Moose Drool Clone will NOT ferment

I made my final kit in preparation to going to all-grain brewing. However I have run into an issue w/ this final batch. I got a Moose Drool Clone extract kit and CANNOT get it to ferment. Made the kit in the exact same fashion as all previous brews. Everything was properly cleaned & sanitized. Water used was distilled water from jugs. My OG in the primary was 1.052, exactly what it was supposed to be. I rehydrated my dry British Ale Yeast and pitched it. After four days no start of fermentation. Went to local brewshop, picked up a pack of dry Ale Yeast. Rehydrated and pitched, now four days later still no fermenation. I have no krausen at all when I opened the lid to repitch the new yeast and none today when checking on it. I have written this batch off as bunk, but was looking for any guesses as to why. Not sure what I've done wrong.

Process:

Steeped grains in muslin bag 20 minutes @ 155.
Brought to boil, added malt, added hops at correct intervals for 60 min boil.
Brought to 70 degrees in ice bath, less than 30 mins.
Poured into fermenter bucket, avoided trub
Splash aerated and pitched rehydrated yeast.
Put lid on, airlocked, put in dark closet, room temp, 70 deg + or - a few

Have you checked the gravity since pitching?

Gravity is now 1.020. Still no krausen on the top. I can see the line where it has fallen from but no krausen. I notice that my lid my not be making the best seal anymore. I show that my FG reading s/b around 1.013.

I would guess its done fermenting... Test your hydrometer in distilled water at 60 degrees, make sure it is reading 1.000. I have had brews ferment in less than 36 hours, and some that have taken over a week. Sometimes you will have trub, sometimes not. Depends on yeast, hot and cold break, etc. If you don't have the means to check your hydrometer, wait 1 more week and bottle. Again my guess is that it is done fermenting. Never, ever write off a batch of beer until its been bottle/keg conditioned for a while. You would be surprised at what time can do for beer.

I"m thinking I'm going to go ahead and rake to my secondary at this point now due to poor seal on bucket/lid. It was suggested to rake a bunch of the yeast cake as well. Then let it ferment in the secondary for a few days or a week, then go ahead and rake it a last time and let sit for few days. Any thoughts?

Stoner said:

Gravity is now 1.020. Still no krausen on the top. I can see the line where it has fallen from but no krausen. I notice that my lid my not be making the best seal anymore. I show that my FG reading s/b around 1.013.

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If you can see the line above the beer then it formed krausen and it dropped, double check the gravity and then rack it if you need to or leave it in the primary and bottle in a week., sometimes extract recipes will reach that dreaded 1.020 mark and not move.

Have fun with the AG! Cheers

You need to stop and take a breath. You barely took ONE gravity reading to see where the fermentation was at.
You're nowhere near the expected FG, and you've pitched two different yeasts when the first was probably doing just fine.
Just because you don't see krausen doesn't mean its not working.
Racking to secondary is a bad idea- you'll stick the fermentation, allow no chance for the yeast to cleanup, unless you transfer some of the cake, too, in which case... what's the point?

Close the lid as best you can, even use a little tap or foil if you must, but leave it alone until you've got 3 days of stable readings at the VERY least.

Roger that...thanks for the advice. Was really just worried now about the leak in the seal. I'll let it go and take some readings this weekend.

Raenon said:

You need to stop and take a breath. You barely took ONE gravity reading to see where the fermentation was at.
You're nowhere near the expected FG, and you've pitched two different yeasts when the first was probably doing just fine.
Just because you don't see krausen doesn't mean its not working.
Racking to secondary is a bad idea- you'll stick the fermentation, allow no chance for the yeast to cleanup, unless you transfer some of the cake, too, in which case... what's the point?

Close the lid as best you can, even use a little tap or foil if you must, but leave it alone until you've got 3 days of stable readings at the VERY least.

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This. Leave in the primary for at least 3 weeks, then cold crash if possible (i.e. cool down to high 30's for several days), and/or then rack to secondary/just bottle. As mentioned above, racking to secondary is a bad idea this early. A poor sealing lid is okay, bacteria will not crawl up and into your fermentor. Some folks leave the lid loose on their fermentors on purpose. Let the yeast finish its job, and let it "clean up" after itself. Your patience will be greatly rewarded.

Best advice is to put your beer into your primary fermentor and place in a cool, dark spot, and forget about it for a month. Brew more beer, or take up a different hobby for that time.

Wow!
Hard to argue with Mc and Raenon.
At this point I would say Stay like the Stone you are bro.
Let her ride the juice is a turnin and churnin
Like another member likes to say
The brewer makes fermentables but yeast makes Beer.
Ya I know I butchered that quote. Lol
Sleep well and think
tiny bubble "hehe"

Stoner said:

Roger that...thanks for the advice. Was really just worried now about the leak in the seal. I'll let it go and take some readings this weekend.

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Don't worry about a good seal, I purposely leave the lid loose on my big beers to avoid overflow from the airlock or the lid busting off, with that much CO2 being produced, plus the lid being on the bucket (even loose) your chance of infection is very very low.

Stoner said:

Roger that...thanks for the advice. Was really just worried now about the leak in the seal. I'll let it go and take some readings this weekend.

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Thanks for listening to the advice!
Best of luck with the beer

Sevenal said:

Wow!
Hard to argue with Mc and Raenon.
At this point I would say Stay like the Stone you are bro.
Let her ride the juice is a turnin and churnin
Like another member likes to say
The brewer makes fermentables but yeast makes Beer.
Ya I know I butchered that quote. Lol
Sleep well and think
tiny bubble "hehe"

Click to expand...

Okay, that cracked my Sh!ft. :cross:

Concur of course.