Brewer's Best Irish Stout

[aggiegoalie]

I haven't made beer in about 5 years, but I followed directions and sanitized everything.


I boiled the wort to direction and had a SG of 1.050 (in range of direction) I finished at 5:30 on Saturday and as of noon on Monday, I do not have any bubbling or fermentation. I do not have the package of yeast to verify date. I chilled wort to around 85 degrees and ended up adding about a half gallon of water to fill to 5 gallons, so my temp was probably around 80 degrees, so I dont believe that is too hot and killed the yeast.


What should I do, get more yeast, dump or any another suggestion?


Thanks John

 

[NorthernWinos]

Keep an eye on it, give it some air and stir........and....always have more yeast on hand.

 

[aggiegoalie]

how long after the boil can you add yeast? I have never had this issue before, the area the fermenter is in is at about 70-72 degrees.

 

[smurfe]

If you have a brew shop in the area go get you some more yeast. You say you boiled this kit? Did you give it a stir when it was done to add oxygen back into the wort? I see you did add water so that would add some back in but maybe not enough. Boiling the wort will remove all the oxygen from the liquid.


If you have a local shop get you a tube or two of White Labs WLP004 Irish Ale yeast or an Activator package of Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale or a couple packets of Fermentis Safale US-05 American Ale yeast. I recommend two tubes of the White Labs if you aren't making a starter, the Activator pack of Wyeast (you can get Activator or Propagator) or two packs of the dry yeast to have a large enough yeast count to get a good fermentation rolling. I use the Fermentis yeast and have a good fermentation going in less than 6-8 hours almost every time by just sprinkling the yeast like a wine kit. I never rehydrate it. It just sounds like your yeast was bad to me.

 

[aggiegoalie]

Yes, I live in Dallas, so Fine Vine Wines is down the road from me.


I boiled the kit, used my chiller to bring the wort down to 80-85, I racked into my fermenter and noticed I was at about 4.5 gallons, so I added about a half gallon for cool water. Then I pitched with the temp being about 80degrees. I allowed the yeast to sit on top for about a minute then I stirred the yeast in and tried to get as much oxygen into it as I could stirring for about 2-3 mins.


I will swing by and pick up more yeast tonight and speak to George about the best yeast and method to get it going.


Thanks for all the help here.
John

 

[aggiegoalie]

I went to the store and got another packet of yeast. I poured the yeast into about a quarter cup of warm water. I watch the yeast swell up for about 15-20 mins and then I poured into the fermenter and stirred a bit.


Almost 24 hours later and still nothing. When I did open the lid there was foam on top, should I go home tonight and check gravity and see if anything has happened, I was at 1.050 when I started. That could mean I have a leak somewhere if it has dropped below 1.050???


Thoughts???

 

[NorthernWinos]

Is your lid on so tight that it is starving the yeast for oxygen????

If there is foam, there is hope!!!!

 

[aggiegoalie]

I have my lid clicked down and sealed. When I originally pitched I stirred the yeast in and tried to oxygenate the wort. I have made less than 10 batches and have never had this issue before. Is your suggestion, to open it up and stir in some more oxygen or not seal it up with the lid, just keep it covered?

 

[AAASTINKIE]

Make sure your lid gasket is OK and not leaking air out, sounds like you may be fermenting.
Maybe do a SG check to see if it's done.

 

[smurfe]

Normally if there is no fermentation in a beer it is a yeast issue or the lack of oxygen in the wort to allow the yeast to work. Even with nasty infections in the wort it will still ferment. This sounds like a yeast or temperature issue to me.


The most violent fermentations I have ever had with any beers have been with stouts. I had one blow the airlock out of the conical and erupt all over the inside of the fermentation fridge. I didn't catch it for a couple days and the beer was exposed to oxygen too long and was ruined. That was a sweet stout.


I then did a dry stout that I fermented 5 gallons in my 8 gallon conical. I didn't put it in the fermentation fridge and actually saw it blow the airlock out of the conical. I did use a liquid yeast on both of these. The sweet stout I made a starter and the dry stout I added two vials of yeast right to the wort.


I don't know what type of yeast you are using but it sounds like the cell count is low. You say you re-hydrated. Do you know what temp the water was? Also, did you boil the water first to sterilize it and let it cool to appropriate levels? Do you have a high chlorine level in your water? You can use tap water but need to assure the temps are not too warm or too cool. It will normally tell you the recommended temps to rehydrate at on the package.

 

[aggiegoalie]

I used regular tap water, I didnt check that exact temperature, it was basically warm. The yeast swelled up in about 10 mins and I stirred it in last night. I checked it this morning and there was more foam on top of the beer soI tried to stir in some oxygen. On a related note, it did smell more like beer than it did when it was wort.


I will check gravity tomorrow, 5 days later and see what has happened and will post here.


Thanks for everyone who has replied. If it is bad, I guess it wasnt the end of the world. As long as I learn what happened and learn from it. It would actually be one of my cheaper lessons,

 

[aggiegoalie]

One more piece of info on the ongoing saga. I check the specific gravity last night and it was at ~1.028 and it started at 1.050, so it would appear that something is going on, it isn't as violent as expected. I will check again this weekend and if it has dropped to the recommended 1.017-1.020, then I will bottle and hope for the best. I just hope that all the openning of the fermenter didnt introduce some nasties. I sterilized everything that touched the beer and kept it covered as much as possible, so hoping for the best.


Will update when I have more.