No fermentation after 3+ days (new home brewer, 1st batch)

[waldrep]

Hi everyone,
New to this forum and home brewing in general. I recently purchased a Brewer's Best Kit and American Pale Ale extract kit from my local home brew store. I enlisted the help of a seasoned home brew friend of mine and we crafted our first batch Saturday night following the directions contained in the extract kit. My OG was (1.058-1.060) (extract kit states OG should be 1.051-1.055). I even built my own immersion chiller. The dry yeast was pitched at <75F. I did not proof the yeast which was recommended on the yeast package as the extract kit stated to add the dry yeast directly to the wort in the primary fermenter. Problem is, I haven't seen any signs of fermentation in my airlock and it has been 3+ days. Temperatures have been constant at 68F.

How long do I wait?
Should I obtain another SG reading?
Should I transfer to my secondary at 6-7 days as planned?
Should I scrap the batch and start anew?

Thanks for any insight, I am excited to continue to learn more as a home brewer.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Forget the airlock. Is there a krausen (foam on top of the beer)? Has the gravity dropped?

 

[eadavis80]

I'm GUESSING your primary is in a 6.5 gallon plastic bucket and you can't really see inside of it. There is probably a hairline leak in the seal which is allowing gases to escape, thus the airlock is not moving. It's probably fermenting fine. IF you're losing sleep over it, you can open the lid quickly and take a peek inside. IF you see foamy stuff on top of the wort, it's fine. Some will say that will risk infection and that's technically true, but I've done it lots of times with no problem. Just be quick and sanitary.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

I'm GUESSING your primary is in a 6.5 gallon plastic bucket and you can't really see inside of it. There is probably a hairline leak in the seal which is allowing gases to escape, thus the airlock is not moving. It's probably fermenting fine. IF you're losing sleep over it, you can open the lid quickly and take a peek inside. IF you see foamy stuff on top of the wort, it's fine. Some will say that will risk infection and that's technically true, but I've done it lots of times with no problem. Just be quick and sanitary.

THis is my thought aswell.
Opening a fermenting beer doesn't risk infection unless it's in a dirty room to start with - look at all the successfully brewed beers in open fermenters!

 

[unionrdr]

I agree wit popping the lid to have a look. If there's krausen on top, it's fermenting. If there's a ring of crud around the top level of the liquid, it's past initial fermentation, & finishing up.

 

[waldrep]

Thanks everyone. I took a look and it does have krausen on the top. I'll make sure the lid is on snug. I might take a SG reading later this week to be sure.

I'll keep everyone posted,
Thanks again.

 

[Northbank]

Don't bother taking readings until that Krausen drops away ...

 

[waldrep]

I transferred to a secondary fermenter on Saturday. There wasn't much krausen in the wort. I haven't seen hardly any action from the air lock since. Should I be worried about my batch? Should I pitch more yeast?

 

[Jasper18]

I transferred to a secondary fermenter on Saturday. There wasn't much krausen in the wort. I haven't seen hardly any action from the air lock since. Should I be worried about my batch? Should I pitch more yeast?

Couldn't be much going on in secondary anyway. It's mostly to help clean up the beer. Take a gravity reading if you must. I have yet to bother with secondary and doubt I will. How did you transfer it btw?

 

[govner1]

I transferred to a secondary fermenter on Saturday. There wasn't much krausen in the wort. I haven't seen hardly any action from the air lock since. Should I be worried about my batch? Should I pitch more yeast?

Why did you transfer to secondary? Were there obvious signs of fermentation? Any ring on the side of your bucket from krausen?

 

[waldrep]

There was residue on the primary bucket sides. I transferred with a fermtech auto siphon. I checked SG while switching and it was low, around 1.010. From what I understand, that means fermentation has taken place. Next question, how long do i leave it in the secondary? How long in the bottles after priming?

 

[Jimbodaman]

The residue on the primary bucket sides is perfectly normal, just proteins, hop residue, and yeast. 1.010 SG likely means fermentation is complete, normal beers usually have a final SG between 1.008 and 1.020. I personally don't secondary but recommend a total of at least 3 weeks of fermentation before bottling, once you get more experienced you can get away with 2 weeks total ferm time. Once it's in bottles it's usually ready after 2.5 to 3 weeks. I check bottles at the end of week 1, 2 and 3 just too make sure they're not over carbing, but if your sanitary and add the correct amount of priming sugar you'll be fine.