Failed BrewersBest Kit? What'd I do wrong?

[JustinR]

I recently tried my first brew kit, a small 2Gallon kit which went over ok. Lots of mistakes, but its still somewhat palatable.

Knowing where I flubbed up last time, I purchased some new equipment to streamline certain steps and was more prepared, so I went with a full 5Gallon Brewers Best American Pale Ale kit. Compared to my first attempt, everything went smoothly. Grains steeped for 20, nice roiling boil for 40 minutes with ingredients added at appropriate intervals, clean rack from kettle to fermenter. I kept everything sanitized. Smooth sailing. However, after ~60 hours I saw no activity in the airlock. When I opened it up, there was no krausen (is that what it's called?) I thought maybe the included yeast packet was junk. So I opened the fermenter, gave it a good stir for a minute, and poured in a newly purchased pack of Safale Yeast as well as 4TSP of yeast energizer. I had excellent activity for a little more than 2 days, but it went dormant shortly after that and has not released any CO2 for two days.

A few things to note about the brew. (1) I "topped off" my 5G bucket with water directly form the faucet. (2) Perhaps I didn't stir the fermenter rigorously enough at first (3) My OG reading was pretty far off (called for 1.050-1.055 and mine was slightly past 1.060.

The reason I am posting is that I am concerned with how brief the activity was. My 2G kit (an IPA) had activity for nearly a week. I'm going to take a FG reading tonight, but I'm guessing this batch is ruined, and I'm not sure what I did wrong.

I would be thankful for any help.

 

[JaymzMF]

Different yeasts will behave differently. Even the same yeast will behave differently in different wort or other circumstances. And, you can not go off of air lock activity. I'm not too familiar with using dry yeast, but sometimes, my beers will finish in just a couple of days and other times, over a week. It just depends.
Did you aerate prior to pitch?
Take a gravity reading, then another in a few days. That will tell the story.

 

[smata67]

At 60 hours, pretty much all yeasts would still have top floating evidence of krausen. Is there a line of crud above the liquid level all around the perimeter of the bucket about 1" high? If not, then the krausen has not come and gone, it never arrived. And your gravity reading would be high.

 

[JustinR]

Did you aerate prior to pitch?

The kit said to stir after pitching yeast. Something felt wrong about that to me, so it's possible I didn't stir it rigorously enough.

At 60 hours, pretty much all yeasts would still have top floating evidence of krausen. Is there a line of crud above the liquid level all around the perimeter of the bucket about 1" high? If not, then the krausen has not come and gone, it never arrived. And your gravity reading would be high.

I didn't have anything at all after 60 hours. It just looked like coffee. I only had krausen after 60 hours when I opened the fermenter, stirred the wort, and pitched new yeast and energizer.

I'll take a reading when I get home tonight. What would have caused my initial reading to be so far off? I was past 1.060.

 

[beer-me-now]

Your initial reading could have been off by a little if you didn't let the sample cool before measuring or way off if you took the sample prior to topping up to 5 gallons.

Best bet is to not worry at all until you can take another reading to confirm if you had any fermentation at all.

 

[beer-me-now]

Also, fermentation could easily finish in 48 hours or less if your temperature is too warm.

 

[BrewInspector]

You made beer.

Airlock activity is a poor indicator.
You likely have a leak elsewhere permitting gas to escape without going through the airlock. That leak is of no significant concern. Positive pressure from the CO2 production will prevent ingress of anything unwanted.

Primary fermentation typically concludes within 2-3 days. There is additional activity of the yeast following this most active portion but the bulk of it is already done.

Nothing has been ruined.

You should also be treating your water for chlorine if you use municipal water.

Avoid stirring or introducing oxygen after fermentation has started.

 

[smata67]

Was there evidence of a krausen at 60 hours (the crud ring)? Your yeast might have been dead. I'm guessing it was dry yeast, no need to aerate, so that was not it. Keep in mind when you move to liquid yeasts, you will need to aerate.

 

[Dave Sarber]

A few things to note about the brew. (1) I "topped off" my 5G bucket with water directly form the faucet.

Chlorine in your tap water will kill your yeast. Jus' sayin'

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

The kit said to stir after pitching yeast. Something felt wrong about that to me, so it's possible I didn't stir it rigorously enough.

I believe they wanted to introduce oxygen/air into the wort for the yeast. Shaking/stirring does the same thing. Don't sweat it as the wort probably already had enough oxygen.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

I didn't have anything at all after 60 hours. It just looked like coffee. I only had krausen after 60 hours when I opened the fermenter, stirred the wort, and pitched new yeast and energizer.

I'll take a reading when I get home tonight. What would have caused my initial reading to be so far off? I was past 1.060.

Was the sample adjusted for the hydrometer calibration?

Perhaps the initial yeast was dead? Or pitched into wort that was too high in temp thereby killing the yeast?

 

[JustinR]

Was there evidence of a krausen at 60 hours (the crud ring)? Your yeast might have been dead. I'm guessing it was dry yeast, no need to aerate, so that was not it. Keep in mind when you move to liquid yeasts, you will need to aerate.

Krausen didn't appear at all until I pitched new yeast and energizer. Then it showed up within a day.

I took a reading just now, 1.014. Instructions called for 1.010-1.015. Seems like I'm good to go. Doesn't taste terrible either (but neither great). I think from now on when I buy a kit I'll just purchase a Safale yeast packet to go with it, since I had such a bad experience this time. Better safe than sorry.

 

[dwhite60]

Keep a couple packs of US-05 around. You never know when something will fail to start and it's good to have it as a backup. Fast, neutral, reliable.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[kh54s10]

Chlorine in your tap water will kill your yeast. Jus' sayin'

I doubt that, I used straight tap water for about 2 years, then just a Brita filter for the next couple before going to a house sized charcoal filter. Never killed my yeast.

Krausen didn't appear at all until I pitched new yeast and energizer. Then it showed up within a day.

I took a reading just now, 1.014. Instructions called for 1.010-1.015. Seems like I'm good to go. Doesn't taste terrible either (but neither great). I think from now on when I buy a kit I'll just purchase a Safale yeast packet to go with it, since I had such a bad experience this time. Better safe than sorry.

If you tasted the beer before bottle conditioning, flat and warm, don't go by that in judging the taste. I could be dramatically different when conditioned and chilled.