Common question: My brew is not fermenting

[gibbocore]

hi greg, i didn't have the OG, i forgot to take it, the origional ingrediants were a brewcraft munich lager kit with brewcraft brew booster #15, i pitched the yeast at 28 degrees, so it would be fair to assume the OG may have been higher than normal.

[gregb]

What's in BB#15, if it contains LDME or Maltodextrin then 1010 is not a big deal. Give it till the weekend, if still unchanged then you should be fine to bottle.

Cheers,
Greg

[gibbocore]

Cheers greg, I'll find out and let everyone know.

[rwh]

You don't use the absolute gravity to determine whether a beer is ready to bottle. You use the relative gravity, i.e. has it been the same for 24 hours? If so, you can bottle.

Or you can just do what I do: leave it for at least seven days. Or, if I can be bothered, 7 days primary, 7 days secondary. Your beer will be better conditioned to boot.

[mark_68]

I put down a morgans wheat beer with safale S04 On the 19 th and waited a few hours as per usual for any signs of activity,there didn't seem to be any.I took the lid off my fermenter to have a peek inside and there was a huge krausen in there,so it must have been fermenting,but with not a single bubble out of the airlock!!I noticed that there was positive pressure on the airlock so i don't think i have a leak anywhere.Eventually i checked the gravity with my hydrometer and found it had dropped from 1054 to 1022 overnight,so it is definately brewing allright.Obviously not all fermentations will cause the airlock to bubble,as this one didn't,but i am wondering where all that co2 was going?My fermenter has never leaked before.

[Allnewtome]

Hi all, I started my first brew yesterday, Its a Coopers Lager. I have had no activity in my airlock but have had some condensation on the lid. I opened the lid and found a lot of the yeast was sitting on top of the wort so I gave it a stir to mix it in, was that a bad thing to do?The temperature is sitting at about 22 - 23 degrees. Should I just leave it alone and see what happens?

[rwh]

Should I just leave it alone and see what happens?

Probably. Or if you are really worried you could try pitching a second yeast sachet (if you have one that's the same kind that is). I'd pitch it if you see no action (i.e. no krausen, condensation or airlock bubbling) after 48 hours. If you have condensation on the lid, then I'd say your fermentation is happening and you have a gas leak. A leak won't harm your beer, it just makes it a bit difficult to tell if fermentation is happening.

[Throsby]

G'day all,

I've been having a crack at replicating a Rooftop Lager "sort of" brew, but I am concerned that it has stalled.

Ingredients:

Can of Brewcraft Munich Lager
Morgans Caramalt (1 kg)
Coopers Light Malt (0.5 kg)
Dried Corn Syrup (250 g)
Morgans Finishing Hops - Hallertau (12 g bag)
Kit Yeast
Brew Yeast 6G 7040 (from Colin at my HBS)

OG was 1042 (on the brew day - 23.02.08)

Was bubbling away within about 6 hrs and had dropped to 1020 by 29.02.08 but then slowed right down.

By 05.03.08 it had made it down to 1014 and is still there. Very little evidence of fermentation over the last few days. If it was measuring lower i would be certain it was finished as all signs point to this. Only I have never had a brew finish so high (out of my 14 or so).

1042 to 1014 does but me at around about 4.3% alcohol, but I was expecting it be nudging 5% with all the malt I put in.

At this stage I plan to bubble it tomorrow morning, unless any wiser minds on this forum intervene and plead for patience.

Thanks in advance,

Throsby

[Kevnlis]

1.014 sounds like a great FG for those ingredients. You have a lot of malt extract which is not fully fermentable and will finish at a higher graivty, also the corn syrup is not very fermentable at all and nearly all of it will stay in the final beer making the gravity even higher. Go ahead and bottle it, you are done with this one!

[Throsby]

Brilliant!

Thankyou very much for the advice - great to have access to such a vast breadth of experience on this forum.

That sorts out my afternoon plans today anyway - better put some brews in the fridge to make the bottling process even more enjoyable.

Have a good weekend guys,

Throsby.

[wolfman]

Hi guys, Ive been reading around this topic a bit, which has been a great help, but thought Id pitch a couple of questions.
Im a total newb at this, I just put down my 3rd brew ever, a tooheys dark ale, with a coopers brew enhancer. The yeast was from the kit. My first 2 beers bubbled away greatly, and there was no worries there. This one however, no bubbling. From reading this topic Ive learnt that:
a) no bubbling is more likely to mean something like a small harmless leak than my beer not fermenting
b) thankfully, the beer is not lost.

Also, Ive never used a hydrometer.. I broke it the first time I tried to use it, plus it confused the hell out of me. In the past I have just let my brews sit for 2 weeks before bottling, which has worked fine.

The brew has sat at a pretty even temperature, within the recommended range. Okay so Im on day 3 now, and there has been typical signs of fermenting (condensation on lid, slightl beery smell, a bit of "head" on the brew") ...However when I checked it today, the "head" had seemed to die down drastically. I couldnt help it, I had to open the lid.. and there was pretty much no foamyness on top of the brew.. I could still see yeast floating around on top too!

Okay so I guess my question is, what should I do ?

- leave the beer for my standard 2 weeks, bottle it, and hope for the best ?
- pitch some more yeast on it ?
- go buy a new hydrometer and see if its actually fermenting ?

Thanks heaps guys!

[rwh]

I'd probably do number 1 or 2. But seeing as you're nervous enough to open the lid, perhaps you should do number 3.

Your other option is to simply take a small sample out of the tap and taste it. If it still tastes like sugar solution then you're in trouble and should pitch another yeast, tho if you get to day 3 with no yeast in there you're probably going to have some off flavours in the final beer even if you do repitch. If it tastes like yeasty beer then you're OK.

And don't forget Papazian's advice: Relax and have a homebrew.

[warra48]

And the one thing not mentioned in this thread:

Check that you have actually pitched yeast if your brew is not fermenting.

[Mikezoom]

Hi all,

Just gotta say that this is a great site for information. Thanks to the Masters of Beer!

My brews have all been fermenting fine but not bubbling but with a quick read of this thread I loosened my lid and WOLAH I have a bubbeling airlock. One question I have though is I used brown sugar in a draught wort as I was told this would bring out a more malt/dark enhancement. Is this correct?

Mikezoom.

[pixelboy]

It will be "darker" than dextrose but if you want malt flavour you cant beat the real thing.

Use Amber Malt Extract or Light Dry Malt Extract + steep some crystal grains.

Once you brew with all malt and no sugar you will never look back.. its how beer is supposed to be

[spud64]

G'day,
About to put down my first brew and have a couple of q's not answered in what I have read.
1. To measure the FG, do you take the lid right off the fermentor exposing the brew ?
2. When using finnings, when is it added.
I intend to read through as many pages as I can to get extra tips.
Thanks,
Spud

[pixelboy]

Best to take a sample from the tap. Discard the first couple hundred mills, it'll be full of yeast n trub.. (in subsequent tests you might not have to discard this first bit)

Then about half fill the tube you got with the fermentor.

You will need to loosen the lid to allow air in or the water from the airlock will get sucked back thru.

I wouldnt bother with finnings but if you want to you should rack the beer (transfer to another fermentor) when its finished fermenttation and add it then. Leave for another week then bottle.

[nath76]

This is my first attempt at home brewing.....I have these questions....
1..After the first night bubbles started coming out of the airlock but the water i put in it had gone...do i replace the water into the airlock???
2..After the second night the bubbling has stopped is this ok???
3..To check the s.g can i just put the hydrometer into the fermenter???
4..On instructions on the can of concentrate it says add with 4 ltrs of hot water and 1kg of dextrose,but all othe info i find says add just 2ltrs of hot water,why is this???
5..If I use dextrose instead of sugar do i need to to put sugar into the bottles when the s.g is right???

Any help to the questions would be great....THANX.......NATH76

[warra48]

To answer your questions in order:

1. Yes, but mix it with a little sanitiser.
2. Don't rely on bubbling. It could be several factors, such as a leaking lid/seal, cold temperatures sending your yeast to sleep etc. Check your gravity with your hydrometer after about 4 or 5 days if you are still concerned.
3. Not recommended. Too easy to introduce an infection. The preferred method is to take a sample from your tap. When you do, discard the first bit you draw off, as it will be full of yeast and trub. When you can drain a reasonably clear sample, test that.
4. Don't fuss over this. The hot water is only to reduce the viscosity of the can contents, to allow you to pour it into your fermenter and mix with the rest of your ingredients/water.
5. Yes. You will still need to add a measure of sugar to each bottle. This sugar is fermented in the bottle by the residual yeast in your brew, and it's what gives you your carbonation.
Have a read of the stickies on this forum about basic brewing and how to improve your brew. Well worth it.

[nath76]

...When putting water in the airlock,how come it wont go up to be level with the two lines...it seems to go to one side....??? if i loosen the ld it evens up. Is it betta to have the water level or the lid really tight.............as i said a stupid question!!!

Nath76................