- Joined
- Apr 8, 2018
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Hi All,
I've just started brewing my first batch (5L BIAB wheat beer) and I started without a hydrometer and airlock as I wasn't overly concerned with knowing the ABV - figuring as long as I left it long enough and it tastes good i will drink it and that I would start brewing on the cheap using what tools (pots etc) I have available in my kitchen and if I like it then I will buy more gear later (which I think I will). Only problem is that now I'm not seeing what i expected and i have no way of testing to see where i am at... so I'm hoping people with some experience might know where I'm at.
My problem:
I've been fermenting for about 10 days now and at no point have i really seen any significant krausen develop in my carbouy. I have been keeping it within the target temperatures stated on the yeast pack and I could smell some gasses when I open the cooler I've stored it in a couple times but otherwise the lack of physical fermentation evidence is worrying me.
I suppose I'm thinking two things could have gone wrong.
1.I got crappy yeast. Its a decent brand (safale) but it was on special so I'm wondering if the cells are dead?
2. I live in Thailand at the moment and I can't use the tap water here for brewing (because of taste not because of safety), and all I have available is reverse osmosis water. I understand this is great if you want to build a water profile for your beer, but for my first batch I didn't want to get that complex so I just used straight RO water. Can the lack of nutrients in the water stop fermentation?
Or am I overthinking it and it is possible for it to ferment fine without much krausen?
I've just started brewing my first batch (5L BIAB wheat beer) and I started without a hydrometer and airlock as I wasn't overly concerned with knowing the ABV - figuring as long as I left it long enough and it tastes good i will drink it and that I would start brewing on the cheap using what tools (pots etc) I have available in my kitchen and if I like it then I will buy more gear later (which I think I will). Only problem is that now I'm not seeing what i expected and i have no way of testing to see where i am at... so I'm hoping people with some experience might know where I'm at.
My problem:
I've been fermenting for about 10 days now and at no point have i really seen any significant krausen develop in my carbouy. I have been keeping it within the target temperatures stated on the yeast pack and I could smell some gasses when I open the cooler I've stored it in a couple times but otherwise the lack of physical fermentation evidence is worrying me.
I suppose I'm thinking two things could have gone wrong.
1.I got crappy yeast. Its a decent brand (safale) but it was on special so I'm wondering if the cells are dead?
2. I live in Thailand at the moment and I can't use the tap water here for brewing (because of taste not because of safety), and all I have available is reverse osmosis water. I understand this is great if you want to build a water profile for your beer, but for my first batch I didn't want to get that complex so I just used straight RO water. Can the lack of nutrients in the water stop fermentation?
Or am I overthinking it and it is possible for it to ferment fine without much krausen?