Help - my fermentation isn't happening!

Hi,

I used a kit to make some beer and I think I've killed it.

I didn't have enough white sugar so used some brown/demerrara sugar instead and it has not fermented at all.

Its just sitting there looking very muddy

any suggestions or should I just start again?

cheers
Matthew

It can take 48 hours for the active fermentation to really kick in.
Let it alone a few days and let the yeasties work.
If, after 2 full days there is no improvement, take a hydrometer reading.
If you haven't had any fermentation (as verified by the hydrometer)
then toss in a packet of dry yeast (they are only $1.50 and keep well in the fridge for years)

ignore what c1377 said about repitching after 2 days....(he was right about using your hydrometer though...but just wait awhile)

Fermentation can take up to 72 hours to start....and airloc activity doesn't mean anything...Plenty of people make beer with brown sugar it wouldn't harm the beer..

More than likely your beer is fine, but you have a mental illness known as n00bitus. The tendency to think something's wrong/or to baby your beer.

Just relax and in 10 days take a hydrometer reading...

Your job is done right now, so let the yeasts do theirs.


Read this http://blogs.homebrewtalk.com/Revvy/Think_evaluation_before_action/

Does re-hydrating the yeast tend to kick start it?

It does seem I start seeing bubbles and activity about a day sooner when I re-hydrate as opposed to just dry pitching.

mattmoody_uk said:

Hi,

I used a kit to make some beer and I think I've killed it.

I didn't have enough white sugar so used some brown/demerrara sugar instead and it has not fermented at all.

Its just sitting there looking very muddy

any suggestions or should I just start again?

cheers
Matthew

Click to expand...

c1377 said:

...
Let it alone a few days and let the yeasties work.
...

Click to expand...

Revvy said:

...
ignore what c1377 said about repitching after 2 days....(he was right about using your hydrometer though...but just wait awhile)
....

Your job is done right now, so let the yeasts do theirs.

Click to expand...

Even better, find a cool (70 F or under), dark place, preferably one that is out-of-the-way and hard to get into. Put your fermenting beer in the cool dark place, and ignore it for at least three weeks. Anything that's wrong with it can't get any worse, and leaving it alone is the single best thing you can do for it.

Cpt_Kirks said:

Does re-hydrating the yeast tend to kick start it?

It does seem I start seeing bubbles and activity about a day sooner when I re-hydrate as opposed to just dry pitching.

Click to expand...

I know in my extensive experience (halfway through first batch) I dry pitched onto my Pale Ale wort and had an inch and a half krausen the following morning.

Every beer is different and every fermentation different...when brewing remember what Yuri Rage said yesterday.

Beer is a natural product. It is created with some degree of repeatability and precision through the application of several sciences. In the end, it is susceptible to mother nature's whims.

Click to expand...

We're not making Koolaid here....we're dealing with living micro-organisms. And they do things their way...Unless anyone reading this dumped their yeast into boiling hot beer...the yeast is fine...It it doing it's job...let it be..



Read this.....this should be every "help me I think my yeast is dead" person's mantra..

http://blogs.homebrewtalk.com/Revvy/Think_evaluation_before_action/