I know this is a common occurrence but my instincts are telling me something is wrong.
I recently brewed an IPA and it's currently in the primary. I haven't seen any CO2 activity for 48 hours. In fact, no observable activity whatsoever. I know conventional wisdom says "wait 72 hours" and/or "an absence of airlock activity doesn't mean it's not fermenting" but I've followed the same process with the same yeast and I've ALWAYS seen airlock activity within the first 24 hours.
I'm using Safale US-05 ale yeast. 1 gallon batch. Pitched maybe 1/4 bag of the yeast. The wort was definitely below 70F when I pitched the yeast. I have no idea what the OG is because I'm not technical yet. The only thing I can think of that might be causing this is the temperature in my room. It's been super cold lately and we've had the heat turned up. But if I had to guess, it's about 70-75.
My other theory is that I seriously under pitched it. I remember thinking when I was pitching the yeast that I'm supposed to use 1/5 of the bag. But I got that confused with my bag of dextrin. I was told to pitch a 1/3 of Safale US-05 per 1 gallon. Hence, I might have pitched 1/4 instead of a 1/3 thinking I was doing it in 5ths. Not sure how much of a difference that would make.
1. Is there anything else that might be causing the slow fermentation?
2. Is the lack of airlock activity/lack of krausen an omen that the brew is bad?
3. When is an appropriate time to pitch more dry yeast into the primary?
Thanks!
I recently brewed an IPA and it's currently in the primary. I haven't seen any CO2 activity for 48 hours. In fact, no observable activity whatsoever. I know conventional wisdom says "wait 72 hours" and/or "an absence of airlock activity doesn't mean it's not fermenting" but I've followed the same process with the same yeast and I've ALWAYS seen airlock activity within the first 24 hours.
I'm using Safale US-05 ale yeast. 1 gallon batch. Pitched maybe 1/4 bag of the yeast. The wort was definitely below 70F when I pitched the yeast. I have no idea what the OG is because I'm not technical yet. The only thing I can think of that might be causing this is the temperature in my room. It's been super cold lately and we've had the heat turned up. But if I had to guess, it's about 70-75.
My other theory is that I seriously under pitched it. I remember thinking when I was pitching the yeast that I'm supposed to use 1/5 of the bag. But I got that confused with my bag of dextrin. I was told to pitch a 1/3 of Safale US-05 per 1 gallon. Hence, I might have pitched 1/4 instead of a 1/3 thinking I was doing it in 5ths. Not sure how much of a difference that would make.
1. Is there anything else that might be causing the slow fermentation?
2. Is the lack of airlock activity/lack of krausen an omen that the brew is bad?
3. When is an appropriate time to pitch more dry yeast into the primary?
Thanks!
