Am I doomed?

[astrolic]

Hi all,

Made my first batch of beer ever last Thursday following a DME kit from my LHBS. Kit and recipe at here: http://www.love2brew.com/Oatmeal-Stout-Extract-Kit-p/sbk035a.htm

It's been over a week now, and I've seen no air lock activity. I had a boil over, so I messed my SG up, but when I took a reading Monday it was 1.021 and I re took a reading today, and it's the same. No idea what I did wrong. Is fermentation taking place? For my first reading I used a siphon, second reading I just used a sanitized scooper to take some off the top. I also check for a krausen and I only see a bit of gunk on the top floating around.

My temps been at 59-63 the entire time. I did not set up a yeast starter because I am an idiot. When I do open my lid and check it out (first time was today) there are some bubble patches on the top, and I can see tiny bubbles emerging from the bottom.

Am I doomed?!?

 

[astrolic]

Any advice??

 

[zach976]

What yeast are you using? Could be a lot of things.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[day_trippr]

The recipe calls for an OG of 1.054. You didn't mention what your OG actually was, but assuming it was in the ball park, the current gravity suggests there was in fact significant fermentation to get down to 1.021.

Will it go lower? Probably not, but you have another week to try rousing the yeast (shake up the fermenter enough to raise the yeast off the bottom) and bringing the temperature up to ~68°F or so. Might shave a point or three off the FG...

Cheers!

 

[HB_in_Subic]

If you can control the fermentation temperature, I would turn up the temp to about 65 degrees. I assume you are using Safale-04? If you are using Danstar Windsor, I would go up to 68 degrees. You still have some time to let the yeast do their job.

I use Danstar Windsor and Muntons Premium Gold Dry yeasts for my stouts and ferment at 68-70 degrees without issue.

 

[kh54s10]

Extracts often end up at about 1.020 due to unfermentable sugars in the wort. I suspect you had a leak giving the co2 an easier way out of your fermenter than through your airlock.

I would give it another few days then check the gravity again (or not since it seems you ard done) then bottle it. 3 weeks at about 70 degrees, a couple of days in the fridge and try one.

I don't see anything seriously wrong here.

 

[astrolic]

Ok thanks guys. My first batch, and even with doing a decent amount of research, I managed to fudge up a bunch of stuff. Looking forward to my second bath so I can fix these errors. I was such a noob, I didn't even write down what yeast I was using!!!

I'm gonna shake the bucket up a bit, wrap it in a blanket to bring the temp up, and let it sit until Saturday (I'll be at my parents for the holidays) then bottle it and wait two weeks. Hopefully this would yield a decent first beer. Def a learning experience!

At one point I was contemplating chucking the beer due to no fermentation.....that God these forums saved me!!

Cheers mates

 

[Varmintman]

I have never chucked a beer yet nor will I think I will have to. I have had some righteous mistakes and it still turned out pretty good.

Relax in the knowledge that you have made beer

 

[HB_in_Subic]

Extracts often end up at about 1.020 due to unfermentable sugars in the wort. I suspect you had a leak giving the co2 an easier way out of your fermenter than through your airlock.

I would give it another few days then check the gravity again (or not since it seems you ard done) then bottle it. 3 weeks at about 70 degrees, a couple of days in the fridge and try one.

I don't see anything seriously wrong here.

Next time, use a rubber mallet to seal the lid. Make sure you have a lid removal tool, you will need it if you seal it with a rubber mallet.

Take plenty of notes. That way you can see what works for you.

It is a constant learning process, and even with doing just Extract, you will see improvements every time that you brew. I am on batch 30 and still always learning something new.