Slow take off? Possible problem with brew

[SchillingBrewing]

So I started a extract brew about a week ago (Coopers Irish Stout) and I prepared it exactly as the instructions specified. I have even kept it at a steady 24 degrees Celsius however I haven't noticed the airlock bubbling at all and I check it often. The yeast looks like it may have made a layer across the bottom already. I may try to run a hydrometer test on it to see if it has created any alcohol. Does anyone have any suggestions at this point? Or is there anything I can do to save my brew if it hasn't done anything? And is this a common thing or could I have made a mistake somewhere? I'm really not sure what to do as this is the first time this has happened to one of my brews.

Thanks in advance for any help offered.

 

[Revvy]

Airlock bubbling or lack of bubbling, or anything with an airlock is NOT an accurate indicator of what the yeast are doing. The ONLY accurate way is to "run a hydrometer test" as you say.

 

[unionrdr]

24C is a bit high temp-wise. 21.1 (70F) would've been better. Was it 24C when you pitched,or was the temp higher at that point? Did you pitch dry or rehydrated?

 

[SchillingBrewing]

Perfect. I hope it has done well as I would hate to have wasted 23 L of beer. If the test hasn't really done much is there a good way to get it going again. I have some yeast nutrient and yeast energizer that I use in my mead making. Could I add those now or would that really do anything? I haven't seen too many recipes for beer that call for a yeast nutrient or energizer.

 

[unionrdr]

Test it & see if it has fermented any. Did it have any krausen at all? You can gently swirl the fermenter to stir up some yeast,& let it warm a couple degrees if it had cooled down any from the 24C temp. That could get it going again if it has indeed stalled.

 

[SchillingBrewing]

24C is a bit high temp-wise. 21.1 (70F) would've been better. Was it 24C when you pitched,or was the temp higher at that point? Did you pitch dry or rehydrated?

I pitched the yeast when the wort was around 26C and it was dry. I just followed the instruction set that came with this DIY kit. Also the instructions say for this yeast to keep the temperature between 21C and 27C ideally but it will still actively ferment between 18C and 32C. So I usually keep it right around the middle at 24C.

 

[SchillingBrewing]

Test it & see if it has fermented any. Did it have any krausen at all? You can gently swirl the fermenter to stir up some yeast,& let it warm a couple degrees if it had cooled down any from the 24C temp. That could get it going again if it has indeed stalled.

I will definitely test it as soon as I'm able. There may be a slight krausen ring around the top but that may also be because of the foam on the wort before I cast the yeast.

 

[unionrdr]

Well,if it's been hanging on all week,then it's def fermenting,albeit slowly. My pm pale ale batch did that 2 weeks ago this Saturday. It's fermenting slow but sure. so check yours,I think you have a similar situation.

 

[SchillingBrewing]

Thanks for your help thus far. I'll test it, post the results, and ask for more help if I need any.

 

[JordanThomas]

Airlock bubbling or lack of bubbling, or anything with an airlock is NOT an accurate indicator of what the yeast are doing. The ONLY accurate way is to "run a hydrometer test" as you say.

Haha, Revvy, do you have this copy/pasted somewhere on your computer? I've only been here since this year and I swear I've seen you respond to the same question 100+ times.

OP: Do you have a hydrometer? Did you take a reading before you pitched your yeast? If so, take one now and let us know the results.

 

[SchillingBrewing]

The OG was 1040 and the reading I just took was at 1022. It looks like it is going but it us just slow going. The ABV right now is around 2.3% - 2.9%. Should I leave it for longer? I thought stouts should have a much higher ABV.

 

[lcooper72]

O

 

[lcooper72]

Also, unless its an imperial a stout can be pretty low ABV. What did the kit say? How many lbs extract did you use?

 

[SchillingBrewing]

The extract can held 3.75 lbs and I used 500 g Light dry malt and 340 g dextrose.

 

[unionrdr]

OG should've been a tad higher than 1.040. like maybe 1.044 or so. Maybe wort & top off water didn't get mixed enough. But I'd expect it to get down to 1.008-1.010 for an FG myself.

 

[Shooter]

Check it in a couple of days and see if it has moved down, could just be going slow.

 

[unionrdr]

I really think that's it. chuggin along kinda slow. But chuggin. Hell,my pm batch is doing the same thing. finally got it a lil warmer in here,& the airlock center piece is ridin up higher than it has so far. A nice thing to see at this point. At least I know there's a blanket of co2 in there.
So hang in there op. It'll ge there.

 

[Shooter]

Yeah, as long as it continues to go down, I probably would just leave it alone.

 

[SchillingBrewing]

Sounds good. Thanks for your help. I will check it in a few days and I'll post results.

 

[BxBrewer]

Question, what kind of yeast did ou use ?

 

[SchillingBrewing]

It was the yeast sachet that came with the Coopers extract can. It just says Coopers yeast. Was about 7g of dry yeast.

 

[unionrdr]

Yep,Cooper's ale yeast. Pitched dry,it can take a while to visibly ferment. Rehydrated,it starts a lil faster. At high 60's temps,I've had rehydrated Cooper's ale yeast need a blow off from the start. It can be a real beast. But when cooler temps are had at the beginning,it can be slow getting going.

 

[Shooter]

Ah, didn't pay attention, this is a Coopers kit. When I use them, I tend to swap out for a different yeast. The included 7g satchet isn't a massive pitch, but should get the job done.

 

[unionrdr]

When I do use Cooper's yeast,I go to midwest for the larger,fresher 15g Cooper's ale yeast packet. NB has the 15g packets too. Rehydrate it,& you better have a blow off rigged. It ferments well,is very forgiving,& is high flocculation.

 

[SchillingBrewing]

Not to sound like a complete noob but what is blow off?

 

[Shooter]

blow off
1. Lit. [for something] to be carried off something by moving air. The leaves of the trees blew off in the strong wind. My papers blew off the table.
2. Lit. [for a valve or pressure-maintaining device] to be forced off or away by high pressure. (See the examples.) The safety valve blew off and all the pressure escaped. The valve blew off, making a loud pop.
3. Fig. [for someone] to become angry; to lose one's temper; to blow off (some) steam. I just needed to blow off. Sorry for the outburst. I blew off at her.
4. Sl. to goof off; to waste time; to procrastinate. You blow off too much. All your best time is gone—blown off.
5. Sl. a time-waster; a goof-off. (Usually blow-off.) Fred is such a blow-off! Get busy. I don't pay blow-offs around here.
6. Sl. something that can be done easily or without much effort. (Usually blow-off.) Oh, that is just a blow-off. Nothing to it. The test was easy—a blow-off.
7. and blow someone or something off Sl. to ignore someone or something; to skip an appointment with someone; to not attend something where one is expected. He decided to sleep in and blow this class off. It wasn't right for you to just blow off an old friend the way you did.
8. and blow someone off Sl. to ignore someone in order to end a romantic or other relationship. She knew that he had blown her off when he didn't even call her for a month. Steve blew off Rachel before he started seeing Jane.
9. Sl the final insult; an event that causes a dispute. (Usually blow-off.) The blow-off was a call from some girl named Lulu who asked for Snookums. When the blow-off happened, nobody was expecting anything.
10. Sl. a dispute; an argument. (Usually blow-off.) After a blow-off like that, we all need a break. There was a big blow-off in the office today.

Wait, it's not there!!

In brewing, it means when the fermentation gets so active the krausen/foam, begins blowing out the top of the airlock or carboy and potentially leads to a mess. Most people rig a large blow-off tube in place of an airlock to deal with the problem.

 

[SchillingBrewing]

Haha. Nice lineup of definitions there. But thank you. I'd heard the term before but couldn't quite remember where I'd heard it.