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ifearnothing0

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I have a BrewersBest imperial nut brown , thought we did everything by the book , but we pitched and and days later almost no sign of fermentation , went back to LHBS , got some of the same yeast , repitched and still nothin days later again ... I'm bout to pull it out of the chamber and stir and shake the **** out of the bucket ... Any other ideas ?
 
Did you take a gravity reading at all? If it is in a bucket, how do you know it did nothing? I ferment in buckets and most of the time there is no airlock activity as the lid seal is not air tight? Did you see any signs of previous krausen when you pitched the second batch of yeast?
 
And we tried taking readings but for some reason our hydro is wanting to stick to the walls of our thief ,it's like static
 
spin the hydrometer and/or thief. It'll keep it from sticking to the walls.

I've also found that I must hold my wine thief exactly level, for tipping it to one side causes the hydrometer to stick to the opposite side.
 
We tried spin it it but the pull from the thief is pretty raw .... I kno for final f.g.readings I'm just gonna poor a glass and test out of that
 
If you're using a narrow cylinder, it helps to find a spot on your counter or table or floor thats perfectly level. If that cylinder is on a slight angle, it'll press your hydrometer to the wall of the tube. Or you could just sanitize the hydro and put it in your fermenter if its a problem. If youre using buckets, it could be hard to see exactly where the liquid cuts the hydro, but its worth a shot. Your beer is probably done.
 
I don't think it got going because of the absolute lack of bubbling and when we opens the lid for a peek. The was almost no sign of krausen in the bucket , but had some krausen in our bubble tube .... Do uk yeasts ferment lightly ?/ do they ferment fast ?
 
No bubbling in the airlock could mean that there was an air leak somewhere. Its no big deal. If your beer pushed out co2, it should be safe. When you opened the lid and saw "almost no signs of krausen", was it after 4 days, or the day after pitching? Some yeasts finish quick and drop krausen right away. Its a little weird if you double pitched and got nothing. Is there a way for you to check gravity?
 
Also, if you had krausen in your airlock, that should mean you had a good krausen. Gravity will tell the story.
 
Get a test tube to throw your sample & hydrometer in if you can't level your wine thief. In a pinch, the clear plastic tube some hydrometers come in works great (assuming yours came in one and you still have it) But there you have it, figure out how to get an accurate reading.

Speaking from experience (on the whopping 7 batches I have done so far to date!:ban:) I have had a few where I was convinced I had a stuck fermentation, or no fermentation activity (ninja fermentation!), but SG readings told another story. Its the only sure way to tell.
 
Yea bro , I need to get them readings , but it's kinda to late now ... We just pulled it out of the ferm chamber and stirred it up super good with a paddle , but I don't think I should have done it now , the was a big yeast cake in the bottom that got totally disturbed and whipped back into the beer
 
Just did a brew where I forgot the OG reading, beersmith gave me a projected FG when I put everything in and reached that in a couple weeks with minimal airlock activity. From my understanding the only thing you won't know without the OG is the ABV, but I could be wrong.
 
If youre doing extract, unless you add way too much water, your og should be real close. So even if you don't get a reading, your fg should tell you the beer fermented
 
Its a imperial but brown from brewers best , it's a partial but it recommends to add extra water for more ibu so we always always try to top it off pretty
 
Yea I'm thinking we had fermin action , but we've only done ipa's and imperial pale ales , this was an imperial nut brown with a diff yeast that I've used ... Hoping the yeast jus ferments weakly and quickly compared to the US 05 yeast that have been in all the other kits we've done
 
Do you have an expected original gravity? Even if you didn't TAKE the reading, the expected should be close. So if your gravity now is 1.02 or 1.01, you at least know you fermented. Just get the gravity. Whats the holdup? ;)
 
As everyone else has said, take a gravity reading already! If your thief is "sticky", put your sample into a larger vessel/glass so you can answer your own question.

If it's lower than your expected recipe OG, your yeast worked. Check again in 3 days and if it's the same, you're done (if is low) or you're stuck (if its still high).

Also, check out the numerous posts about how airlock activity does not equal fermentation.
 
And don't worry about the yeast cake you whipped up, it will settle again. Just hope that whatever you stirred it with was properly sanitized and did not introduce anything unwanted. Other then that, STEP AWAY FROM THE BEER, AND REMAIN CALM:mug:

Let the lil buggers do their thing. Whats the worst that can happen? - You make some beer.

Speaking from experience, dont overthink it, and dont panic. "Relax, dont worry, have a homebrew"
 
I second the notion of getting a proper gravity reading. You may want to pick up a dedicated sample tube that's large enough for the hydrometer. In the meantime, taste a sample. Does it taste like beer or is it cloyingly sweet?
 
OK, here are some clues you missed. You had krausen in the airlock. That means you had a fairly fast and vigorous fermentation because otherwise the krausen wouldn't get to the airlock. When you stirred you had a yeast cake. Those little packets of yeast don't hold that much yeast so your yeast must have multiplied. Therefor, your beer fermented out fast and you missed it. It's past the fast part of the ferment and now needs time to complete the cleanup and mature. It's an imperial so it will take some time to mature. Put the lid back on, refill the airlock and step away. Give it another 3 weeks for the yeast to complete the job and hope that you didn't aerate it too much when you stirred it. At the end of 3 weeks, take a gravity sample. Try it again 3 days later and if they are the same you can bottle it. Put it away for another 2 months for it to carbonate and mature and hope you don't have too many fusel alcohols from fermenting it too warm.
 
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