first extract kit

[GrillaRays]

My first go at home brewing, and on January 5th I started with the Black Dog Ale kit. The kit instructions said to boil more water if you have a large enough kettle, so I boiled the whole 5+ gallons. I pitched the Muntons dry yeast into well aerated 65 degree wort.
The first 12-36 hours I could see fermentation activity but then the bubbles abruptly and completely stopped. I was told to wait a week and then take a reading. My starting gravity on the 5th was 1.052 even though the recipe expected a range of 1.042-1.046. Today a week later the gravity reads 1.024, but the recipe kit says the final gravity should be 1.010-1.012. Honestly, I'm so new to this, I don't know how to interpret these readings. Here's a photo. The inside doesn't seem to show much formation of krausen. Does this mean I need to add a second package of yeast?

 

[3PegBrew]

What temp has the fermenter been sitting at? If you are 65-68 you're ok there.

try to do a swirl with your bucket. Nothing major, just enough to get some yeast in suspension a bit.

Let it sit another week. Then check again.

 

[DWavs]

You had krausen...notice the ring about an inch above the wort level?

Wait 3-4 weeks in your primary. Patience my friend.....

ETA: You are looking at a bottling date of about the first weekend in February.

 

[GrillaRays]

The fermenter stays in a dark closet holding steady at 64 degrees.

 

[3PegBrew]

The fermenter stays in a dark closet holding steady at 64 degrees.

Is there any way to bump up your temp? You're doing an ale...I would assume your yeast wants it up around 68

 

[squirrelly]

1.020 is still pretty high for a finial gravity. It sounds like you are fermenting pretty warm, so if all was well with the yeast you should still have active yeast in suspension. Remember no bubbles in the air lock does not mean no active fermentation. There is still a lot going on in there you will never see. I bet if you give it a week you will be at 1.010. Only time will tell.

 

[acuenca]

My first batch ( extract) finished at 1.020 after 2 weeks and never budged even after a.month... Fermented warm too... Personally I have attributed thus to either old extract or the regular muntons that sometimes comes with kits... I ve moved on from both to ag and either liquid or danstar vs safale series.... No issues...could be isolated event but lots ofpeople on here have had issues with both of those things.

 

[squirrelly]

Huh, that's good to know. I never had stuck a fermentation as an extract brewer, but my extract was a week old at the most straight from the fresh barrels at more beer and the yeast was always in good health. We started doing 2L starters after our 3rd batch.

Would older extract lead to low attenuation? I've heard of an unpleasant raisin flavor coming off of old extract, but does the sugar content diminish the older extract gets?

 

[acuenca]

I can't remember the term for it but yes I believe the maltose becomes less fermentable... There are some threads on the 1.020 curse and chalked the high grav up to that and the off flavors due to the high ferm and the muntons... Prolly a combo of all of that....