First Time Extract Brewing No Airlock Activity after Two Weeks and re-pitching Yeast

[alagenchev]

I brewed for the first time two weeks ago using an English Bitter extract from Northern brewer and the windsor dry yeast. I aerated using a colander by draining using my autosiphon into the colander from the brew kettle and into the fermentation bucket. I pitched at 95 degrees the first time because I didn't read the directions from northern brewer all the way. They were saying to bring the wort temperature down to 95 degrees. I didn't realize that they were saying that because following the extract kit one was supposed to add 2.5 more gallons of cold water. I didn't bother reading until the end because I boiled full 5 gallons since I didn't want to mess with the ice bucket(I have a wort chiller).
After pitching at 95 degrees, I realized my mistake and put the bucket in ice water, brought everything down to 70 degrees and left the bucket in my garage. However, it got really cold here and the temp dropped to 59 degrees, so in a few days I brought the bucket to my living room and it's been nicely at 64 degrees. A week later no activity in the airlock, so I went to the LHBS and bought another packet of danstar windsor, rehydrated by following the instructions on the back, just like I did the first time and repitched. One more week later still nothing. I took the bucket and shook it vigorously yesterday in desparation and still no activity today. I didn't aerate by shaking the first time because my bucket leaks from the sides and the airlock holes when I try to aerate by shaking.
I peeked through the airlock hole and I don't see any krausen on top. Is there anything I can do to salvage this thing, or should I dump it down the drain? Needless to say, I had a very bad first experience homebrewing.

Edit: I never checked gravity because I was using an extract kit and was thinking "what could possibly go wrong"

 

[RM-MN]

Check your gravity now. Windsor can ferment pretty fast and you may have missed it. The krausen would have fallen back into the beer so it wouldn't be visible.

 

[LLBeanJ]

I took the bucket and shook it vigorously yesterday in desparation and still no activity today.

This ^^^ is not going to be good for your beer, assuming RM-MN is correct, and I'd be willing to bet he is, as it is the same advice I would have given you.

UPDATE: My concern was that you oxygenated your beer. Upon further reflection, you'll probably be okay, assuming your bucket's headspace was full of CO2 and not oxygen.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

taste it, is it beer?

 

[alagenchev]

Holy cow, I might have beer!!!
My gravity is 1.01. The thing tastes like beer - flat as crap, but still beer. I wonder how much better it would have been had I done everything right.

 

[alagenchev]

This ^^^ is not going to be good for your beer, assuming RM-MN is correct, and I'd be willing to bet he is, as it is the same advice I would have given you.

UPDATE: My concern was that you oxygenated your beer. Upon further reflection, you'll probably be okay, assuming your bucket's headspace was full of CO2 and not oxygen.

I took the airlock off to peak inside before shaking.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

congratz on making beer!!

 

[alagenchev]

Is it bad that my final gravity is lower than what the recipe says? 1.01 vs 1.035?

 

[LLBeanJ]

Is it bad that my final gravity is lower than what the recipe says? 1.01 vs 1.035?

1.010 FG sounds about right. Isn't 1.035 the OG?

 

[kh54s10]

No, The 1.035 doesn't sound right to me. That would be the gravity to expect from a really big beer, like a barleywine.

Your beer went off fast and furious by starting so hot. That might also make the FG a little lower but 1.010 sounds totally normal. You should have better results by controlling the fermentation temperatures. Mid sixties is good for most ale yeasts.

 

[LLBeanJ]

I took the airlock off to peak inside before shaking.

I think it'll be okay.

 

[dkeller12]

If 1.035 was the expected FG, what was the expected OG? That seems high as an FG.

 

[alagenchev]

If 1.035 was the expected FG, what was the expected OG? That seems high as an FG.

Hmm, yeah you are right 1.035 is the OG. They don't list FG. I'll get to bottling and check it out in a few weeks. I wish there was a way to treat you all to one of these

 

[RM-MN]

Holy cow, I might have beer!!!
My gravity is 1.01. The thing tastes like beer - flat as crap, but still beer. I wonder how much better it would have been had I done everything right.

The only way to find out how much better it could have been if you did everything right is to brew it again. Enjoy this batch and savor it because the next one won't be the same.

 

[alagenchev]

I just wanted to post back that the brew turned out awesome. I liked it, my wife liked it and some friends did :rockin:

I had some co-workers say that it's very mild and not hoppy, but hey this is british bitter; not an american IPA.