Slow activity

[insnekamkze86]

Hello there i am making a six gallon batch of stout beer and currently have slow to none activity in the fermentor which iam seeing through the airlock.
The temp stick on the side of the fermentor is reading between 70 and 74 degrees but the fermentor is cold to touch. Is there anything to worry about or should i leave the batch alone. It been 5 days since i pitched the yeast and started having fermentation.

 

[Clonefarmer]

You could have a leak in the lid that would stop the airlock from bubbling. The only way to be sure if it's fermenting is to take a gravity reading.

 

[Frodo]

It's not clear... did the fermenter ever show activity? Foam (krausen)? Airlock bubbling?

If there was activity and it was vigorous enough, your fermentation might be done with the visible stage at least... if not, you'll have to give more details such as how you prepared the yeast and what temp you pitched at to start with.

FYI the temp stick should indicate what the inside of the fermenter is, and 70-74 is pretty high for fermentation. Most ale yeast do better in the mid to high 60s.

 

[insnekamkze86]

the fermentor doesn't feel like 70 it feels like 60 but the stick shows 70. yes it had vigorous activity on the second day of me pitching the yeast which was Saturday. im seeing the airlock bubble once in a while. I pitched 14 grams of dry yeast at 68/70 degrees.

 

[Clonefarmer]

the fermentor doesn't feel like 70 it feels like 60 but the stick shows 70. yes it had vigorous activity on the second day of me pitching the yeast which was Saturday. im seeing the airlock bubble once in a while. I pitched 14 grams of dry yeast at 68/70 degrees.

Since you had vigorous activity the second day the yeast probably fermented out quite a bit. Don't worry if it slows down a bit, that's normal. I would trust the thermometer even though it feels cooler.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

sounds like fermentation is coming to an end

 

[TipsyDragon]

an airlock is not a fermentation indicator. its a pressure release valve. leave the fermenter alone till 3 weeks after pitching the yeast. then take gravity readings to see if they are stable. if they are its good to bottle.

 

[insnekamkze86]

k thank you guys just wanted to make sure i will leave it alone for another week which will make two weeks then i take a gravity reading.

 

[jermanimal]

Some yeasts are done with primary active fermentation in 2 days. Friend had Pac-Man yeast drop out with clear beer in 4 days with a nice dry imperial IPA.

That was some major action going on there.

 

[insnekamkze86]

kol i dont know what type of yeast it was but it is dry yeast that comes with the coopers canned kit for beer. I had one that i didnt use from another batch that i had laying around and used a different yeast for the last batch, so i had two coopers 7 gram dry yeast packets that i used in this batch of beer. So it had enough yeast to ferment out the beer and was very viguors.

 

[jermanimal]

if you have a way to check it, get a specific gravity ready. Don't know your OG, but most kits have a OG of 1.055-1.058 for a stout...probably should finish at 1.016-1.017.

Now if you get that SG then you have good attenuation, but the beer is not done...need to condition at least 10 days to clean up off flavors in the beer.

 

[insnekamkze86]

Sorry about that my OG reading was 1.073 before i pitched the yeast for the batch of beer. My sugars are 1 pound of black treacel two punds of raw cane sugar and 5 pounds of briess dark malt. Which gave a reading of 1.072 at 70 degrees which ends up being 1.073 since it was at 70 when i took the reading.