Help! Ginger Ale Fermenting slow?

[BrewBoy19]

I am new to home brewing. This is my second attempt and it seems that the fermentation is going slow. I am on day two and the air lock does bubble but it seems slow. The recipe said it would bubble like crazy. I think the yeast i rehydrated may have been added to water that was too cold possible. Should I just wait it out or add another batch of yeast at proper temp? Will it start to ferment more and faster as the yeast reproduces? Or could the gases being let off be from something else? The fermenter is stored in a spare room in the house and the house is set at 69 degrees f. also for more info the recipe was basically this :

8lbs sugar
5 gallons water
7 lemons
3 limes
7 -8 oz ginger

and I used champagne yeast ( 1 pkg)

 

[avidhomebrewer]

Welcome to HBT. Disregard how active the airlock is; that is no accurate way to measure fermentation. Give it some time to really start going.

 

[BrewBoy19]

Will do. Thanks.

 

[japhroaig]

i'm more concerned about your recipe--are you trying to make Ginger ale as a soda pop, or an alcholic ginger flavored beverage?

 

[VTBrewer]

He is fermenting sugars with yeast to make an alcoholic beverage.

 

[japhroaig]

i like to make ginger ale all the time, so the reasons i ask are twofold:

* if it is for soda type ginger ale, i never use primary fermentation, just fermenting in bottles. thus no air locks, just plastic bottles (to avoid bottle bombs)
* if it is for a dry fermented ginger ale, it sounds like you didn't invert your sugar? (boiling the sugar with a weak acid--you mention adding to water to cold, that would infer no boiling)

 

[VTBrewer]

I think he meant he rehydrated the yeast in cold water, which would def make fermentation slower to take off.

I assumed alcohol based on the amount of sugar to water.

I'd just wait.

 

[BrewBoy19]

To try to respond to all at once :

I boiled 2 gallons of water. Added the sugar and ginger Turn off heat and added lemon and lime juice and rind. Let cool to about 75 degrees F. I put the yeast in cold water but not sure of exact temp. and pitched into the mixture. Been fermenting for 2 days. Yes it is for Alcoholic Ginger Ale. I am aware of the bottle bombing that can occur but correct me if I am wrong but if I ferment for 2-4 weeks and then bottle for 1-2 weeks and refridgerate; wouldn't that halt any further fermentation? Also I used Champagne yeast. Not too sure about that one, but its what I had available.

 

[BrewBoy19]

Forgot to mention I added 3 gallons of room temp water to the mixture in the fermenter. Thus 5 gallons total.

 

[japhroaig]

For what it's worth I have a mead that was bubbling (or lack there of) just like you said. Upped the room temp by 2F from 65F to 67F and the bubbling quadrupled. Also, for what it's worth, the slower the ferment the cleaner and less yeasty it will taste. I'd raise the temp by 1F and see what it does, and repeat. But keep it cool, patience will make it taste better.

Sorry if I sounded a bit perplexed, just wanted to make sure exactly what you were doing

 

[BrewBoy19]

Thanks. Was just curious. My first brew was a dark stout and it seemed to bubble way more on just the first day. Its only my second attempt at anything so I'm nervous about ruining it.

 

[VTBrewer]

Don't let the bubbles lead or mislead you. Because either way its still misleading.

Hydrometer.

 

[japhroaig]

white sugar, unless it really has been inverted can ferment waaay slower. sugar has a lack of nitrogen, B vitamins, and other essentials for yeast. doesn't mean it won't ferment, just much slower.

 

[BrewBoy19]

This may sound stupid but can you explain the inverting process like give me an example? I boiled the sugar and ginger in the water for 20 minutes and added the lemon and lime juice. My first brew was a kit so it was a little easier than someones recipe off of a web site lol.

 

[japhroaig]

that isn't stupid, cause that sounds like it should have inverted just fine. inverting basically means breaking white sugar into sugar yeast can ferment/eat by boiling sugar with acid. (specifically glucose and fructose)

you probably have a temperature issue, but don't raise it by more than 1F a day. cold is better. use a hydrometer, get it to where you want the sugar to be, and process as the recipe says.

but if there is anything to worry about, it's fermenting too fast. too slow is better.

 

[BrewBoy19]

follow up question. Is it safe to take the lid off the brew bucket to get a gravity reading? Whats the best safest way to get some of the brew out to measure it, without contaminating it?

 

[dvdanny]

yea you can do that, just make sure you sanitize anything that touches the wort/beer, but honestly just let it go for a week or two before checking it. This should ferment almost completely dry (close to 1.000 sg), I made something similar last year with 50/50 honey and DME and it got all the way down to 1.003 using US-05, although I used less juice and more lemon zest. Dry, crisp, lightly sour and the right amount of spicyness, the ladies loved it.

 

[BrewBoy19]

Cool. Thanks for the advice.

 

[BrewBoy19]

So its been a week i checked the hydrometer and it says 1.070. Obviously fermenting slow, or possible not at all? Should I re pitch a new yeast? suggestions please.....

 

[VTBrewer]

What were your other readings? 8 lbs of sugar in 5 gallons of water would not produce an OG that high.

Could it be 1.007?

 

[BrewBoy19]

no. I checked it a few times. it reads 1.070. another person on a different thread told me his recipe similar to mine read 1.072. the only other thing in it is lime and lemon juice.

 

[BrewBoy19]

here is what i was told by another member.

Of the items you noted, only the sugar is fermentable. 1 lb of cane sugar has 45 gravity points, so 8 lbs = 360 points. You made 5 gallons, so divide by 5 = 72. Therefore your starting gravity will be around 1.072.