Ok I'm hoping someone can help me understand what's wrong with my process...
On Saturday I pulled off my first flawless all-grain batch... Measurements were perfect, gravity readings were spot on, everything. It was an Irish red ale, starting gravity of 1.052.
About two hours later I pulled, decanted and pitched a 2L starter of White Labs Irish Ale Yeast, put my brew bucket in my ferm chamber and dialed in my BrewPi to get it and keep it at 66F.
Today is day 3 and this is what I'm looking at... Very little evidence of activity... The light krausen ring almost looks like what you'd see when it's finished:
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1468366750.765516.jpg
A couple factors I'm wondering if it is delaying active fermentation or if it hurt the viability of the yeast..?
- I didn't have a ton of time so I pulled the starter from the fridge, decanted, and let it warm for about 30 mins. It was still a little cool so I ran the outside of the starter vessel under some warm water to get it warmer. Then I pitched.
- I was only able to chill the wort to about 74F and pitched at that temp. The chamber cooled it the rest of the way to 66F in about 8 hours. It's been at 66F since then.
- I have it in a 6.5 gallon bucket (brand new, the seals are tight) and the wort is right at the 5 gallon mark... Maybe the headspace is just holding the CO2 and I keep letting it out when I check for progress?
Should I just keep trying to RDWHAHB or pitch more yeast? Will I wake up in the AM and it'll be bubbling nicely? Should I take a sample and measure the gravity and maybe it's done already?
I don't want this batch to go to waste... And I want to avoid opening the lid for a third time...
This batch will be great assuming those yeasties wake up and do their thing...
On Saturday I pulled off my first flawless all-grain batch... Measurements were perfect, gravity readings were spot on, everything. It was an Irish red ale, starting gravity of 1.052.
About two hours later I pulled, decanted and pitched a 2L starter of White Labs Irish Ale Yeast, put my brew bucket in my ferm chamber and dialed in my BrewPi to get it and keep it at 66F.
Today is day 3 and this is what I'm looking at... Very little evidence of activity... The light krausen ring almost looks like what you'd see when it's finished:
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1468366750.765516.jpg
A couple factors I'm wondering if it is delaying active fermentation or if it hurt the viability of the yeast..?
- I didn't have a ton of time so I pulled the starter from the fridge, decanted, and let it warm for about 30 mins. It was still a little cool so I ran the outside of the starter vessel under some warm water to get it warmer. Then I pitched.
- I was only able to chill the wort to about 74F and pitched at that temp. The chamber cooled it the rest of the way to 66F in about 8 hours. It's been at 66F since then.
- I have it in a 6.5 gallon bucket (brand new, the seals are tight) and the wort is right at the 5 gallon mark... Maybe the headspace is just holding the CO2 and I keep letting it out when I check for progress?
Should I just keep trying to RDWHAHB or pitch more yeast? Will I wake up in the AM and it'll be bubbling nicely? Should I take a sample and measure the gravity and maybe it's done already?
I don't want this batch to go to waste... And I want to avoid opening the lid for a third time...
This batch will be great assuming those yeasties wake up and do their thing...