Dry Yeast - No Activity

[jakerivera]

English Brown Ale (Brewers Best)

My brew buddy and I placed our finished 2.5G of wort in the fermenter, then put in the dry yeast, then added the remaining water to bring us up to 5G and then stirred vigorously to incorporate the yeast.

After 36 hours we have very little fermentation activity. I know we added the yeast out of sequence. Our temps were good. Perhaps the antiseptic nature of the hops in the concentrated wort (...that's what I get for reading too much) killed the yeast.

Thoughts anyone?

 

[nebben]

A little foam is better than just straight wort with no foam.

Also, if you didn't take a reading before, I would recommend taking a gravity reading now. Fermentation is probably started.

 

[meddin]

...Our temps were good...

So the wort was chilled before adding the yeast & top-off water, correct?

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

So the wort was chilled before adding the yeast & top-off water, correct?

meddin, this is a complete thread hijack but is the dog in the pic yours? Looks like an american buldog ( I have two)

 

[TimBrewz]

But you do have some activity, right? You should be fine. You might have shocked the yeast, but if there are survivors (and it sounds like there are) they will multiply and ferment the wort. If you get no change in activity in the next day, pitch more yeast-rehydrated this time.

 

[jakerivera]

Yes; we recorded our OG (1.040). We chilled the wort down to 70 degrees.

I popped the lid and we do have a little activity but nothing like we've had in our previous batches. In the past fermentation took off like a rocket and finished having bubbles in the airlock in three to four days.

I haven't seen a single large bubble, but I see small carbonation bubbles in the airlock. The wort has a very thin head on it (3/8"). Smells good

 

[jakerivera]

Brewed on Friday night. After 72 hours with little activity at the airlock I pitched another packet of dry yeast tonight. Rookie mistake.

After I pitched the second pack of dry yeast, I took a hydrometer reading: 1.010.

Formula for ABV%: (OG - FG) x 131.25 = just about 4%. Yeah, ...guess I didn't need to add the second pack of dry yeast.

Best I can guess is maybe my bucket lid wasn't sealed tight and the gas was getting out somewhere other then the airlock.

Hopefully, other newbies can learn from my mistake. I should have taken the hydrometer reading first. Hope the added yeast won't hurt. I'll transfer to a secondary in another day or two.