Justin Harmon
Member
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2020
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I've got an urgent brewing situation here. Any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!
My main issue is this:
My airlock is not bubbling whatsoever after 24 hours since pitching my yeast and the ambient temp is about 74-77.
I realize that it is very possible that there is a tiny air leak between the plastic bucket and lid (it is a new bucket and lid that I have never previously used to brew) which would mean I have no idea if fermentation is actually occurring short of taking a hydrometer reading.
My main questions are:
1. How long should I wait before taking a hydrometer reading?
2. Should I pitch new yeast? If so, then when?
3. Would pitching new yeast actually hurt anything (If my original yeast is actually ok and my fermenter isn’t bubbling because of the poor seal of the bucket or a very very slow activation)?
Background: (In case anyone is further interested)
I finished brewing a red IPA yesterday and pitched the liquid yeast around 8pm.
I had “activated” the yeast by smacking the nutrient packet inside roughly an hour and a half before pitching it. The yeast temperature was up to about room temperature and the packet did seem to expand slightly after activation and sitting outside of the refrigerator. There were two mini nutrient compartments within the yeast pouch, one of which (to my frustration) was somehow NOT broken. I decided to pitch it anyway and hope for the best.
I’m afraid the yeast may have possibly gone bad or became inactive, (or maybe the 1 of 2 nutrient packets was actually the ONLY nutrient packet in the yeast?). The temperature of the wort before I added water up to the 5-gallon mark was 66 and then came up to about 70 afterwards. The yeast packet said that it was BEST to be used 6 months after packaging and it was in fact a week past six months.
My main issue is this:
My airlock is not bubbling whatsoever after 24 hours since pitching my yeast and the ambient temp is about 74-77.
I realize that it is very possible that there is a tiny air leak between the plastic bucket and lid (it is a new bucket and lid that I have never previously used to brew) which would mean I have no idea if fermentation is actually occurring short of taking a hydrometer reading.
My main questions are:
1. How long should I wait before taking a hydrometer reading?
2. Should I pitch new yeast? If so, then when?
3. Would pitching new yeast actually hurt anything (If my original yeast is actually ok and my fermenter isn’t bubbling because of the poor seal of the bucket or a very very slow activation)?
Background: (In case anyone is further interested)
I finished brewing a red IPA yesterday and pitched the liquid yeast around 8pm.
I had “activated” the yeast by smacking the nutrient packet inside roughly an hour and a half before pitching it. The yeast temperature was up to about room temperature and the packet did seem to expand slightly after activation and sitting outside of the refrigerator. There were two mini nutrient compartments within the yeast pouch, one of which (to my frustration) was somehow NOT broken. I decided to pitch it anyway and hope for the best.
I’m afraid the yeast may have possibly gone bad or became inactive, (or maybe the 1 of 2 nutrient packets was actually the ONLY nutrient packet in the yeast?). The temperature of the wort before I added water up to the 5-gallon mark was 66 and then came up to about 70 afterwards. The yeast packet said that it was BEST to be used 6 months after packaging and it was in fact a week past six months.