Fermentation hasn't started

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fatshady

fatshady

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My background/brewing experience: complete n00b and probably a little bit of an idiot. First batch had hiccups, but now it is happily (I hope) conditioning in the bottles and hopefully ready in 2 more weeks.

The problem is my second batch. My brew day was 6 days ago and it still hasn't fermented at all. I peeked in the fermenter and I don't see any foam or anything. I've checked the gravity readings and nothing has changed.

I've done some research on the forums, and thought through things that may have gone wrong on brew day:

1) Sanitation - I sanitized everything thoroughly, but I did NOT rinse the primary fermenter prior to pouring in the wort. I only dumped out the remaining sanitizer. Is it possible the remnants of the sanitizer killed the yeast?

2) Aeration - I aerated by dumping the wort back and forth between fermenter (bucket) and the brew kettle (which should be sanitary, right?). Maybe something here was done wrong

3) Pitch - I did not make a starter and merely sprinkled the yeast into the fermenter, then did one last "aeration" as above. I know starters are best, but the recipe said that simply sprinkling directly onto wort was okay with the dry yeast (Muntons)

4) Temp - I think I remember pitching when the wort was ~80 degrees ( a bit high, but I read that should still be okay). Since then, the fermenter has been in a room that has temperature between 65 and 75 degrees for the last 6 days.

Am I missing anything else that might have caused a problem? Regardless of where I screwed up, if is is clear the yeast is dead, then what should I do? Can I get another packet of yeast and put it in? Is my batch a goner? Thoughts?

Any and all help would be appreciated. Snarky comments are welcome as well as long as they are funny. :)

Thanks in advance!
 
fatshady said:
My background/brewing experience: complete n00b and probably a little bit of an idiot. First batch had hiccups, but now it is happily (I hope) conditioning in the bottles and hopefully ready in 2 more weeks.

The problem is my second batch. My brew day was 6 days ago and it still hasn't fermented at all. I peeked in the fermenter and I don't see any foam or anything. I've checked the gravity readings and nothing has changed.

I've done some research on the forums, and thought through things that may have gone wrong on brew day:

1) Sanitation - I sanitized everything thoroughly, but I did NOT rinse the primary fermenter prior to pouring in the wort. I only dumped out the remaining sanitizer. Is it possible the remnants of the sanitizer killed the yeast?

2) Aeration - I aerated by dumping the wort back and forth between fermenter (bucket) and the brew kettle (which should be sanitary, right?). Maybe something here was done wrong

3) Pitch - I did not make a starter and merely sprinkled the yeast into the fermenter, then did one last "aeration" as above. I know starters are best, but the recipe said that simply sprinkling directly onto wort was okay with the dry yeast (Muntons)

4) Temp - I think I remember pitching when the wort was ~80 degrees ( a bit high, but I read that should still be okay). Since then, the fermenter has been in a room that has temperature between 65 and 75 degrees for the last 6 days.

Am I missing anything else that might have caused a problem? Regardless of where I screwed up, if is is clear the yeast is dead, then what should I do? Can I get another packet of yeast and put it in? Is my batch a goner? Thoughts?

Any and all help would be appreciated. Snarky comments are welcome as well as long as they are funny. :)

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

#1 you don't want to rinse if you used a no rinse Sanitizer. If you use starsan they say " don't fear the foam" because it won't cause any harm. So no problem there

#2 that's how I used to aerate and it worked pretty good. So no problem there

#3 you wouldn't want to make a starter for dry yeast. Rehydrateing it is a good idea but not an absolute necessity. But it depends on the og if it was enough yeast or not...
What was your og?

#4 that is pretty hot to pitch I try and get most of my beers in the low 60s before pitching. But definitely not hot enough to kill your yeast.


If you have a hydrometer take a sample and see if it has dropped. My guess is you pitched so warm your yeast went crazy and fermented that thing so fast you didn't notice.
 
Oops sorry just noticed you already checked the gravity. You didn't make any horrible mistakes that I can see. I would say pitch more yeast and aerate again but I would wait for more replies on that as I'm not sure of my self!
 
If you have a hydrometer take a sample and see if it has dropped. My guess is you pitched so warm your yeast went crazy and fermented that thing so fast you didn't notice.
Click to expand...

That would be my guess to, muntons can ferment out very quickly at warm temps, say mid 70's maybe as quick as 24 hours.

any chance a leak in the the fermenter and co2 got by the airlock

What kit did you use? Midwest? they can ferment very quick

In any of these scenarios you still maybe ok
 
Just checked the gravity and it is 1.012ish. I can't find where I wrote down the OG, but the Midwest website shows that the OG for the recipe (Irish Red Ale) should be around 1.042. So , I guess it did ferment? Perhaps my lid wasn't air tight?

Is it done and ready to be bottled? Anything I should do to counter act bad flavors from the fast fermentation?

Anyhow, thanks for all the help folks! Super fast responses and a quick resolution. Thanks to all the pros!
 
fatshady said:
Anything I should do to counter act bad flavors from the fast fermentation?
Click to expand...

It's not the "fast fermentation" that is likely to give this batch off-flavors. It's the too high pitch and ferment temps that will cause your problems. If possible, pitch a typical ale in the low-mid 60's and keep it there for the first week to ferment before letting it get to the upper 60's.

Long-term conditioning can help you get rid of many off-flavors. Others, like fusel alcohol, do not condition out. If it's still in the primary, leave it there for another few weeks. A one week ferment isn't long enough. Bottle condition for at least 3 weeks (70's are fine for that) before putting a sample in the fridge at least three days.
 
fatshady said:
Just checked the gravity and it is 1.012ish. I can't find where I wrote down the OG, but the Midwest website shows that the OG for the recipe (Irish Red Ale) should be around 1.042. So , I guess it did ferment? Perhaps my lid wasn't air tight?

Is it done and ready to be bottled? Anything I should do to counter act bad flavors from the fast fermentation?

Anyhow, thanks for all the help folks! Super fast responses and a quick resolution. Thanks to all the pros!
Click to expand...

Did you taste the beer when you took a sample? Looks like it did ferment if your gravity is that low, however I would leave it alone for another 2-3 weeks before bottling. This will give the yeast a chance to clean up any off flavors, which you probably do have since you pitched at 80 degrees.
 
I have had this issue before. I was freaking out because the yeast and sugar was not making things happen. I waited 2 whole weeks. Nothing happened. I called midwestbrewingsupplies and they mentioned the temperature. the temp on your wert was to high and killed the yeast. I added more yeast and in a couple of hours I could see the difference. It worked out. 75 is a bit high and risky.
 
1860 said:
I have had this issue before. I was freaking out because the yeast and sugar was not making things happen. I waited 2 whole weeks. Nothing happened. I called midwestbrewingsupplies and they mentioned the temperature. the temp on your wert was to high and killed the yeast. I added more yeast and in a couple of hours I could see the difference. It worked out. 75 is a bit high and risky.
Click to expand...

There is no way 80 degree wort kills yeast. Anything above 120 may kill the yeast.
 
I have done a few midwest kits with mutons and they all ferment very quick usually with in 24 to 36 hours although temps in the low to mid 60's slow it down.

My very first kit midwest amber ale, temp got away on me, got as high as 75F, turned out as one of my best.

let it ferment 3 weeks either in the primary or rack to secondary if you what to start another batch, then bottle and let it for at least 2 weeks and sample one.
My bet is it will be great.

Next time find the leak in the fermenter or watch closely for that quick mutons fermentation and try to keep the temp at or below 65
 

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