I'm freaking - talk me down

OK - relax.

Just brewed up AHs Double Chocolate Stout.

Everything went perfectly - problem is the Yeast.

took it out of the frig this morning (45 degrees). It had 8 hours to warm to room temp.

Smacked 5 hours ago and made sure it was a solid smack.

WYeast Ale 1098 did not balloon out like normal. On the good side when I pitched it SMELLED like yeast so that is going for it.

Another problem was it I did a minimash but the OG is 1.045 and not 1.056.

I THINK I did everything perfectly but ??????

at 1.045 it's not like it's a HUGE Brew that needs a super size starter to ferment.

Go get a beer, Chill out, and post back tomorrow evening when it's fermenting like KRAZY.

That's what I needed LOL.

I've never had a Wyeast NOT bubble up.

A little short of OG - sort of stumped on that one.

Good side is I've gottin the cold break down to 15 minutes.

Grinder12000 said:

A little short of OG - sort of stumped on that one.

Click to expand...

I've done 4 AG batches now, and last night I finished my last Extract KIT....Missed OG by 0.002....WTF? Guess I was a little too sure of myself or something.

Missed mine by 10 1.055 to 1.045

I wouldn't worry, my last wyeast pack never swelled. I made 2 starters out of it and pitched into my 10 gallon batch today. It started bubbling within 4 hours.

No worries. I've had Wyeast packs not expand that much and wondered the same thing. Beers have always turned out.

I've only used two Wyeast packs... One didn't puff up at all and worked awesomely, and the one that ballooned up didn't work well at all.

On your OG issue: My first 3-4 mini-mashes were off by as much as 10. I can pretty consistently hit the mark now. It just takes practice to get your temps right, grain crushed just right, the right amount of water...etc.
It will likely just be a little thinner and lighter in alcohol. No big deal, really.

I brewed up the same batch Saturday. Yours should be fermenting like crazy now. My primary is in my room and the noise almost kept me up last night.