I wouldn't expect it to be very good.