Fermentation can take 24 to 72 hrs to show visible signs.

It is all grain, you "mash-in" your own malted barley, as opposed to using liquid extracts. That's really cool that they have the one-gallon scale kit.

 

Here's what I've got after about 80 hours. I couldn't discern a single thing from that if I tried, any help?

 

It looks like you are getting trub in the bottom so it's doing something. What does it smell like?

 

Hmm, can't say as I actually took a wiff of the fermenter. Not to mention the hot wort smell kinda lingered around my apartment during the first couple days. I'm having a hard time describing it too. What should it smell like?

 

I'm brewing a hefe as well. It is very cloudy just like yours is. I think yours will be fine

 

Travis it does look like it did something, perhaps you missed the vigorous fermentation while you were at work. Gravity readings should always be taken before so you can have something to compare it too. There are not enough details to really gauge what went wrong or what didn't to me. I am a newbie too, this is my 3rd brew but I do all-grain and have had problems with the first two batches. If my FG comes out good, this will be my first all around successful batch and here is a pic of the brew fermenting after about one day. Given that I see some stuff on the top it seems to me that your wort bubbled up and then went down, so that says a fermentation took place, at least to my eyes.

 

It should smell like beer. The wort boil smell hints at beer, but it's more like a spicy sweet tea. Pull out the airlock and take a whiff.

 

Thanks for all the input guys, you've put most of my concern to rest. Even had it failed, I'd be right back at round 2, but it sounds like round 1 might actually be drinkable!

JeepBrew,

I wouldn't say it smells like I just opened a bottle of something, but it is definitely "beer-like".

 

Don't sweat it, it's only beer. Have a taste it should rate like flat beer. If it's sweet or has any carbonation it should sit longer. If not, move ahead. Cheers.

 

It's been 13 hours since I closed the lid on my fermenting bucket. This is my fourth batch but I'm surprised to not see any bubbling yet. All of my others bubbled by now.

Although it must be doing something because the airlock is pushed all the way to the top and there is condensation buildup inside the airlock which I'm assuming is due to gas being pushed through.

I'm wondering if my fermenter has a leak somewhere? I'm just going to leave it alone at this point and see what happens. 13 hours is still really early I guess.

 

Did u try using your nose? Lol. Really - sniff around the fermenter for yeasty smells.

 

13 hours is still very early to see any bubbles if you'll have them.
honestly, give it a few more hours and see what happens, another day or 2, and if you're still worried, take a hydro reading and see what you come up with.
Hell, my porter i just made had a krausen ring about 1" tall after 24 hours, but my 1085 pale took about 3 days to get up to that with the same yeast.

 

Well, after a couple more hours I just checked on it and it's bubbling away. I was going to leave it alone anyway but it still feels good to see it working.

I was also worried because right after I stirred the yeast, I snapped the lid on and while fitting the airlock onto the lid, the rubber grommet snapped through and fell into the wort!

So I scrubbed/washed my hand and arm and went fishing around for it. It only took me about 15 seconds to find it but I was worried that I may have disrupted the process.

So at least I'm fermenting. I just hope I didn't skunk the beer with bacteria. It's one of those things where I had no choice but to dig around for that thing. I didn't have a spare lid with a grommet and even if I did, I didn't feel right leaving it in there even though it was thoroughly steralized.

I guess I'll know in a month.

 

I brewed a hefeweizen last week. I pitched the yeast at the perfect temperature, but used the full 11g fr a 2.5 gal batch. I had good activity for the first two days then it stopped. I noticed the temperature dropped in my apartment to around 60degrees. Will this significantly affect the beer or will I just have to wait it out?

 

I'd say you still have some waiting ahead of you but you don't have too much to worry about. I'm not sure what off flavors you will get from over pitching but that would be the only thing that could be "wrong" with your brew from this.

 

There's always a choice.... next time choose to leave it in there. If your bucket doesn't seal perfectly, its no biggie.

 

Am I the only person who saw the grommet and said screw it and went hunting for a bung to fit the hole instead?

 

It was 1:15 am and at that point I did what I thought I had to do. If it's skunked, it will be a first for me and a lesson.

Who knows, it could be fine but either way I really won't know for a while at this point. Oh well, my punishment will be for me to do it all over again.

Darn!

 

Have a similar problem. Recovered yeast from previous batch AND made a starter which bubbled away for 8 hours so I pitched it. A little foam on top after 24 hours, then nothing. No bubbles ever in airlock and even bubbles on top of wort disappeared. If there has been fermentation what should the final gravity be?

 

This is not 100% accurate but a good guestimate of final gravity is 1/4 of the original gravity.

Airlock activity is not an accurate sign of fermentation. If you use a pail I bet your lid just was not on tight enough so the gasses escaped through there. If you have a carboy you might not have pushed your bung or airlock in far enough.

 

I posted this in the Newbie thread but pitched yeast Saturday night, here we are Wednesday afternoon/eve and nothing, nada. I guess I'm going to find some dry yeast to throw in. No sign of fermentation. I guess it could be the lid not on tight but I doubt it. My first time with liquid yeast.

 

Before you repitch I would take a peek inside and see if any krausen is or was there.

 

I also took a hydrometer reading. I think it fermented after all. Here's a pic of the hydrometer Saturday night before pitching yeast. I'd guess at 1072.

Here's a reading Wednesday evening after no visible signs of fermenting. I'd guess at 1024.

 

Take another reading in a week and see where it drops to

 

+1

 

I used a brewers best continental pilsner, pitched on Sunday night. Still no bubbling on Thursday night. Suggestions?

 

Are you using a pail? If so have you checked to see if the lid is on tight?

The airlock is not a good indicator of fermentation.

If you want it is OK to open it up and take a peek inside. I bet you will see krausen or krausen residue, if not then we can help you out.

 

Yes I'm using a pail. I checked the lid and it's on tight. I looked inside and there was no krausen or ring. I decided to wake it up and give it a shake. The airlock is slowly bubbling now.......good or bad?

 

If the bubbling hasn't stopped, then I would say rousing the yeast might have worked. If it stopped the next step would be to draw a sample and take a hydrometer reading, that is the only true way to tell if any fermentation has or is occurring. So check the gravity and get back to us.

Generally you do not want to shake the fermentation vessel because it can lead to oxidization which contributes to off flavors, gently mixing with a spoon is the preffered method. Don't let this get you worried right now beer is resilient and unless you are certain of something like an infection you shold always give your beer a chance to be bottled and conditioned. check out http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/think-you-ruined-your-beer-set-your-fears-aside-74520/ it is a good read to help calm the new brewer.

 

I took a reading and there is no change from the starting gravity of 1.044........

 

Repitch would be your best option here.

 

Any concerns that it has sat so long?

 

As long as sanitation practices have been followed well then I doubt you have much to worry about. That said, the sooner you get some yeast munching away in there the better chance that they will overpower anything that might have snuck in.

I would repitch and hope/assume that all will turn out well before I got worried about an infection though.

But I'm curious as to the root of your problem. What type of yeast did you use? Was it a dry pack, smack pack, or vial? If you happen to still have the package, does the date indicate that it is fresh? When you pitched, how did you do it? I'm just guessing here but you probably used a dry pack and rehydrated per the instructions?

 

I used a dry pack. I didn't rehydrate, batch sheet said either way. I don't have the packet anymore, but I'm making a trip to the local shop now

 

Hmm... if you brewed from a kit there is a chance it was old yeast but no way to know for certain...

I asked about the re-hydrating because I have read of people accidentally killing their yeast by re-hydrating with too warm of water but that obviously wasn't your problem.

For what it is worth, most people on here say re-hydration is unnecessary with dry yeast "pitch dry yeast dry".

After you repitch I would also suggest you read a little on here about "starters". Starters are good for pitching the correct amount of yeast and also useful for determining whether or not the yeast are healthy and viable.

 

Well...this is turning into a Greek tragedy. I wen t and got two smack packs and neither one inflated at all. Turns out they were well expired. So first thing ten am going back for more yeast and hopefully king Midas won't touch this batch.

 

Got a some quality dry lager yeast and it went to work within a couple of hours. Keeping my fingers crossed on this one but won't know for a while

 

hey!
I'm brewing Cooper's Traditional Draught
Fermentation hasn't started after 72 hours. room temp is 22-24 C.
Starting gravity was 1.0918(isn't that super high), ~12hours ago was 1.0436. Both readings include temp adjustments. There is no activity in airlock. What are my options here?

 

Well I'm glad to hear you got it started. What temps are you at?

 

1.0918 sounds high but what did the recipe say it should be? If your gravity has dropped from 1.091 to 1.043 that means fermentation has/is happening. So your options are to wait and let your beer finish. This is why we say an airlock is not an indicator of fermentation.