Fermentor Air Leak?

While my first beer ever was still in the primary I went and purchased another plastic fermentor so I could have 2 batches going at the same time. I cooked up a Brewfest Grand Cru and put it in the new primary about 60 hours ago. The airlock showed no signs of fermentation so I took a reading with the hydrometer and the gravity had dropped about .003 points. So I got to thinking either the yeast isn't going very well or the seal on the fermentor is bad and the CO2 is leaking.

My questions:

1) Should I pitch more yeast? The yeast I used came with the beer kit so I picked up some fresh stuff at the LBS.

2)If the CO2 is leaking, then air is getting in (and possibly some airbourne baddies). Is that going to be a problem? If so, then proceed to question #3.

3) If I siphon the beer into my first fermentor which is now empty, or would that be a bad thing?


I confident that this brew is still going to come out good, but I figured the more I learn about these issues, the better my next batch will be.

Thanks for the help!

-Austin

It's not uncommon for buckets to leak around the seals, no big deal if fermentation is happening. What was the OG on this beer? If it's above 1.060 or so and you didn't make a starter, it could feasibly take up to 72 hours for your fermentation to start. Be patient, give it another day or so and see what happens.

First, the CO2 is supposed to leak out of the fermenter. Otherwise it will explode. If the bucket is leaking, air is NOT getting in, CO2 is just escaping. That's fine.

After 60 hours, I'd say it's almost time to repitch some fresh yeast in there. Oh, what temp is the fermenter at? The colder it is, the slower the yeast will be to take off as well.

Also, leave it alone! moving the wort from one fermenter to another is only going to increase your chance of contamination.

To EvilTOJ: I should clarify. I know its supposed to leak out of the fermentor, but it should be coming out of the airlock if there is a good seal on the fermentor lid.

Anyways, so I think I'll wait a day or two more and then repitch if the gravity hasn't changed. The room temp is right about 68 degrees.

Is repitching so late going to cause any off flavors?