Question about long fermentation start time and Fermwrap heating pad in cold ambient chiller

[MistFM]

I brewed a cream ale this past sunday and pitched a dry packet of S-05 directly onto the wort per the package instructions. I have my primary in an insulated son of fermentation chiller with an Inkbird controller probe taped to my primary bucket and a Fermwrap heating pad around my bucket.

I'm fermenting at 68F, and the inkbird probe says the bucket is 67.8F so that's good, however a separate probe says the ambient air is 56 F. I have had 0 visible signs in my airlock of fermentation after ~ 48 hours and am debating rehydrating a second pack of S-05 and pitching, but I'm wondering now if my primary is even warm enough. I read that a fermwrap should have been enough regardless of the ambient air, but it's still cold inside my chiller other than the bucket.

Is there anything else I can do to get my fermentation going?

 

[flars]

With the Inkbird probe taped to the bucket and insulated from the ambient air the temperature of the beer should be 67.8°F. The CO2 may be escaping around the rim of the bucket and not developing enough pressure to bubble the air lock.

Check for a krausen ring by holding a flash light at the opposite side of the bucket. You could also pull the air lock to look inside the bucket. Sanitize around the air lock before pulling.

 

[MistFM]

With the Inkbird probe taped to the bucket and insulated from the ambient air the temperature of the beer should be 67.8°F. The CO2 may be escaping around the rim of the bucket and not developing enough pressure to bubble the air lock.

Check for a krausen ring by holding a flash light at the opposite side of the bucket. You could also pull the air lock to look inside the bucket. Sanitize around the air lock before pulling.

Thank you for the flashlight and air lock idea! I was thinking I'd have to open the lid. Ok, good to know that the temp of the bucket is what's important and ambient air isn't that big a deal.

 

[Zzyzx3]

Everything flars said is right on. Also, the beer temp will usually be higher than the ambient temp especially during fermentation. Sometimes dry yeast takes a bit to take off, and if you just brewed Sunday it could still be in the lag phase.