Hi everybody,
First of all, this is a great forum, and I learned quite a bit reading it. The posts/FAQs/links have helped a great deal with the problem I've had with with my first batch, but I guess I'm looking for an opinion on what to do here.
The problem I'm having is very slow fermentation. There are several reasons I've come up with for why this might be happening. (It was too cold in the room at the start, and I may not have aerated it enough. Also, I didn't proof the (liquid) yeast, so I dunno how well it was doing at the start. Also, I'm not sure exactly what the temp was when I pitched the yeast (close to room temp, I think) as my thermometer died in the middle of brewing it (not really my fault, this one ) Finally, I learned that I should start a beer batch at the beginning of the day and not the end, so as to be able to think more clearly at the end
Anyway, it's been in the primary fermenter for 2 weeks now. For the first week there was almost no fermentation. After a few days I stuck a space heater in the room to warm it up a bit. For a week or so now there has been a thin layer of foam/krausen at the top of the beer, nowhere hear the 1 inch+ layers a read about. While there is clearly some CO2 in the beer, there isn't enough to make the airlock bubble with any rapidity at all. I seem to have at least gotten the santization right 'cause there's no mold that I can see.
The OG was 1.052 (which is on the range of what the recipe called for) and it's only dropped to 1.048 at this point. (When I took the sample out of the spigot, it has a fairly significant amount of CO^2 in it)
The question: Should I consider the batch ruined at this point, and start over using what I've learned to produce a much better batch? Or, should I let it go for another week or two to see what happens?
If the consensus is this one might be shot at this point, I'm perfectly willing to start over. I'm getting married in 7 weeks and I was hoping to be able to dole out some homebrews when my friends get into town. If I start a new batch now, I should be just about able to make it.
Thanks!
First of all, this is a great forum, and I learned quite a bit reading it. The posts/FAQs/links have helped a great deal with the problem I've had with with my first batch, but I guess I'm looking for an opinion on what to do here.
The problem I'm having is very slow fermentation. There are several reasons I've come up with for why this might be happening. (It was too cold in the room at the start, and I may not have aerated it enough. Also, I didn't proof the (liquid) yeast, so I dunno how well it was doing at the start. Also, I'm not sure exactly what the temp was when I pitched the yeast (close to room temp, I think) as my thermometer died in the middle of brewing it (not really my fault, this one ) Finally, I learned that I should start a beer batch at the beginning of the day and not the end, so as to be able to think more clearly at the end
Anyway, it's been in the primary fermenter for 2 weeks now. For the first week there was almost no fermentation. After a few days I stuck a space heater in the room to warm it up a bit. For a week or so now there has been a thin layer of foam/krausen at the top of the beer, nowhere hear the 1 inch+ layers a read about. While there is clearly some CO2 in the beer, there isn't enough to make the airlock bubble with any rapidity at all. I seem to have at least gotten the santization right 'cause there's no mold that I can see.
The OG was 1.052 (which is on the range of what the recipe called for) and it's only dropped to 1.048 at this point. (When I took the sample out of the spigot, it has a fairly significant amount of CO^2 in it)
The question: Should I consider the batch ruined at this point, and start over using what I've learned to produce a much better batch? Or, should I let it go for another week or two to see what happens?
If the consensus is this one might be shot at this point, I'm perfectly willing to start over. I'm getting married in 7 weeks and I was hoping to be able to dole out some homebrews when my friends get into town. If I start a new batch now, I should be just about able to make it.
Thanks!