Fermenting or not?

[Scobieb]

Hi Guys,

Just a quick one. Made my second beer up last night, it was a kit that had been provided by Brewsmith, so one I'd bought the ingredient for myself.

I noticed when I was putting the dry malt in the pot, that is was very clumpy and was sticking together in balls and in places was a bit like chewing gum.

I put the second lot of dry malt in after 40 minutes and the malt was the same. I added the hops and everything there seemed okay and the yeast.

The beer has now been in the fermenter for 12 hours, and I've noticed no activity through the airlock. There was a lot of foam on the beer to start with when I shook it up but there is nearly none there now.

I'm aware that the fermentation process can talk up to three days to start but that would be unusual.

Do you think, there is a problem with this batch?

 

[wbosher]

Did you managed to stir out all the clumps of malt extract? Don't worry, 12 hours is still pretty early, give it another 24 hours or so before you start worrying. In my experience, most of my beers don't kick off for about 24 hours.

 

[Scobieb]

Yeah managed to get all the clumps of malt stirred out.

Thanks for the advice. My first batch started after 6 hours hence the worry. Will check it again tomorrow morning and report back.

 

[wbosher]

Don't trust the airlock either, there are plenty of threads here about that. Do a search for "airlock" and prepare to be overwhelmed. :lol:

All you need is for your fermenter to not be completely airtight, and that renders the airlock pretty much useless for determining if the is any CO2 being created.

 

[Scobieb]

Still no bubbling this morning. So been 48 hours now. What are your thoughts about pitching some more yeast?

 

[wbosher]

Did you take an OG reading? If so, take another gravity reading to see if anything is happening. Do NOT rely on the airlock.

Are there any bubbles on the surface of the wort. or a nice layer of krausen?

 

[bum]

Any condensation in the fermenter? Or sign of krausen (foam forming on top of the wort)?

Taken a gravity sample? Has it dropped?

[EDIT: beaten like an egg]

 

[Scobieb]

yeah I think there is some condensation on the top...but no krausen now, there was originally but I think this was only caused by me shaking it up.

I didnt measure gravity to start with.

 

[bum]

Why not?

 

[Scobieb]

Good question.

I don't have a hydrometer at the moment.

 

[.DJ.]

get one

 

[bum]

Essential gear, mate. Get on it.

In the mean time, Hold off on adding more yeast 'til tomorrow. See how it looks then.

How much yeast did you pitch? Did you rehydrate it? What was the exact recipe (including volume) so someone can work out if you've underpitched or not.

 

[wbosher]

Also, what temp are you trying to ferment at? I assume it's not freezing it's tits off.

 

[alimac23]

What yeast did you pitch?

In the colder temperatures of late I've noticed my beers have taken a little longer to get going, don't worry about it and give it some more time.

 

[mosto]

As other have said, need to know more details. At a minimum need to know batch size, what yeast was used and temp fermenter has been sitting at. I'm guessing, being your second brew, you've made up to the standard 23 litres and used the yeast that came with the kit. If that's the case, you may have underpitched, but the temp is also a key piece of info. As an example, I've got a chocolate porter fermenting at present. After a couple of days no sign of fermentation, couldn't work out what was wrong until I checked the temp on my STC1000 temp control and realised it was sitting on 15 deg instead of 18 deg. When I'd closed the door of the fridge, the power cord for the heat pad had caught and been pulled out of the back of the temp control, so I had no heating. Plugged it back in and the next day there was a beatiful big krausen. So that shows how a couple of degrees can effect the ability of the yeast to kick off.

 

[Scobieb]

Hi Guys,

It is a kit already made up. So I didnt control quantities at all. As I said in the posts above, my initial worry was the state of the malt, which was sticky almost like chewing gum in places when I poured out the bag.

The fermenter is only 5 litres.

Temperature wise, my apartment holds a pretty steady temperature between 16 - 22. I have another beer fermenting in exactly the same place right next to this one, and there is no issue with that one at all.

 

[bum]

So I didnt control quantities at all.

Yes, but what were they?

The malt clumping is normal. Nothing to be concerned about there.

A commercial kit designed for 5L? I don't even.

 

[alimac23]

It is a kit already made up. So I didnt control quantities at all. As I said in the posts above, my initial worry was the state of the malt, which was sticky almost like chewing gum in places when I poured out the bag.

Malt is like this, it seems to take whatever moisture it can get its hands on and form clumps, if you open a bag of malt extract, you will notice that even the moisture in the air will make it sticky and clump up a bit around the top of the bag where you have been pouring it from, but it's no problem at all if you stir it in until the lumps break up.

 

[Scobieb]

Yep the brewsmith ones are 5 litre kits.

This one is a Blonde Ale....so two lots of dry malt went in, hops, a bit of lime peel and the yeast.

I didnt weigh the malt separately so just trusted what was there....if i guessed i'd say the first lot of malt was half a kilo ish, the second maybe 300g

 

[wbosher]

This one?