First batch....not sure what happened during fermentation.

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
L

Lars13

Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2011
Messages
12
Reaction score
0
Location
Charlotte
Ok, I'm a newbie. Brewed my first batch last Wednesday. I waited patiently until Saturday with no signs of fermentation. After further research and reading here, it appears I did not aerate enough when I added the dry yeast.

So fast forward to Sunday, I decide to take a hydrometer reading. The reading was higher. I broke my airlock trying to get the stopper out and covered with seran wrap until I got another airlock. By Sunday night, I'm hearing noises, so I check and it seems to be doing something. I have a bit of foam, nothing crazy like the pics I've seen on here. But, it's moving at least.

Is this salvagable after taking 5 days to start fermenting? Should I stir in the dry yeast next time after adding it to the carboy?

I would post a pic of what it looks like now, but it doesn't seem there is an attachment feature.

Thanks!!!!
 
I think your probably fine, if you had decent sanitation at the start. Getting a good Original gravity reading is a crap shoot when you are topping kits off with water. You have to mix the living crap out of it. So the reading going up doesnt surprise me.
I always rehydrate the yeast before pitching it, you can usually get an idea of its viabilty before you toss it in. It will foam up a little.
 
mlyday said:
I always rehydrate the yeast before pitching it, you can usually get an idea of its viabilty before you toss it in. It will foam up a little.
Click to expand...

do what he said.

Also what temps did you pitch the yeast at. If it was too high or low you could have shocked the yeast killing a lot of them and slowed ferm.
 
Did you rehydrate the yeast as recommended on package?

Did you pour or siphon wort into carboy? Pouring will add a lot of oxygen anyway.

I usually rehydrate per instructions on package, after my wort has reached somewhere in the upper 70s, then I shake the hell out of my better bottle to aerate, then pitch the yeast and give it a gentle rock back and forth for just a few second, put on the blow-off tube, and put it away.
 
Lars13 said:
Ok, I'm a newbie. Brewed my first batch last Wednesday. I waited patiently until Saturday with no signs of fermentation. After further research and reading here, it appears I did not aerate enough when I added the dry yeast.

So fast forward to Sunday, I decide to take a hydrometer reading. The reading was higher. I broke my airlock trying to get the stopper out and covered with seran wrap until I got another airlock. By Sunday night, I'm hearing noises, so I check and it seems to be doing something. I have a bit of foam, nothing crazy like the pics I've seen on here. But, it's moving at least.

Is this salvagable after taking 5 days to start fermenting? Should I stir in the dry yeast next time after adding it to the carboy?

I would post a pic of what it looks like now, but it doesn't seem there is an attachment feature.

Thanks!!!!
Click to expand...

You should be fine, just because it didn't look like it was doing anything doesn't mean it wasn't.

When using Dry yeast always rehydrate it. Boil about 2 cups of water, cover and cool to about 80 degrees, sprinkle yeast on top don't stir and let it soak in. after it has all sunk into the water, stir it up with a sanitized spoon. If you want you can add a few teaspoons of your wort to this yeast, this will get it working and provide proof that the yeast is viable.
 
That's what I missed...... I hydrated yeast per instuctions in warm water for 15 mins. I transferred beer into carboy, then dumped in yeast. Dumped being the operative word. I didn't shake it or anything. Was that the problem?

I was thinking maybe I moved it around doing the hydro reading and it activated it. Does that sound about right?
 
Lars13 said:
That's what I missed...... I hydrated yeast per instuctions in warm water for 15 mins. I transferred beer into carboy, then dumped in yeast. Dumped being the operative word. I didn't shake it or anything. Was that the problem?

I was thinking maybe I moved it around doing the hydro reading and it activated it. Does that sound about right?
Click to expand...

A tiny bit of movement or stirring might help.

If you are going to shake the carboy, I would just recommend doing it before adding the rehydrated yeast. The again I know people who add the yeast dry and then shake the whole thing to help rehydrate and they get great results.

I think two things most people can agree on, aerate the wort and pitch according to yeast instructions.
 

Similar threads

A
Help with Lalvin 71b yeast
Replies
1
Views
215
D the Catastrophist
D the Catastrophist
J
S05 Non Runner?
Replies
14
Views
425
Jack_0106
J
L
First time Mead - how does it sound
Replies
1
Views
247
MightyMosin
MightyMosin
B
Yeast Scientists: Why not create yeast collections before brewing?
Replies
2
Views
466
McMullan
McMullan
Drummerj2
Fermentation stopped?
Replies
1
Views
349
Rish
R

Latest posts

Back
Top