Had to dump my first batch. Sad.

[Gtrman13]

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. I had to dump my first batch this evening. I brewed a brown ale several days ago, and right from the start this one fought me. Not wanting to boil, boiling and foaming over onto the stove, not boiling again, etc etc. I pitched my yeast and after 48 hours, there were no signs of fermentation. I peeked inside the fermenter and no signs of life, so I decided I needed to repitch. I had no extra yeast or time to go to the LHBS, so I transferred another batch into secondary and tossed the yeast cake from that batch into the fermenter. It's been 3 days since I pitched the used yeast and there are still no bubbles from the airlock. I take another peak inside and there is nothing going on but a nasty infection. Waaah! I can't figure out why this batch didn't want to ferment, but it's quite frustrating. Anyway, down the toilet it goes. A sad day indeed.

 

[LakewoodBrew]

Bummer. I has to dump two batches due to a bad piece of equipment. Both were 11 gallon batches...

 

[MRbutlertron]

Did you use your hydrometer?

 

[viking73]

Sad day. I've got 2 batches that are almost a year old and are not getting any better. Gotta dump those this weekend.

 

[CTownBrewer]

Your airlock may not bubble at all & your fermentation could have still been absolutely fine.

Did you take a hydrometer reading to see if your reading changed? That's the only way you'll know for sure what's going on inside your fermentor.

 

[Pivzavod]

When I use my Cooper fermentors I almost never get any bubbles from the airlock because its not 100% seal on the lid. Krausen and gravity are a better indicator if there is fermentation activity.

 

[unionrdr]

I get some bubbles from my cooper's micro brew fermenter,but not much. Then,on the last batch,I saw why. The flat surface above where the threads start for the lid isn't level. If it's off enough,the brew will leak CO2 or wort from under the seal in the area where it's a little too out of level.
I was thinking of using some ultra fine sandpaper on my finishing sander to see if I can fix it. It'd leave a satin sort of finish,which should be easy to keep clean. It's a horizontal surface at the very top of the FV,after all. I did remove some molding flash from this area as well. It seems that they are injection molded on there side,leaving flash on the seal rail.

 

[Gtrman13]

Yup, took hydrometer readings. No change. No krausen ever formed either.

 

[Krrazy]

I'm sorry to hear that! Do you think it may have been sitting in a location that was a bit too cold for the yeast to get started?

 

[carnevoodoo]

Did you use your hydrometer?

This won't tell you if you have an infection or not. A lot of wild yeast type infections will drop the gravity on you. So using that to see if you are fermenting could lead you down an incorrect path.

 

[MRbutlertron]

This won't tell you if you have an infection or not. A lot of wild yeast type infections will drop the gravity on you. So using that to see if you are fermenting could lead you down an incorrect path.

Never knew that thanks, I got the impression from the OP that it was dumped because of a lack of airlock activity so I just thought I would offer my .02

Sorry about your batch, better luck next time!

 

[Teromous]

I bet it would have turned out to be some crazy good saison/farmhouse/lambic ale concoction if you left it alone