small_apt
Member
I brewed my first batch this Sunday, and while everything on the brew day went well, it has now been 24 hours and I have no activity in my carboy / airlock. I'd greatly appreciate suggestions you might have. I live in a small apartment, but wanted to brew all grain, so I've scaled down the typical 5 gallon batch by half, using a 3 gallon drink cooler with a false bottom I ground down to fit the smaller size as a mash and lauter tun. Here is a little detail on the recipe and brew day:
Recipe: Lady Liberty American Pale Ale (from Palmer)
Recipe Volume: 2.5 gallons
Pre-Boil Volume: 3.5 gallons
OG: 1.047
Grain Bill:
3.5 lbs pale malt, .25 lbs. crystal 60L, .25. lbs amber, .25 lbs. Munich.
Mash / Lauter:
Single infusion mash @ 155 degrees, with a two-step sparge. First sparge at 60 minutes, the second 15 minutes later. All volume and temperature calculations were from Palmer's How to Brew. I hit 155.8 for the first infusion, stirred every 15 minutes to redistribute mash, and the final temp. before the first sparge was 151.8. I hit 155.1 for the second infusion / sparge. This yielded a little over 3 and a half gallons of wort.
Boil:
.25 oz Northern Brewer for 60 min, .25 oz. Cascade for 30 min and .5 oz Cascade for 10 min.
I used an ice bath to cool the wort to 69 degrees, which took 35 minutes. I stirred, being careful not to let any water drip in. The spoon was sanitized from the boil. I whirlpooled, let wort settle 10 min, and transferred wort to sanitized carboy, getting a shade over 2.5 gallons. Aerated wort, sanitizing anything that touched it. I pitched half a pack of Wyeast 1056 (I smacked the nutrient pack 2 hours prior). Once pitched, I re-aerated wort, put in sanitized airlock.
I live in a small apartment with no A/C, and I knew the summer would be rough on fermentation, so I build a modified Son of Fermentation chiller. It can maintain 69.5 in an ambient temp of about 90. I placed the wort in, however unbeknown to me an hour later a pre-set energy star program turned the fan off. The wort spent the night at 73.5 degrees, 1.5 degrees above the optimal range. I noticed this in the morning, put in new ice and brought the temp down to 69.5, where it has stayed. Its now been a little over 24 hours and I have no activity.
Possibilities I've considered:
- Infection. Possible, but I cleaned and sanitized meticulously.
- Fermentation too hot. Also possible, but I would have expected a flurry of activity with a quick drop off. Instead, I've seen no activity. Also, the temp wasn't excessively above the optimal range.
- Bad yeast / poor yeast preparation. Two hours after breaking the nutrient pack, the yeast packet had inflated, indicating activity. The pitching temp of the yeast was a little warm, at 75 degrees. I pitched half a pack, which should have been a sufficient pitching rate for a 2.5 gallon batch of a medium / low gravity ale.
I hoped to have a nice thick kreusen at this point...or even some activity, however I've got nothing. Any ideas?
Should I re-pitch?
Thanks!
Recipe: Lady Liberty American Pale Ale (from Palmer)
Recipe Volume: 2.5 gallons
Pre-Boil Volume: 3.5 gallons
OG: 1.047
Grain Bill:
3.5 lbs pale malt, .25 lbs. crystal 60L, .25. lbs amber, .25 lbs. Munich.
Mash / Lauter:
Single infusion mash @ 155 degrees, with a two-step sparge. First sparge at 60 minutes, the second 15 minutes later. All volume and temperature calculations were from Palmer's How to Brew. I hit 155.8 for the first infusion, stirred every 15 minutes to redistribute mash, and the final temp. before the first sparge was 151.8. I hit 155.1 for the second infusion / sparge. This yielded a little over 3 and a half gallons of wort.
Boil:
.25 oz Northern Brewer for 60 min, .25 oz. Cascade for 30 min and .5 oz Cascade for 10 min.
I used an ice bath to cool the wort to 69 degrees, which took 35 minutes. I stirred, being careful not to let any water drip in. The spoon was sanitized from the boil. I whirlpooled, let wort settle 10 min, and transferred wort to sanitized carboy, getting a shade over 2.5 gallons. Aerated wort, sanitizing anything that touched it. I pitched half a pack of Wyeast 1056 (I smacked the nutrient pack 2 hours prior). Once pitched, I re-aerated wort, put in sanitized airlock.
I live in a small apartment with no A/C, and I knew the summer would be rough on fermentation, so I build a modified Son of Fermentation chiller. It can maintain 69.5 in an ambient temp of about 90. I placed the wort in, however unbeknown to me an hour later a pre-set energy star program turned the fan off. The wort spent the night at 73.5 degrees, 1.5 degrees above the optimal range. I noticed this in the morning, put in new ice and brought the temp down to 69.5, where it has stayed. Its now been a little over 24 hours and I have no activity.
Possibilities I've considered:
- Infection. Possible, but I cleaned and sanitized meticulously.
- Fermentation too hot. Also possible, but I would have expected a flurry of activity with a quick drop off. Instead, I've seen no activity. Also, the temp wasn't excessively above the optimal range.
- Bad yeast / poor yeast preparation. Two hours after breaking the nutrient pack, the yeast packet had inflated, indicating activity. The pitching temp of the yeast was a little warm, at 75 degrees. I pitched half a pack, which should have been a sufficient pitching rate for a 2.5 gallon batch of a medium / low gravity ale.
I hoped to have a nice thick kreusen at this point...or even some activity, however I've got nothing. Any ideas?
Thanks!