Stirring?

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wbrian

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Hi,
I am very new at this. I'm on my 3rd day of my first batch of beer. (Irish Stout from a kit). Not seeing any fermentation. Should I stir it? I have another packet of yeast in another kit. Should I add it?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks!
Brian
 
I would strongly suggest you don't try and mess with it. You don't want to risk an infection or oxidation. Can I ask you why you didn't just pitch both packets at the time? Also, airlock activity (or the lack thereof) aren't reliable signs of fermentation. Forget about it for a couple of weeks
 
What was the OG? Was the dry yeast re-hydrated,or just pitched dry? Sometimes,brews will ferment without much or any airlock activity at all. It may not even get any krausen to speak of.
 
I say this with caution, but if your yeast didn't go to eatin the good stuff early, they may have fallen out of suspension and gone dormant. I have seen some posts on here that do not suggest "stirring" per se, but leaving the fermentor on the ground, and grabbing it on each side and "spinning it" to kick the sediment up off the bottom. If you here swishing nosie inside the fermentor you are doing it too hard. Leave it alone is probably the best recommendation (and hardest to follow!)
 
My initial SG was 1.052 ( think. I rechecked it a few minutes ago and I'm at 1.018 so there's fermentation going on. My lid apparently isn't airtight. So I made a gasket out of plastic wrap. I'll probably transfer it over to a glass carboy later tonight. I thought the fermentation would be more vigorous.

Later,
Brian
 
Make sure your lid is all the way down in place. With a 1.052 OG,one packet in the starter should be plenty. If of course,you gave the starter enough time to get the yeast re-hydrated & multiplying.
 
Having a leaky lid is not that big of a deal. The co2 is still protecting the beer. I have 1 bucket that the airlock never bubbles. Never had an issue with it.
 
My initial SG was 1.052 ( think. I rechecked it a few minutes ago and I'm at 1.018 so there's fermentation going on. My lid apparently isn't airtight. So I made a gasket out of plastic wrap. I'll probably transfer it over to a glass carboy later tonight. I thought the fermentation would be more vigorous.

Later,
Brian

I highly recommend against the transfer.
If fermentation is indeed underway, there's absolutely no reason to do this right now. Stop messing around with it and leave it alone for another week or so. You'll do more harm than good attempting to do this while the yeast are at work. You can transfer when fermentation is complete if it's really bothering you.

It's not the end of the world if the lid doesn't form a perfect seal, especially while fermentation is underway. Sit back and relax for the next week knowing that there's nothing wrong and you're making beer!
 
I had to fix my cooper's micro brew FV. That's why I mentioned it. As fermentation slows down,there's always a slim chance something could go wrong.not that it will. That kind of thing would be possible before fermentation begins.
Anyway,mine didn't bubble at all. I went to clean it,& inspected it. I noticed some molding flash between the groups of threads where the mold line runs through the middle of the lid sealing area. Not to mention on the sealing area. So I took a sharp paring knife & trimmed it flat. It now bubbles when it should,even the slow to build up ones.
Before that,it was blowing out of a particular 4-5" area. Seals good now,with no more seepage. I always felt the area of "seepage" would give nasties a place to swim up into the FV.
 
Thanks All,
I appreciate the insight and encouragement. I am concerned though that the amount of CO2 being made will be insufficient. It's really slowly fermenting (by the amount of surface bubbles being made). What gravity do beers end up at, generally? I've always fermented my wine to absolute dryness.

Pitch temp was 74 degrees, btw.

Thanks again,
Brian
 
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