Panicking! - No Signs Of Fermention After 24 Hours

[Hardii]

Hi,

Yesterday morning I brewed "Dave's Belgian Ale" from a recipe in "The Homebrew Survival Guide For Beginners" by Colin Penrose.

Everything mostly went to plan, except that it somehow took 4 hours ... but I guess Saturday mornings are like that. Anyway, I took a peek under the blanket this morning. I expected to see a lovely foamy krausen - but it was just flat. "WTF!" I exclaimed, scratching my head.

The yeast I used was a fresh one where you slap the pack to activate it. I did so, and then it sat in the sun (inside its foil pack) for a couple of hours. During this time the pack did expand as per the instructions, so I assume the yeast was OK.

The wort was chilled for about 45 minutes in ice-water to bring it down to a little below room temperature. I guess about 20C. It definitely was not anything approaching too-hot.

So what do I do?? Be more patient? Add more yeast?
I've never made a Belgian-style beer before - is it slower to start?

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

thanks,
-Hardii

 

[Mayor of Mildura]

Relax dude. All will be well. Sometimes when you pitch strait from the smack pack there is a fair amount of lag time (i.e. I've had a couple of days before I could see visible signs of fermentation). Do a search on yeast starters to get some tips on getting fermentation cracking faster.

 

[beerdrinkingbob]

agreed, all will be well, just give it more time and things will be going on nicely, more than likely by this afternoon.

Welcome aboard :icon_cheers:

 

[mwd]

Can take at least 48 hours before there is much signs of Krausen forming.

You really need a thermometer and temperature control of some kind, good job it is a Belgian which likes temperatures in low 20's.

 

[Hardii]

Ok, so now it's 3.5 days later and it still looks the same?!

I would say the average daily temperature is in the low-20s, at night maybe dipping below that.

Should I still be not worried? Take some action?

thanks,
-Hardii??!

 

[thesunsettree]

Ok, so now it's 3.5 days later and it still looks the same?!

I would say the average daily temperature is in the low-20s, at night maybe dipping below that.

Should I still be not worried? Take some action?

thanks,
-Hardii??!

Has the gravity dropped?

 

[Hardii]

Has the gravity dropped?

Hmmm, I guess I better take a reading then.

 

[thesunsettree]

Hmmm, I guess I better take a reading then.

Definately

 

[michael_aussie]

if the gravity hasn't dropped, I'd add more yeast

 

[Hardii]

Hi,

I've been closely watching this brew for signs of fermentation. A few small clusters of foam were appearing on top of the wort on Wednesday evening. They started out about the size of rice-grains, and over a few days grew to to about a 50-cent piece size. So I assumed that at least something was happening.

I managed to take a S.G. reading on Saturday morning: 1036 (start:1074). Interestingly, jostling the fermenter around to get a cupful for the hydrometer caused the wort to foam up considerably, and blew the water out of the "s-bend" air-lock. I went down to my local-brew-shop (a 45 minute drive!) and he said it's working OK, but maybe I should get a heater for brewing this time of year. It gets fairly cold overnight.

Since applying the heater, the wort has been bubbling away merrily. I think also my air-lock wasn't tight in the bung. Hopefully this hasn't let too many nasties in ... fingers crossed.

I can hear the wort bubbling away in the middle of the night - it's a very soothing sound. Not quite the crackle of am open fire, but pleasing none-the-less.

thanks for the help

cheers,
-Hardii

 

[pimpsqueak]

I personally wouldn't have bothered with the heater as it was obviously fermenting from your hydrometer reading. This isn't a race remember. The aim here is good beer, not quick booze.
I don't know where you have your fermenter situated, but I would be getting my hands on a thermostat or temperature controller to stop that heating pad from cooking your beer and producing too many off flavours.

 

[stm]

Hardii - for next time, maybe don't leave the smack pack in full sun. Even in autumn a foil pack would get pretty warm in full sun for a couple of hours, and that might kill off some of the yeast.

 

[Yob]

Try this link and have a read of the article.

Hope it helps put your mind at rest

Yob