Fermenting Never Started...

So here is my problem that I seek the wisdom of the forum...

I brewed a batch of Brown Ale on Saturday night using an extract kit form my local. I was using WL yeast and brewed exactly like I always do. Since then I have seen no activity in the air lock. I have not taken a hydrometer reading since Saturday night and my OG was 1.042. I will take a reading this weekend but I am looking for things that might have gone wrong and what I can do next. Bad yeast? Can I pitch more? It was a little on the hot side this weekend around 72 so if the temp was the culprit can I pitch more yeast at a lower temp?

Your knowledge is why I am here so I look forward to the answer!!!

I brewed a batch seven days ago and my basement has been pretty consistent at 70-72f. My batch is American Light. It has been going crazy ever since I pitched the yeast. It had an OG the same as yours. I don't know why yours isn't showing signs of fermentation but I'm a beginner. I've read here that just because the airlock isn't bubbling doesn't mean fermentation isn't occurring.

Take a gravity reading first, if temps were high you may have gotten a hard and fast ferm at night. If you find that your original gravity is unchanged make a new starter and re-pitch it.

No way of knowing if it has fermented unless you take a gravity reading.

Fermentation can occur without airlock activity if your fermentor is not completely sealed, as the gas has an easier way of escaping the vessel. Yeast can and will ferment way up past 72F (in fact their preferred temp is much higher than we generally give them); all that will happen at higher temps is that they will throw off flavours. If you truly haven't had any fermentation you should just repitch.

Take a gravity reading tonight and if it is still at 1.042 you can repitch.

beerme72 said:

SI have not taken a hydrometer reading since Saturday night and my OG was 1.042.

Click to expand...

Then you don't know whether fermentation has started or not. Your airlock is a vent, a valve, it's not a fermentation gauge.

Airlock activity is irrevelent. Just gravity points on a hydrometer.

Airlock bubbling (or lack) and fermentation are not the same thing. You have to separate that from your mindset. Airlock bubbling can be a sign of fermentation, but not a good one, because the airlock will often blip or not blip for various other reasons...so it is a tenuous connection at best.

If your airlock was bubbling and stopped---It doesn't mean fermentation has stopped.

If you airlock isn't bubbling, it doesn't mean your fermentation hasn't started....

If your airlock starts bubbling, it really doesn't matter.

If your airlock NEVER bubbles, it doesn't mean anything is wrong or right.

Your HYDROMETER is the only BEST indicator of fermentation activity. Nothing else is accurate or consistent...

Unless you take a gravity reading you don't know what's really going on, not by airlock bubbling or by krausen formation. Neither of those signs are effective, they don't tell you exactly where on the fermentation process you are.

And airlocks sometimes bubble or they don't. And airlock is a valve, a vent to release excess co2...NOT a fermentation gauge. It's important to make that distinction, or you'll be panicking everytime a an airlock doesn't bubble, or stops bubbling.

Fermentation is not always "dynamic," just because you don't SEE anything happening, doesn't mean that any-thing's wrong,, and also doesn't mean that the yeast are still not working diligently away, doing what they've been doing for over 4,000 years.

That's why you need to take a gravity reading to know how your fermentation is going, NOT go by airlocks, or size of krausen, or a calendar, the horoscope or the phases of the moon (those things in my mind are equally accurate).

The most important tool you can use is a hydrometer. It's the only way you will truly know when your beer is ready...airlock bubbles and other things are faulty.

The only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in....


All those other things are really just superficial to the purpose at hand, if your yeast took off, unless you let the temp go down near 50, your yeast is still working happily away, despite what the supreficial signs like airlock may indicate.

There is nothing in your post to suggest you did anything wrong. It could be a leak in the fermenting vessel's cover that is bypassing the airlock. It has happened to me with some of the plastic bucket covers without a gasket. Have you looked into the bucket to see if there is Krausen, or evidence there was some? You might want to take a peek. If you get to this weekend and the hydrometer shows no drop in gravity, grab some more yeast and pitch again.

I'd take a reading today rather than this weekend, but that's just because I'm impatient. It wouldn't hurt to wait till the weekend. You can take one now if you want though: If the reading hasn't changed by now, then yeah, something is wrong.

But I'll betcha you just aren't getting airlock activity. My money's on your gravity being in the mid-20s at least and probably even lower by now.

Also, an important thing to realize is that, Fermentation can take 24 to 72 hrs to start.

Revvy said:

Also, an important thing to realize is that, Fermentation can take 24 to 72 hrs to start.

Click to expand...

Well, the OP said it was brewed Saturday night, so depending on what you mean by "night", it's been a good 65 hours... I'd say fermentation should have started by now.

Which it almost certainly has, of course.

Awesome response guys. I will wait till the weekend because if it is fermenting and I have a slight leak, then I do not want to disturb it. If it is not going then I will re pitch this Saturday. Again I thank you all for the quick and helpful response!!!

jsweet said:

Well, the OP said it was brewed Saturday night, so depending on what you mean by "night", it's been a good 65 hours... I'd say fermentation should have started by now.

Which it almost certainly has, of course.

Click to expand...

But 65 hours is still less than 72.

I too believe that fermentation has started, and he's fixated on airlock. But even then, he could be facing a lag time, and everything still would be fine. But he won't know anything until he sticks his hydrometer in.

If you're brewing in a bucket you can shine a flashlight behind or above the thing and often see evidence of a krausen ring through the side wall. My airlocks and blowoff tubes almost never bubble. I have yet to not have fermentation. I had one stalled fermenation, but that one failed to finish. So far, they've never failed to start.

Shooter said:

If you're brewing in a bucket you can shine a flashlight behind or above the thing and often see evidence of a krausen ring through the side wall.

Click to expand...

▲This▲ ... I do 11 gallon batches and split batches into two buckets. I pitch the same amount of yeast into both and one of my 5 buckets never shows bubbles in the airlock. I've switched lids around and the problem is with that particular bucket. When fermentation is complete both batches are at the exact same gravity. No bubbles, no problems.

beerme72 said:

Awesome response guys. I will wait till the weekend because if it is fermenting and I have a slight leak, then I do not want to disturb it. If it is not going then I will re pitch this Saturday. Again I thank you all for the quick and helpful response!!!

Click to expand...

No NEED to wait, taking a hydrometer sample won't hurt. You also might be able to just verify things are going fine by cracking the lid open. Fermentation is pretty good about leaving tell tale signs behind, such as the aforementioned krausen ring... or you might just have krausen going still.

Revvy said:

I too believe that fermentation has started, and he's fixated on airlock. But even then, he could be facing a lag time, and everything still would be fine. But he won't know anything until he sticks his hydrometer in.

Click to expand...

Would you REALLY call mentioning the hydrometer once a fixation? The OP clearly has some inclination that the best course of action would be a hydrometer reading, else the OP wouldn't have mentioned taking a gravity reading this weekend. I believe the OP is just looking for a little reassurance...

Gremlyn1 said:

Would you REALLY call mentioning the hydrometer once a fixation? The OP clearly has some inclination that the best course of action would be a hydrometer reading, else the OP wouldn't have mentioned taking a gravity reading this weekend. I believe the OP is just looking for a little reassurance...

Click to expand...

ALL new brewers are fixated on what their airlock is doing. All these threads usually mention their airlock and never a hydrometer reading. They usually use words like "activity" or like this thread talking about the amount of bubbles.So what? It's not a judgement call, just a statement of fact.

We get a dozen threads like this a day, and the phrasing is usually the same. As is the answer.

And the best reassurance he'll get is with his hydrometer.

*shrug*

Seriously, you're busting my chops over the word "fixated?" Fixated?

Revvy said:

ALL new brewers are fixated on what their airlock is doing. All these threads usually mention their airlock and never a hydrometer reading. They usually use words like "activity" or like this thread talking about the amount of bubbles.So what? It's not a judgement call, just a statement of fact.

We get a dozen threads like this a day, and the phrasing is usually the same. As is the answer.

And the best reassurance he'll get is with his hydrometer.

*shrug*

Seriously, you're busting my chops over the word "fixated?" Fixated?

Click to expand...

Oh, sweet Revvy, what would we do without you?

I have the same problem (nut brown, OG was 1.042, brewed sat) and haven't seen any airlock activity. I not freaking out or anything, and was going to do a hydrometer reading tonight since this is the first time I haven't seen any activity, but I just read the flashlight trick. If you can see krausen buildup in the bucket, I take it that is a sign of active fermentation and you are good to go?

I've never done the flashlight trick (I ferment in carboys) but yep, if there's a kraeusen, there's active fermentation, and no need to take a hydrometer sample until you are getting close to bottling time.

As "fixated" as Revvy is about airlock activity not being a replacement for a hydrometer (and he's right), I think it is fair to say that if you are getting bubbles in the airlock every few seconds and/or you see a kraeusen, then you have fermentation. What is not true are the inverse or the converse, i.e. it is not true that if you have fermentation then you must have bubbles and/or a kraeusen.

weekapaug19 said:

I have the same problem (nut brown, OG was 1.042, brewed sat) and haven't seen any airlock activity. I not freaking out or anything, and was going to do a hydrometer reading tonight since this is the first time I haven't seen any activity, but I just read the flashlight trick. If you can see krausen buildup in the bucket, I take it that is a sign of active fermentation and you are good to go?

Click to expand...

That's the method I always use. I don't normally take my first gravity reading until a week has passed.

So that is a picture of my brown ale that I tool while taking a hydrometer reading on Saturday. Honestly I have only been at this since Jan but I have not had a beer look like that before. Fermentation was happening as my reading indicated that it had gone from 1.042 to 1.010 but I am a bit concerned about this look. Any thoughts?

That's nothing to be concerned about just clumps of yeast, protein, hops, and other junk that didn't fall. This is why I never take the lid off my bucket. I just pull the stopper to get my gravity sample. The first time I really see my beer with the lid off is at the three week mark when I'm getting ready to keg it.