Fermentation possibly not happening

[ScroatesMcGoats]

I know the first response, which will be "take a hydrometer reading," but I am trying to avoid taking the lid off the bucket.

I am brewing an extract session pale ale, and nothing seems to be happening. Brewed on Thursday afternoon, on Friday I could see the starsan rising in the airlock, but never bubbled. It is now Sunday and the airlock levels are even. I came up with this recipe from scratch, so not sure if I chose poorly on the yeast/ale combo, or what happened.

Here is the recipe I went with:

CHEA.P.A

.66lbs carapils
.5lbs Rahr 2-row
.5lbs Rahr Pale Ale

5lbs Golden Light DME

1oz cascade - 60 min
1oz cascade + 1oz crystal - 20 min
1oz cascade - 5 min

Safale US-05 Dry Ale Yeast

OG 1.040

Thoughts?

 

[AkTom]

I'll jump in. The worts fine. Jest jest.
Wait till Thursday and use your hydrometer. Just for giggles, wait another week, check, if your reading is the same, bottle. I'm sure it's good. Opening up the lid once before bottling won't hurt.
Brew on.

 

[ericbw]

1) if you have sugar and live yeast, you'll get fermentation. The recipe is fine.

2) US-05 can take some time to really get going.

3) If the lid leaks at all the airlock won't bubble as it should. Not a problem.

4) 1.040 is pretty low. If this is 5 gallons you should be over 1.050 with that.

Let it ride for 2 weeks. Great name for it!

 

[ncbrewer]

You can see if there is or has been kraeusen by darkening the room - put a flashlight on the lid facing down. The kraeusen or the remaining ring will show up through the side of the bucket. If it's a really dark/dense kraeusen, it might look solid - in that case you would have to know the original liquid level to see if there is a difference now.

 

[ScroatesMcGoats]

I tried the flashlight trick. There is definitely a thin crust of kraeusen around the edge, but easily the smallest I have seen. Then again, the lowest OG I have ever worked with before was 1.055.

I will test the gravity again soon and see how we look.

As for the name, I just came off making a juice bomb APA that was about $80 in supplies for a 5 gallon batch. I wanted to see how cheap I could make a tasty session pale, so I used the cheapest of grains, hops, and yeast to see what I could end up with. Hence CHEA.P.A.

 

[ScroatesMcGoats]

Checked the gravity this Thursday and it was down to 1.009, so obviously had fermentation. I'll give it another week for 2 total and bottle. Never seen such a minimal krauesen crust...but this is easily the lowest abv beer I have made.