First 5 Gallon brew, got a few questions

So I have just began my first 5 gallon brew, its a kit called German Oktoberfest, and I basically followed the directions that came with the kit.

Also I've read all the way through the intermediate brewers section of the the Homebrewers Guide (don't worry have a homebrew) to gain a little more knowledge as to what I was doing and why I was doing the steps in the instructions.

One thing that I did that wasn't in the instructions that came with the kit. I read in the intermediate section of the Homebrewers Guide that it was good to rehydrate your dry yeast... Having never done this before I just followed the directions word for word, Boil 1 and a half cups of water for 15 minutes, set aside in a sanitized cup or jar with foil on top till tempurature drops between 105 - 100 degrees F, when temp read 102 I put the yeast in to the cup and recovered it with the foil, rehydrated for 30 min, and lowered the temp to close to that of the wort, which was about 75 degrees F. I took my hydrometer reading it was 1.052, right on target as to what it should be, capped it up, stabbed my airlock in and put it in the climate controlled garage at a stable 50 degrees F.

My problem is that its been 5 days now and my airlock dosn't really bubble at all. I can see that there is air displacing the water, and there is definatley pressure building up under the lid, I pressed down on it once and it shot out one big bubble, but it dosn't seem to want to chug away like i've seen on some videos of peoples primary fermentations.

Can anyone tell me if im on track, and if not where I went wrong?

If you used an ale yeast you need to get the temp up to about 60F to start fermenting.
What yeast are you using?

im fairly new myself, but if its an ale, thats way too cold for it to ferment. ale yeast is active between 68-75 degrees F if i'm not mistaken. lager is needs cooler temperatures

i forgot to mention it is a lager yeast.

I've never lagered, but have read that those yeast don't get crazy when they are fermenting. You can check the gravity to see if it's dropping, that's the only true way to tell if it's started. Perhaps your bucket lid is leaking a bit and there's not much coming out of the airlock.

Lager yeasts are much slower than ale yeasts. People tend to pitch 2-3 times as much yeast.What I do is pitch warm, the way you did, but keep it warm until fermentation starts. This lets the yeast multiply faster.

Has any foam formed on the top of the wort?

I can see a thin layer of foam on in through the bucket, about an inch thick and it is bubbling, just incredibly slow. The instructions do say to keep it in there for about 2 weeks, then to see if the SG stays the same for at least 2 days before moving it into the secondary fermenter for another 2 weeks before bottling... I guess another question I have is how long do ales usually ferment for?

i think i know what the problem is. your brewing in a bucket right? a non-bubbling airlock is normal for buckets. sometimes they don't get a good seal around the lid and CO2 escapes that way instead of the airlock. the airlock is not a fermentation indicator its a pressure release valve. if the pressure can be release else where it will. that foam you see is karusen and is a prime indicator that fermentation is going on. wait the 2 weeks the rase the temp 10 degrees for a week then drop it to 40 for a month.

I am in a bucket, should I not bother with the buckets and opt to get a second glass carboy? Well if that is the case then that is pretty relieving. So i'm just gonna follow my schedule and in 8 days take a hydrometer reading, then another the day after, then im gonna rack it into my secondary fermenter, which the glass carboy was recomended as the second one in the instructions, and sit on it for 2 more weeks then.

buckets are just fine. they don't break and protect your brew from UV very nicely. but they do get scratched easy which can lead to infection. glass carboys are durable and unless you using a diamond tipped brush don't scratch. but they are heavy and break when dropped. also new brewers tend to freak out at the actual sight of an active fermentation.

the schedule sounds a little rushed to me which is typical for kits.

it says about 2 weeks in primary, about 2 weeks in secondary, but over all says to follow what the hydrometer is telling me, then it says to bottle and store warm for 3 weeks.

Another question I have, the instructions say to make sure the SG is the same for 2 days before moving it to the secondary fermenter, I dont understand the point of moving it to the second fermenter if it isnt going to ferment anymore. Or do i want to just move it to the secondary fermenter after 2 weeks without taking a SG reading and expect it to ferment more in my secondary, then start monitering to see if it has reached FG?

lagers pick up off flavors easy but need aging. aging in a secondary allows the beer to drop any yeast and proteins that are still floating around and age without the risk of autolysis. only transfer to the secondary when the SG readings stop falling.

Alright cool, thanks for all the good info, I'll come back to this thread later on in my brew process when I will undoubtedly have more questions, thanks fellow brewers, untill later.

Alright, I'm back with more questions for the pros out there, my brew has been in the primary fermenting bucket now for a little under 2 weeks, my OG was 1.052 and i just took a reading on it now and it only dropped to 1.029. I know that it's nearing the end of it fermentation period and the kit says the ABV% is supposed to be between 5.25-5.75. When I did my calculations it said the current ABV is only 3.01. Did I do something wrong or can I expect my SG to drop considerably more in the next few days?

Probably just needs more time: http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter10-1.html

Kits often have too-rushed schedules. The amount of time needed to ferment is dependent on many factors, so basing it off of a universal, arbitrary schedule doesn't work in the real world. You said the kit did said "about two weeks," so it could need more than that.

Alright that makes sense, thanks man

what has the fermentation temperature been like? wait till Sunday and take another reading. if its changed at all then you still have fermentation and just need to wait and maybe warm the brew up.