1st stage HELP!

[mprima]

1st time brewer. I think something may be wrong with my 1st stage. I brewed the American Wheat Extract. Followed the instructions as well as the ingredients. 6 lbs of extract, 1 oz Willamette (60 min), 1 oz Cascade (15 min), also added 1lbs of Honey (15 min). OG = approx. 1.054deg F

Safale US-05 Yeast. Made a half gallon starter 24 hrs before pitching. Pitch Temp was 70 deg, both wort and starter.

First 24 hrs everything looked good. Fermentation kicked off within 2 hrs and CO2 was steady coming out of airlock. Krausen rose nicely. Temp held around 66-70 deg.

It’s been 60 hours in into Primary and all CO2 activity has stopped at airlock. Krausen is still thick on top.

I expected the CO2 activity to continue a bit longer then this. Also kind of extected the Krausen to start to fall as the CO2 activity stopped.

Houston, do we have a problem??? This is my first brew so I’m a little nervous. I have read and read and read and took all advise I could find to make my first batch a success and everything was going very nicely until now. :?

[fusballfrk]

Relax, I am sure that everything is fine. If you have a hydrometer, take a reading to assure yourself that the yeast are munching down. If you made a starter and had an OG of 52, it is possible that the primary fermentation is wrapping up after only 60 hours. Let it condition another week or two. Walk away from it. Try to put it out of your mind. I know that’s near impossible, but trust me YOU MADE BEER! And it will be a good one because you made it. :cheers:

[pietro]

Airlock activity really doesn’t mean anything, so based on what you wrote, I would say you are fine. Those bubbles make homebrewers happy and feel good, but they are not an indicator of fermentation activity. Luckily for you, the krausen is. A couple of questions:

-66-70* ambient temperature or beer temperature?
-Did you actually make starter wort for the US-05? Dry yeasts don’t need starters and it can actually impair their ability to ferment. Again you are likely fine here as you pitched a lot of cells, but one of the benefits of dry yeast is a starter is not needed.

[mprima]

Yes that is wort temp. I have a thermo inside suction cupped to the side.

I made the starter cause it was recommended to do so in Palmer’s book. He suggests doing it to help
kick start cell numbers. I made sure both starter and wort temp were the same so I didn’t temp shock
the little guys. One thing I forgot to do was take the OG of the starter. I did the wort before I pitched.

I’ll relax. I just expected things to take a little longer. And yes it’s hard to ignore it because I’m very excited.

Thanks for the advise. I’ll keep y’all posted.

[fullhousebrew]

you are the new dad starting at the kid in the crib all night… which BTW everyone else on here was the same way too ha ha

I think everything looks fine based on your comments.

[pietro]

[quote=“mprima”]

I made the starter cause it was recommended to do so in Palmer’s book. He suggests doing it to help
kick start cell numbers. I made sure both starter and wort temp were the same so I didn’t temp shock
the little guys. [/quote]

All correct, but I don’t recall him recommending starters for dry yeasts specifically, I actually think he makes the distinction to NOT make them for dry yeasts. If using liquid yeasts, in most cases, a starter is extremely beneficial indeed.

Either way, your beer should be fine, enjoy!

[chetgregg]

Congrats on your first beer! It’s a great moment. Don’t let your worries take away from the awesomeness of what you are about to enjoy.

One of the benefits of a dry yeast like US-05 is that all you need to do is rehydrate and pour it in. It can handle about anything (big beers and small). In fact, I’m almost to the point where I only use liquid yeasts in specialty beers (Belgians, etc.) because the dry yeast works so well and is so easy.

Take a gravity reading at 14 days and you will know where you are. No hydrometer? Let it stay in primary for 21 days, no worries. Don’t rush it. I’d rather take the time to have a beer that’s completely done. IMHO there’s nothing worse than that “it didn’t ferment all the way,” “homebrew” taste. Time is your friend.

Save one of those first beers for me!
Chet

[mprima]

Thanks for the all the encouragement and advise. I took a hydro last night and it was 1.012. So about 5.2%. She’s working. I also took a pull of the sample. It was warm and flat but I could definitely get an idea of what it’ll taste like. (had to taste it, wasn’t going to put it back and it’s against the law to pour beer down the drain right )

I’m more confident and excited now. Thanks again everyone. Oh and point taken about the Dry Yeast. I’ll try rehydrate and pitch next time.

:cheers:

[pietro]

I mean don’t take me the wrong way, starters are AWESOME, and a fun thing to tinker with before your brew day (bonus points for an erlenmeyer flask and stir plate…I still feel a little like Walter White whenever I use mine, which is often).

Read up on some ways to harvest and repitch yeast. It can save you $5/5 gallon brew or so if you are using dry yeast, and US-05 is good for multiple generations. Plus I find it to be a lot of fun to do between brews. Most importantly, it will ensure you are treating your co-brewers (head brewers?) aka the yeast really well and they will make you better beer for it.

I am crazy remiss in not saying earlier: welcome to the hobby/obsession, congrats on your first brew, and brew well and often!