First brew - worried about fermentation

[thei3yron]

Started brewing my first IPA the other night. Using Fermentis Safale US-05 dry yeast. Pitched the yeast about 50 hours before any bubbles appeared in my blowoff. A good amount of bubbles are starting to pump through the blowoff now but i'm not getting an Krausen. It's been about 65 hours now and I'm concerned that my yeast is not activating correctly. I rehydrated it and let sit for about 20 minutes before pitching. It's sitting in a dark shower at about 68-69 degrees.

I am also concerned that because the 5 gal bucket i'm using has a considerable amount of headroom that whatever krausen is in there may not be able to reach to blowoff tube. Should I lower the tube further into the bucket? Right now its about a centimeter inside about 4 inches above the beer.

If and when krausen appears, do I just replace the blowoff with the airlock after the krausen has stopped?

Should I consider the delay in krausen appearing a big issue?

Thanks

 

[kh54s10]

The amount of krausen doesn't really mean anything. The blow off tube is only there to keep from making a mess. It gives excess krausen a place to go.

It sounds like everything is fine. Wait 3 weeks then take gravity readings over 3 days. If the number is stable that is your final gravity and you can then bottle your beer.

If you don't have a hydrometer you have a couple of weeks to get one. It is one of the indispensable tools for homebrewing.

 

[jonmohno]

Leave the blowoff on for a while until it starts to fall then you can put your airlock on, but you can just leave your blowoff tube on.
You dont need the krausen to be blowing off. if it reaches it reaches and blows off otherwise an airlock would have been ok.
Krausen is the foam on top and you will know when its finishing when it drops.By no means is it ready to bottle after that, you want to give it a week or two more at least. I do three usually with a solid 1.05-6 ish and below gravity.