Urgent! NO SIGN OF FERMENTATION!

[tomdrumzz69]

Hi all,
Last Sunday I completed a boil on my newest ale (it's only my 6th ever batch, but the 5 until now have worked out great!). I added 1kg brew sugar and spray malt about 30mins after the boil, then pitched the yeast about 8hours later, as usual. 4 days later, there was no sign of fermenting. No bubbles or pressure building. I pitched another packet of yeast to be sure. 7 days on since the boil and I have no movement.

Any advice? Thanks!

 

[Rob2010SS]

Hi all,
Last Sunday I completed a boil on my newest ale (it's only my 6th ever batch, but the 5 until now have worked out great!). I added 1kg brew sugar and spray malt about 30mins after the boil, then pitched the yeast about 8hours later, as usual. 4 days later, there was no sign of fermenting. No bubbles or pressure building. I pitched another packet of yeast to be sure. 7 days on since the boil and I have no movement.

Any advice? Thanks!

Kinda need more info to help. What was your process? Your recipe? Your temps? What kind of yeast? Starter or rehydrated?

 

[bracconiere]

lol? say what? brew sugar? spray malt? i was just reading something about this in the thread about your first batch...something about a kangaroo, and phoenix, az...

if by brew sugar you mean malt syrup, then the yeast should have nutes. did you check the temp when you added the yeast?

and you say you added, your spray malt and brew sugar AFTER the boil? is that a typo or did i miss read it?

Did you brew a AG batch, that you didn't mention, that you added the sugar too?

 

[tomdrumzz69]

Hey guys, thanks for the quick response!

Basically, boiled about 14litres water with 1.5kg light malt extract (syrup) & hops 60mins. Once done added 500g light spray malt & 1kg brewing sugar. Cooled down for a few hours, transfered to fermenting bucket, topped up to 25litres with filtered water, then added safeale us 05 yeast straight from the packet. I've followed the same exact recipe all 6times I've done the brew, only varying the types of hops really... It's turned out great every time. Storage temp is 22°C., And as I said, I added another pack of the same yeast a few days ago... Any ideas? Thanks very much!

 

[bracconiere]

don't know, but thanks for teaching me what spraymalt is...

do you have a leak in your fermenter? maybe the airlock just isn't bubbling, what's the gravity of the wort/beer? or can you see it, and there's no krausen?

i've had bigger beers than that finish in one day before...maybe it just finished....

if you don't have a hydrometer, taste it see what it tastes like?

at any rate this sounds like a serious problem, and we need to figure out how to get you a drink! can't have homebrewers running out of the suds!

and as a edited funny footnote, i just had a batch of beer take off fermenting on it's own BEFORE i even had a chance to ADD yeast to it. so hang in there, Yahweh likes beer too!

 

[tomdrumzz69]

Hey there! Thanks for responding again! There's no leak at all, are there's simply no pressure in the bucket. I've had a look inside to add the yeast, and there's no Krause either. I've dry hopped a lot but scooped it out the way... I'm doing golden ales & IPA mainly and as I said before, I've followed the same recipe each time just with different hops, etc.

Is this one a dud? :S I'm getting thirsty and I don't know how long I can wait! Haha

 

[bucketnative]

Are you sure that you didn't miss fermentation? Did you take a gravity sample?

 

[bracconiere]

Are you sure that you didn't miss fermentation? Did you take a gravity sample?

do you have a hydrometer? the thing that floats in liquid at certain levels, depending on viscosity. being that you used malt syrup you know it started with gravity, and if it's dry now?

 

[glugglug]

You mentioned you pitched the yeast after letting wort cool for a couple hours. If you didn’t help it cool in some way, it would’ve been too hot for the yeast on a 5 gallon batch. But you did say you repitched. My guess is your lid didn’t seal all the way, allowing the pressure to release through the lid. Fermentation May have already finished and the kraussen has been re-absorbed. You need to take a gravity reading. Do you know your original gravity? If you don’t have that, you still should take a gravity reading now. If it’s close to what your targeting, that’ll tell us something. Try not to open the lid too much. Your oxidizing the beer each time.

 

[cactusgarrett]

depending on viscosity.

Second getting/using a hydrometer - also, it's dependent on the amount of dissolved sugar in solution, not viscosity. Never trust a bubbling airlock (or lack thereof) or a krausen as a sign of fermentation. ALWAYS take grav readings.

 

[BrewInspector]

Ehhh, you have beer

Not very likely that fermentation did not occur. It's virtually fool proof especially with 2 packs of yeast added at different times. More likely is that the lid did not seal. Krausen is sometimes thin and can disappear quickly. Bubbles in the air lock are reassuring but not necessary and an unreliable indicator when they continue longer than expected or never happen.

 

[bracconiere]

Second getting/using a hydrometer - also, it's dependent on the amount of dissolved sugar in solution, not viscosity. Never trust a bubbling airlock (or lack thereof) or a krausen as a sign of fermentation. ALWAYS take grav readings.

lol definition of viscosity "the state of being thick, sticky, and semifluid in consistency, due to internal friction."

so, yeah dissolved sugar increases viscosity...

 

[cactusgarrett]

so, yeah dissolved sugar increases viscosity...

Jesus, dude. I'm pretty sure everyone around here can say the sky is blue and you'll figure out a way to argue with them. You're not wrong in that an increase in sugar increases viscosity, but viscometers measure viscosity. Hydrometers measure relative density.

 

[bracconiere]

Jesus, dude. I'm pretty sure everyone around here can say the sky is blue and you'll figure out a way to argue with them. You're not wrong in that an increase in sugar increases viscosity, but viscometers measure viscosity. Hydrometers measure relative density.

i'm rollin on the floor...looking out my window the sky happens to be grey right now...

on an somewhat un related note...Specific gravity...And other things unfortunately, anyone ever REALLY want a single scale hydrometer, i swear out of the three measures i only want one! and when i spin it it always seems to be the one facing away from me! lol

 

[bracconiere]

i looked up hydrometer and your right, but the sky was grey at the time! lol

And i learned that viscosity is a measure of lube, or remembered.

Density measures dissolved stuff, like salt, and sugar...