New brewer with questions

[tskmgr]

Howdy folks, new brewer here.

Fired up my first 5gal batch on saturday, didnt have any problems really, other than it taking much longer to cool the wort than i expected. I used dry packaged yeast, and it called to suspend it in 4oz of h20 before adding it to the wort when it reached 70*.

Well i figured it would only take about 20-30 minutes to cool the wort, so 10 minutes after i transfered my wort to the primary fermenter i prep'd the yeast. well it took about 45-60 minutes to cool down to 80*. at this point i didnt know if the yeast would be okay or not so i decided to put it in and take a hydrometer reading. i got a specific gravity of about 1.28.

i checked it after 24 hours, and saw no activity in the airlock. Now its been past 48 hours and i still havent seen any activity in the airlock, so i decided to take another reading w/ the hydrometer.

The wort definately smells like somethings going on, and the spec. grav. is now a little over 1.4.

I've read around the stickies a and faqs a bit and im guessing i either have a problem w/the seal on the fermenter, or the airlock, but is there anything else i may be missing?

 

[nilo]

Can you double check you notes on the starting gravity you got.
1.28 is not a valid reading. You could get 1.028 but that is too low, usually. Your gravity now should be lower than your OG, not higher.
Did you aerate your wort before picthing the yeast, shaking the fermenter or with an airpump or oxygen bottle? That can make a huge difference to get the fermentation started.

 

[tskmgr]

i didnt write it in my notes and the recipe paper i wrote it on got pitched. i just remember it reading around 3% so i looked over at the gravity and saw it was around 1.3 ( a little lower).

. didnt aerate, i pretty much stuck straight to the instructions. wish i would have found this site before brewing, would have made life so much easier.

On the plus side. after opening the batch for the second reading, and resealing it, i noticed the water in the airlock has all moved toward the final chamber, so there must be some pressure building now.

Should i shake it up a bit more to try and get some activity?

 

[hudsonj6]

+1. 1.28 is way too high and the gravity definately should not increase as it ferments. I've heard of "big beers" that can get up to 1.1 ish and the highest I've ever brewed so far is 1.058 with a kg of honey in it. An hour to 80 is a long time to cool the wort, you can do ice baths while the wort is still in the pot and throw in a bunch of salt (into the bath not the beer) and that will help cool it down alot quicker.

Hydrometer readings are the only real way measure fermentation, not by air lock activity (I don't even have an air lock on my primary). I think you're probably reading the hydrometer wrong or its broken. I'd look up a tutorial on how to properly read a hydrometer and test to make sure plain water is very close to 1.000. For future reference, make sure you've added the correct amount of top up water and that you've mixed the wort A LOT!! This can cause weird readings if its not mixed enough (and mixing it will aerate it and help with fermentation too)

 

[WrongCoastBrewery]

What recipe was it and from where? That usually can tell you what the SG should be. Like say you ordered the kit from Midwest Supplies. They have online directions that tell you what the SG and FG should be approximately. I would say you definitely have some fermentation going on but it is slow due to not aerating the wort. Give it time and you will be ok. Good luck man and cheers!

 

[KevinW]

tskmgr, did you top up to your finished volume with water? In extract brewing you normally boil about 3 gallons then add 2 or more gallons of water to make the 5 gallon mark.
If this is what you did then did you stir the wort very well? If you add water to a thick wort, the water will take quite a while to mix due to the varying gravities of both liquids!
A gentle but thorough mix of course, you do not want to aerate hot wort!

This is about the only thing I can imagine that would give you such odd gravity readings.

 

[tskmgr]

I suppose i must have used the hydrometer at the wrong temp when taking the initial reading, and now the wort is a bit cooler than it should be. i'll need to get some space heaters and heat up the room its sitting in closer to 70*, i suppose that could be a big problem.

 

[tskmgr]

tskmgr, did you top up to your finished volume with water? In extract brewing you normally boil about 3 gallons then add 2 or more gallons of water to make the 5 gallon mark.
If this is what you did then did you stir the wort very well? If you add water to a thick wort, the water will take quite a while to mix due to the varying gravities of both liquids!
A gentle but thorough mix of course, you do not want to aerate hot wort!

This is about the only thing I can imagine that would give you such odd gravity readings.

yep added clean H20 to bring the primary up to 5 gallons. i stirred it but i cant claim that i stirred it "very well" i just gave her a good swirling and was done with it. it was pretty late by the time i started getting everything done.

I'm going to head out tonight and buy a proper graduate to measure the gravity, and work on getting the wort temp up to 70*. its currently in the low 60s .

im hoping i didnt outright kill my first batch but ah well, i'll try to learn from my mistakes.

 

[whitebirdfeathers]

Hydrometer readings are the only real way measure fermentation, not by air lock activity (I don't even have an air lock on my primary). I think you're probably reading the hydrometer wrong or its broken. I'd look up a tutorial on how to properly read a hydrometer and test to make sure plain water is very close to 1.000. For future reference, make sure you've added the correct amount of top up water and that you've mixed the wort A LOT!! This can cause weird readings if its not mixed enough (and mixing it will aerate it and help with fermentation too)

Not trying the hijack the thread here but you really don't have an airlock on your primary? What do you do?

 

[vanceromance]

If your temperature is in the 60's that is probably your issue - slow fermentation. Once you raise the temperature it might take right off. Be patient. Can you move your primary to a wormer area?? Close to a boiler etc.??

 

[DarkUncle]

Not trying the hijack the thread here but you really don't have an airlock on your primary? What do you do?

Hell, I've read about people fermenting without a lid. I sure ain't brave enough to do it.

 

[mixedbrewer]

I don't think 48 hours is enough time to panic. When 72 hours goes by and nothing is different, then its time to think about plan B. Sometimes I wait 60 hours before anything happens.

 

[ongreystreet]

Hell, I've read about people fermenting without a lid. I sure ain't brave enough to do it.

I've heard of people doing open fermentation, guess it depends on your willingness to risk and air quality. They could also be using just a blow-off tube, and that might not be in fluid if they believe the CO2 is enough to keep air out.

 

[pikledbill]

Hell, I've read about people fermenting without a lid. I sure ain't brave enough to do it.

I brew open sometimes...but I am nuckin futs.

Pikledbill

 

[pikledbill]

yep added clean H20 to bring the primary up to 5 gallons. i stirred it but i cant claim that i stirred it "very well" i just gave her a good swirling and was done with it. it was pretty late by the time i started getting everything done.

I'm going to head out tonight and buy a proper graduate to measure the gravity, and work on getting the wort temp up to 70*. its currently in the low 60s .

im hoping i didnt outright kill my first batch but ah well, i'll try to learn from my mistakes.

What kind of beer is this? I am assuming an ale, but what yeast? Nothing wrong with low 60's (62-64 in general). But it will increase the lag time some.

Don't panic.

Pikledbill

 

[hudsonj6]

Not trying the hijack the thread here but you really don't have an airlock on your primary? What do you do?

Primary Bucket
With Lid
Side View

I think it's more geared towards making wine, but all ~200ish liters have turned out just fine so far