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

[Robogrump]

I'm finally seeing some continuous activity , today is day 10... It supposed to be a black beer but color is brownish (see picture) and I don't have that aggressive foam all over the fermenter. Any other advice?

 

[unionrdr]

It'll get darker as it finishes fermenting. Your temps must be pretty good to keep the ferment slow & steady. That's why you don't see krausen all over the place. One reason, anyway.

 

[professor_oak]

I've always used a starter, put your yeast in a sealable container I use a small glass beaker I got off amazon, mix about 500 ml of water with a couple table spoons of fermentable sugar and your yeast should be thirsty for less than 24 hours later. I'm not a professional or anything but doing things this way I've always seen activity in the fermenter when I check on it about an hour later.View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1455401140.091787.jpg

 

[LoCoBrewing]

Hi guys! This is my first all grain brew, it was harder than I thought but everything seemed to be OK.....until now, its been 72 in the fermenter and I have no bubles, no air leak, and I already poured another pack of dry yeast!!! I'm losing it guys.
Starting tge 12th hour it bubbled for a few hours really good, constant and hard but afert a while I couldn't see any action so I panicked and throw another pack of yeast now on the 72nd hour my fermenter is dead!
Should I rock the fermenter? Even if I have a thin thin layer in the top of the surface? What can I do to get this walking?

Thanks!

Dry yeast should be rehydrated before pitching. I don't know if you did that by what you said. If you didn't I would bet that is exactly why it took so long to start. If you did it could have been an old pack with poor viability.

My brother and I have done over 30 all grain batches, we can't stress enough the effect a starter has on fermentation speed and reliability.

 

[awendt95]

Hey guys,

I started fermenting my Brewers Best English brown ale on February 26th at noon, and I haven't noticed any airlock activity. At 72 hours I took a SG and it was approx: 1.006. The low activity of the airlock is what is prompting me to post this question. There is a very small amount of krausen formation and I am brewing in a 5 gal vessel. This is my first home-brew and I am sure that I followed the directions. Thanks!

Additional Info:
OG: 1.042
SG: 1.006
Temp: 67-69'

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

If you went from 1.042 to 1.006 it has fermented and your airlock leaks somewhere. Lid seal in likely most common culprit. If not using a bucket then your leaking air elsewhere. But at 1.006 is say you done active fermenting. Congrats you made beer. Now give it another week and a half or so to clean up after itself and you should be good for bottle/kegging.

 

[crafyloyal85]

Question I woke up this morning and his is my first batch the airlock is brown/cloudy is that normal? I don't have an extra airlock. Any help would be appreciated

 

[LoCoBrewing]

Question I woke up this morning and his is my first batch the airlock is brown/cloudy is that normal? I don't have an extra airlock. Any help would be appreciated

What does your krausen look like? Is it approaching or past your airlock? What yeast did you use, fermentation temp, more info?

 

[unionrdr]

It sounds like krausen overflowed into the airlock? Clean it, sanitize it & put it back in, filled to the line with sanitizer or the like.

 

[cvbjjk]

On the other hand, contrary to popular belief, it's bad to rocket your fermentation off in 1-2 hours, either. There's a sweet spot that you should aim for in your cell count/pitching rate.

 

[kombat]

On the other hand, contrary to popular belief, it's bad to rocket your fermentation off in 1-2 hours, either.

QFT.

(Is that still a thing? It used to mean, "Quoted for truth" - do kids still use this one?)

Anyway, I agree, I always shake my head when I see people boasting, "I pitched the yeast and it was bubbling within an hour!" No, that's not good! It's probably just offgassing from overaeration, but if it were active fermentation, you've shortcutted the lag phase, which is crucial for flavour development and yeast health.

 

[s0ap]

Hey guys, this is my 3rd AG brew.
Im brewing up a wheat beer. it was bubbling at the start with foam bubbles.
But after 3 days, there is no krausen at all.
I pitched WB06 at 100degrees F and brought down to 70 overnight.
OG is 1.036.

its unusual for me as my previous 2 brews have super thick krausen!

Do i pitch yeast again ?
here's some photos

 

[burninator]

Are you sure you didn't miss it? That looks kind of like dried krausen to me.

 

[Pkrd]

Hey guys, this is my 3rd AG brew.
Im brewing up a wheat beer. it was bubbling at the start with foam bubbles.
But after 3 days, there is no krausen at all.
I pitched WB06 at 100degrees F and brought down to 70 overnight.
OG is 1.036.

100F is way too hot to pitch at. Its likely the ferment took off and its now done. Take a gravity reading and see.

 

[spreemotion]

Hey All-

Hoping someone can give me a sanity check on my starter/pitch process I went through over the weekend. Close to my 30th batch of beer this year, but first with a yeast starter/stir plate. 18 hours before brew day got some VermontIPA yeast in a starter/stir plate, roaring away in no-time. Brew day went well, only could get my wort to 71 due to warm temps in midwest, then put in temp controlled area and got down to 63/64. Pitched the whole entire starter, krausen and all, and now 50 hours later, I have had zero activity, NADA. Yeah a little bubbling from air-lock, but I have never had single batch take this long. Considering I used a starter I must have missed something (I hit all my batches with a stone and oxygen for 60 seconds prior to pitching as well). Only thing I could think if my starter was room temp upstairs 73-74 and pitched into wort 10 degrees cooler. Car boy has a yeast cake on bottom little head activity, if any.

I am on the road for work till tomorrow, then will take a gravity reading, just hoping someone could slap me with a sanity check. That same VermontIPA yeast on a similar batch (no starter) last week and it was roaring in 8 hours.

 

[BassElement]

Hi all - just wanted to go on record that the advice in this long-running thread gave me the strength to resist re-pitching after thinking my first time using liquid yeast was a dud. With dry yeast I’m usually bubbling in 12 hours, this one took about 48 hours (no starter). So right now I’m having a home brew and feeling relieved - thanks to this excellent collective!