God Emporer BillyBrew
Well-Known Member
OK, I haven't done a second hydrometer reading, but something's up. I've narrowed it down to two reasons and neither are good.
My pumpkin Ale went in the fermentor on Wednesday night and was bubbling away by Thursday morning. When I got home tThursday evening it had all but stopped. I push on the lid to blow all of the air out of the airlock cap and it took it until the next morning to rise again. Very little activity.
Even without taking a reading I feel pretty strong that I'm stalled.
Two things that I did that worry me. 1. Pitched when the wort was still 90 degrees. 2. did a four gallon boil and only added about a gallon and a half of fresh water. Stirred for about five minutes to aerate.
My deal is that I'm very close to my LHBS while at work and am trying to figure out if I need to pick up some yeast energizer or new yeast on the way home. Unfortunately, I only have enough cash to buy one or the other.
I guess it comes down to the question of what's more likely the problem? Did the heat hurt my yeast? Maybe not, since it was fermenting like crazy earlier. Or is it lack of aeration? If so, would yeast energizer help that problem?
My pumpkin Ale went in the fermentor on Wednesday night and was bubbling away by Thursday morning. When I got home tThursday evening it had all but stopped. I push on the lid to blow all of the air out of the airlock cap and it took it until the next morning to rise again. Very little activity.
Even without taking a reading I feel pretty strong that I'm stalled.
Two things that I did that worry me. 1. Pitched when the wort was still 90 degrees. 2. did a four gallon boil and only added about a gallon and a half of fresh water. Stirred for about five minutes to aerate.
My deal is that I'm very close to my LHBS while at work and am trying to figure out if I need to pick up some yeast energizer or new yeast on the way home. Unfortunately, I only have enough cash to buy one or the other.
I guess it comes down to the question of what's more likely the problem? Did the heat hurt my yeast? Maybe not, since it was fermenting like crazy earlier. Or is it lack of aeration? If so, would yeast energizer help that problem?