brew not fermenting?

[stephent]

Hi guys,

Put a Tom Caxon Bitter and a Coopers Europen lager into buckets last night. Check them this morning and there was no action at all? The previous two brews i have done went fine and by the following moring they were really active.

Only thing i can think of is that the water was to cold? Think it was at about 17degrees when i added the yeast.

Will the yeast kick in when its warmed up or will i need to add more yeast? Maybe these brews just aint as active as the last two i have done?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[jamesb]

What's the temperature of the wort at the moment? If it's too cold it won't ferment.

 

[stephent]

it must be about 17 degrees, room temp. As all my others have been.

Thanks for the quick reply.

 

[jamesb]

Do you have a hydrometer? If so, what's the gravity at the moment.

It could probably do with being a bit warmer - around 20 degC. At 17 degrees, it may be fermenting but very slowly so you won't see much activity.

If there's NO sign of fermentation at all, you could give it a good rousing. You don't want to do this if it has started fermentation though as it will oxidise the alcohol.

 

[craigite]

What temp is the brew at now?
If you have it somewhere warm and it's up to 19-21 then I'd expect some life. If not, put it in the airing cupboard etc a get it to 21deg.
I'd give a good stir (with clean sterilised paddle) and pop out and get more yeast just in case.
If I still had nothing happening tonight I'd try more yeast.

Never known one to fail, but have had to give a few a good prod to get them going.

 

[stephent]

both read 1040 yesterday evening.

Thanks for the advice guys.

 

[stephent]

got home and there seems to be SOME activity, but when i say some, i mean hardly anything at all. The heating has come on and they are in a small room next to the rad now, so that should warm them up. Hopefully that will wake it up a bit.

What do you guys do to regulate the temp?

 

[jamesb]

At the moment i use an aquarium heater.

 

[ricardo]

Get an aquarium heater :mrgreen:
Jamesb beat me too it

 

[ricardo]

Somebody posted an ebay link to some cheap aquarium heaters but I can't just locate it.

 

[stephent]

good plan. I'll take a look now.

 

[stephent]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/220-240V-Subm...QQptZUK_Pet_Supplies_Fish?hash=item27af43cbf6

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aquarium-Subm...QQptZUK_Pet_Supplies_Fish?hash=item2a034a35d4

what about these?

 

[ricardo]

Be careful with that plug....never seen them before.
They wre around that price but 'buy it now'
25 watt is enough for a 30 litre FV

 

[ricardo]

Oh just seen why they are cheap........shipping from Hong flamin Kong !!!!!!

 

[ricardo]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AQUARIUM-25W-25WA ... 2303dc8a72

Cant be a bad price

 

[stephent]

checked it this morning and there is some action. Not as much as i would like, but its defo going. I'll take hydro readings tonight and give an update. Hopefully its dropped.

 

[jimboedin]

Hi

The exact same thing happened to me a few weeks ago. When I pitched the yeast the temperature of the wort was only 15 degrees C. I thought nothing was happening after a day or so, as I could only see small bubbles, so I put it next to the radiator for 1 week and it fermented fine.

 

[stephent]

ok i havent taken a reading but its really going now. like i'd expect really, they both have a really good head.

Lesson learnt i think.

Thanks for all the help and advice all.

 

[stephent]

Just took the readings. Its hardly budged. Now it has a decent head on it though. Think im just a few days behind.

 

[stephent]

Well they havo both got down to 1016. The bitter looks like there is no more life but the coopers is still going, but looks less lively. hope they keep going. What abv can i expect at the moment?