Stalled Ferment?

[Ales_Away]

Hi all, put on my first extract brew on Tuesday, a Pale Ale variation of Neils Centenarillo Pale Ale.

The problem I'm having is that there has been very little airlock activity in two days (close to none).

I've checked for air leaks, checked that the lid of the fermenter is on tight and put some food grade jelly around the base of the airlock.

The problem I had on the first day was that the temp was too low (Who thought that in Darwin??), between 10-12C. I monitored and warmed it up to 20-22C over a few hours. It has now been sitting on 18-20C since yesterday morning (Thurs). The water level in the airlock is slightly uneven but never really gets active.

I keep the fermenter in a big esky turned up on one end and use frozen water bottle rotations to manage the temp.

I pitched the yeast at 20C after re-hydrating it for a couple of hours while I did the boil etc.

I'm using US-05.

The OG when pitching the yeast was 1.062 (I had a 'moment' when using the scales weighing the DME...)



My questions are:

Is it likely that the low temp has stalled fermentation?

Can US-05 handle the OG?

Should I remove the lid and re-pitch a new packet of yeast?

Or should I wait another 1-2 days to see if fermentation picks up?



The wort smells great when I take samples and the colour looks good.

Thanks for any advice

 

[Pennywise]

first thing to do is take another gravity reading, if it's lower than OG then it's fermenting. Don't fuss over airlock activity, it means absolutly nothing, if there's a leak in the fermenter, chances are you wont find it.

 

[Kleiny]

did you rehydrate your yeast?

this proofs the yeast as a viable pitch

if you have the same yeast then i would pitch another

did you shake it to introduce some O2? (yeast activity may be slower if you didn't)

Kleiny

 

[Scruffy]

What's the gravity now?

 

[RobboMC]

I wouldn't panic just yet, it's starting slow in the cold. Wait another day or so, but get some yeast on hand in case.

If the airlock is slightly uneven then you have some CO2 pressure building and it will usually
get going the next day. But DO NOT OPEN THE LID or you seriously risk infection.

If you do decide to pitch more yeast, dribble it in thu the airlock hole with a small funnel.
The cost of buying the funnel is a lot less than the cost of losing the batch.

I just finished a batch with US-05 starting at OG of 1065 and all was good, so OG isn't an issue,
should be great beer though with that OG!

As Kleiny suggests, look at how you introduce Oxygen into the cooled wort before pitching,
even a good stir helps, or put water into a bottle and shake before adding. This is the best way
to get ferments to start quickly and it's importance is underestimated in most instructions.

 

[manticle]

Hi all, put on my first extract brew on Tuesday, a Pale Ale variation of Neils Centenarillo Pale Ale.

The problem I'm having is that there has been very little airlock activity in two days (close to none).

Airlock activity doesn't mean much and is not a reliable sign of fermentation. Sounds nice but that's about it.

As Scruffy and hb79 said -check the gravity again and see how much it's dropped. Then check it again in two or three days time. If it stays the same and is much higher than expected then it may be stalled.

US-05 can handle 1062 with no drama.

 

[Ales_Away]

Cheers for quick response guys!

I'm happy to report that the gravity is now right on 40. Awesome.

Yes, re-hydrated the yeast for a couple of hours and I aerated the cooled wort with my triangle-spoon-with-holes-in-it (?) by vigorously stirring the crap out of it. When I added remaining water to the fermenter I sat the water cask on a shelf above the tub and let it pour in from about 1 1/2 meters into the wort to further aerate it.

I have a couple of back-up packets of US-05 just in case but I really didn't want to open the lid, using a funnel is a good idea.

Thanks again :beer:

 

[barneyb]

But DO NOT OPEN THE LID or you seriously risk infection.

Is it really that important? I mean if it is that dire should you not even dry hop?

 

[Pennywise]

If it's fermenting then no worries opening the fermenter (so long as your gentle with it and don't blow and cough in it). If it has done nothing then I'd be a bit more cautious because there'll be no co2 layer at all to protect it from the open, that's where I reckon the funnel idea is a good anyway. All IMO anyway.

 

[barneyb]

Ah I see, that makes sense.

 

[manticle]

I've opened the lids on just about every brew I've ever done for one reason or another. Have you actually had infections from this in the past robbo?