The twist here is that this was a double brew effort between a buddy and I each essentially doing our own 5gal batches with separate equipment and the same ingredients. In the interest of time we grabbed two munton IPA kits locally and doctored them a bit in terms of hop/DME additions.
I could give more info, but the cliffs of the matter are that the only thing different between the brews was that I tried a FWH-ish method of adding 1oz chinook whole leaf at the time I fired up my burner (and left in), but my buddy was concerned about the valve on his kettle clogging so he put his in with his grain bag (and withdrew at ~175*), and that he used a counterflow that quite nicely naturally aerated his wort, whereas I used an immersion and just a strong pour and a stir for aeration.
Both fermentation vessels are in the same place, next to each other. Pitched muntons dried yeast into both after activating...his fermented aggressively almost to the point of blowoff and quieted down after about 36hrs....mine seems stalled...no visible pressure change in bucket/airlock water levels, no airlock bubblage, etc.
I guess it sat for about 10 min after I did the vigorous pour. Seems the only obvious explanation is lack of aeration. At this point I'm guessing a starter/gradual starter isn't going to help much. How bad would it be for me to aerate at this point? I usually use a paint stirrer but didn't have my drill at the house on Saturday.
I could give more info, but the cliffs of the matter are that the only thing different between the brews was that I tried a FWH-ish method of adding 1oz chinook whole leaf at the time I fired up my burner (and left in), but my buddy was concerned about the valve on his kettle clogging so he put his in with his grain bag (and withdrew at ~175*), and that he used a counterflow that quite nicely naturally aerated his wort, whereas I used an immersion and just a strong pour and a stir for aeration.
Both fermentation vessels are in the same place, next to each other. Pitched muntons dried yeast into both after activating...his fermented aggressively almost to the point of blowoff and quieted down after about 36hrs....mine seems stalled...no visible pressure change in bucket/airlock water levels, no airlock bubblage, etc.
I guess it sat for about 10 min after I did the vigorous pour. Seems the only obvious explanation is lack of aeration. At this point I'm guessing a starter/gradual starter isn't going to help much. How bad would it be for me to aerate at this point? I usually use a paint stirrer but didn't have my drill at the house on Saturday.