Newbie looking for advice

[Littletinca]

I made my brew last saturday, and its in a 25l brew bin with a sealed lid and air lock.

It didnt do anything for 3 days, then on tuesday, it started to ferment, and the airlock was bubbling nicely.

The brew bin is sitting inside a large plastic trug in case it bubbled over. On tuesday night, due to the low temps ( room drops to around 17C when the heating goes off at night) i put 4 hot water bottles round the outside of the brew bin.

Wednesday morning, the airlock had stopped bubbling and hasnt bubbled since. I had a quick peek tonight and it seems to have gone flat whereas Tuesday there was a nice froth on top.

Have I killed the yeast with the hot water bottles, and if so, can I add more yeast and get it going again.

Im due to add the malt on saturday. Should I still do so?

Or is it ruined, and should I tip it away and start again.

 

[Slid]

I'm a bit confused here. Could you explain what kit you have made and what you meant by "being due to add the malt on Saturday"?

It sounds possible that the main, initial ferment is over, but to verify this, it will be necessary to take a specific gravity reading using a hydrometer.

 

[Littletinca]

Sorry. I misled you. I made a mistake Im supposed to add hops on saturday not malt....sorry.

It ws a kit I got as a christmas gift. It was in a plastic pouch type container with wet and dry compartments. In the dry compartment was a silve foil pack labelled " bitter hops". Im supposed to add this on Saturday.

The only identifyer on the pack is a website. www.makeyourowndrinks.co.uk

My son bougt me the pack, so it was probably cheap as chips

Also, could fermentation really be over, start to finish in 24 hrs ?

 

[Dutto]

.............

Also, could fermentation really be over, start to finish in 24 hrs ?

It is very unlikely that the fermentation is over in 24 hours ...

(The "makeyourowndrinks website says "Ensure kept at a constant warm temperature between 20 ��" 25ºC for 10 days.")

... but it is possible that you "stalled" the yeast by getting it too hot.

Yeast will usually keep working all the way down to 12 degrees (albeit very slowly) and then revive when it warms up a bit. However, when it stalls due to high temperature (pitching when the temperature is too high or heating the wort too much during fermentation) it often needs another shot of yeast to get going again.

I suggest that you leave it overnight and if there is no activity tomorrow then nip down to your local Wilco, get a sachet of Ale Yeast and give it another go. :thumb:

 

[Littletinca]

Thats excellent advice. Thank you.

 

[H0PM0NSTER]

No bubbles from the airlock doesn't necessarily mean it isn't still fermenting. It could just be the seal on your fermentor. It would recommend getting yourself a hydrometer to see what the gravity is and see whether it is dropping or stuck. You can buy one for £3.50 in wilkos.

I don't think you will have killed the yeast by placing water bottles around your FV. If it's really not fermenting it's probably stuck and so it's worth giving it a gentle stir with a sterilised spoon to rouse the yeast and increasing the temp a little. As you've already got the FV sat in a bucket you could add water to the bucket and use an aquarium heater to heat it. It's the easiest way to keep your beer at the desired temp as the heater is thermostatically controlled.

Good luck!

 

[LarryF]

You've got options here, as Dutto says certainly keep a packet of Wilko Gervin yeast on hand. You could also look to move the Fermenting Vessel (FV) to somewhere that has a constant temperature of about 20c if you can or you could look to insulate the FV with something like a folded up sleeping bag tied around it and a cushion on top of it. While you're down at Wilko maybe grab a little pot of Yeast Nutrient and add a teaspoon and give it a gentle stir. One thing though, only open the FV if you feel you absolutely have to, on my brews once I seal the FV I only lift the lid to have quick peek when I start bottling three weeks after pitching the yeast. Although the CO2 in the FV will protect the beer it's best not to tempt fate.

 

[JapanBrew]

You're probably fine. Just be patient. To hear 25 liters of wort high enough would take a lot of boiling water. So I think you're ok.
Many of my beers show no sign of activity but the gravity is dropping. Just wait a few more days and the check the gravity a week out.

 

[Toffee]

i'm with Japan on this one. I have had some beers where the visible ferment was over one night-krausen came and gone before I could really see it.

so leave it a few more days and take a gravity sample

 

[terrym]

All good advice on here
- don't rely on your airlock, your lid/FV seal may leak
- if you intend to brew beer on a regular basis get a hydrometer; typical FG for a kit ale is about 1.012 but can be higher or lower
- yeast is quite resilient, normal ale yeast will successfully work at temperatures between about 15 - 25*C but at different rates and producing different characteristics in the brew; it is advisable not to brew at temperatures outside this range, and preferable to brew in the lower middle of it
-primary fermentation time for a 'normal' strength ale is usually 3-5 days but can be longer according to a number of factors including yeast, temperature, and OG
- krausen can often fall back very early but the fermentation continues
- keep the lid on your FV as much as you can
- if the fermentation has stuck rousing sometimes helps, as does pitching with some fresh yeast but this assumes that there is sufficient fermentable sugar still in the brew to encourage the new yeast to get going, pitching with a yeast starter may be better than pitching with dried yeast in this instance
- leave your brew in the FV for two weeks if you can even if the primary has finished, it will be better for it
- be patient with your brew
And finally don't throw your brew away until you are absolutely 100% completely sure that it is 'ruined' which will in fact be a very rare occurrence, and most likely to be evident when you get to drink it, a few weeks along from the primary fermentation.

 

[Littletinca]

Thanks all for some excellent advice. I have a hydrometer, so will check the SG in few days. Starting SG was 1.040.

Just one more point, what is krausen ?

 

[Dutto]

The krausen is the mixture of yeast and other gunk that floats on the top of the wort in the FV.