1st Time Fermentation Worries

[cowboymcd82]

Hey, so, it's my first time posting here... and my first time brewing beer. I pitched 2 packets of dry yeast, and it's been fermenting in fermentor bucket for around 36 hours now. There's been very little activity (bubbling) that I've noticed coming through the airlock, but the water level in it has risen; there also is a little bit of foam at the top of the beer, but not much.

Everything I've read says that by 24 hours it should be bubbling furiously. Is it fine, am I worrying too much? Or have most of the yeast died/started out bad? Should I add more, or will adding more yeast at this point cause a problem (contamination or something)?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Walker]

everything is fine. just be patient. no need to add anything to it.

 

[CaptKiRkLeS]

Did you re-hydrate? What is your temp at??

Id give your bucket a gentle swirl and give it another day. If nothing try rehydrating a pack and toss in.

 

[cowboymcd82]

That was fast! Thanks!

Uhh, it's room temperature, which should be around 70 F. Yeah, I rehydrated 2 packets of yeast before adding it to the wort.

So it sounds like it's coming along fine? That's good. I swirled it a bit earlier today to see if aerating it more would help. I just didn't know if what I'm seeing is what I'm supposed to see... I was of the understanding it'd be bubbling like crazy, and there'd be a thick layer of foam by now.

 

[mrd789s]

I agree that you should be fine. Leave it alone for a bit longer and you should see some additional activity. Just make sure that you have the proper amount of air in your air lock, the lid to your bucket(Sounds like you're using a bucket) is secure, and that there is nothing clogging the air lock.
You could also consider taking a gravity reading. If you have some foam on your beer, some fermentation has most likely occurred. If your beer had a low OG, it's possible that it completed fermentation really quickly and you just didn't notice.

 

[cowboymcd82]

Sounds good.

I'm not really sure how to take a gravity reading; I don't have a hydrometer, I guess I might want to go get one, haha. Low OG = low alcohol % though, doesn't it? That doesn't sound promising!

 

[Frodo]

Sounds good.

I'm not really sure how to take a gravity reading; I don't have a hydrometer, I guess I might want to go get one, haha. Low OG = low alcohol % though, doesn't it? That doesn't sound promising!

If you post your recipe someone here can est your OG. Also need your volume.

 

[cowboymcd82]

4lb pale malt liquid
2lb amber malt dry
1oz 10.1%AA centenial hops
1oz 7.5%AA cascade hops

2 packets munson dry yeast

boiled in 5 gallons of water (well, boiled in 3 gallons, 2 gallons added in the fermentor)



I don't remember the recipe listing the alcohol content they achieved with it, either.

 

[dcp27]

Since this was a relatively low OG batch (around 1.046 if 5gallons), over-pitched, and fermenting at a high temp, I wouldnt be surprised if your at the tail end of fermentation already. Leave it be for a few more weeks and make sure to get yourself a hydrometer in the meantime.

 

[cowboymcd82]

Will do. Thanks, everyone.

I thought 70F was reasonable for ale yeast though? If that's high, what's a normal temp?

And overpitched? I thought there was no such thing as too much yeast?

Are any of those things going to cause bad flavors or anything? Just curious, if I did it wrong this time, I'll have to make sure to do it right next time!

 

[Frodo]

I plugged the recipe into: http://beercalculus.hopville.com/recipe

Estimates:
OG 1.047
FG 1.012
ABV: 4.7%
IBU: 34.4

I assumed the Centennial is added for 60 min boil, and the Cascade at 5 min, but this is pretty rough - your IBU's are probably a little lower (maybe 30?) due to the lesser utilization of hops with a more dense 3 gal boil.

With extract seems like it is more common for the FG to finish a little higher, maybe closer to 1.016-1.018. You'll need a hydrometer to get that measurement.

 

[dcp27]

Will do. Thanks, everyone.

I thought 70F was reasonable for ale yeast though? If that's high, what's a normal temp?

And overpitched? I thought there was no such thing as too much yeast?

Are any of those things going to cause bad flavors or anything? Just curious, if I did it wrong this time, I'll have to make sure to do it right next time!

well if 70F is the ambient temp its at the higher end since fermentation will raise it 5-10F unless you have it controlled. when you get that high you can start getting extra esters depending on the yeast strain, but yours should be pretty limited if any.
overpitching is possible (it takes ALOT though), but in this case it wasnt really the right term. you pitched about double the calculated amount needed, which wont cause any issues, but generally speeds up the process.