AnotherKiwiBrewer
Active Member
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2018
- Messages
- 25
- Reaction score
- 11
Hi all,
OK, so this has me stumped (not too difficult to do!).
I am on my 7th and 8th brews, all have been liquid malt extract kits so far.
I have followed the same basic process as the previous 6 brews with #7 and #8, but neither of these have started to ferment.
They are a Coopers Real Ale and A Draught Ale.
I put the LME and brew enhancer into the fermenter in the right quantities, same as usual. I used the kit yeast - i always rehydrate it rather than sprinkling on top. Usually within 4-12 hours i see signs of activity, bubbling in the airlock and SG readings changing, but this time, nothing. Fermentation chamber is at 20C.
I left it 48 hours, still no change in SG!
So, I used an 11g packet of US-05 and rehydrated it (again, all the same as the last 6 times) and split it 50/50 between the two brews.
It is now 20 hours later (68hours from original pitch) and no change in SG!
I am pretty confident in my process as i have done 6 successful brews this year using Cooper's kits and all the same equipment and practices, but what could I have done wrong this time, and i must have done it twice because it's affected 2 brews, repitching both!
It seems like maybe i did something that killed the kit yeast off before it could start, and then also killed the US-05 yeast. Is that possible?
I used different vessels and cutlery to rehydrate the yeast (48 hours apart), so if something has killed the yeast it must be in the ferment - AND it must be in both! Could too strong a sanitizer do this? I made up the sanitizer to the same strength as usual....
Both cans of LME were well inside the expiry date.
OK, so this has me stumped (not too difficult to do!).
I am on my 7th and 8th brews, all have been liquid malt extract kits so far.
I have followed the same basic process as the previous 6 brews with #7 and #8, but neither of these have started to ferment.
They are a Coopers Real Ale and A Draught Ale.
I put the LME and brew enhancer into the fermenter in the right quantities, same as usual. I used the kit yeast - i always rehydrate it rather than sprinkling on top. Usually within 4-12 hours i see signs of activity, bubbling in the airlock and SG readings changing, but this time, nothing. Fermentation chamber is at 20C.
I left it 48 hours, still no change in SG!
So, I used an 11g packet of US-05 and rehydrated it (again, all the same as the last 6 times) and split it 50/50 between the two brews.
It is now 20 hours later (68hours from original pitch) and no change in SG!
I am pretty confident in my process as i have done 6 successful brews this year using Cooper's kits and all the same equipment and practices, but what could I have done wrong this time, and i must have done it twice because it's affected 2 brews, repitching both!
It seems like maybe i did something that killed the kit yeast off before it could start, and then also killed the US-05 yeast. Is that possible?
I used different vessels and cutlery to rehydrate the yeast (48 hours apart), so if something has killed the yeast it must be in the ferment - AND it must be in both! Could too strong a sanitizer do this? I made up the sanitizer to the same strength as usual....
Both cans of LME were well inside the expiry date.