First brew....no bubbles, no krausen layer....help

There really is no need to transfer your beer to a secondary fermenter. I would recommend that you don’t conduct this transfer.

Cheers!

 

If no activity at all within 3-4 days, re-pitch yeast, then leave two weeks before looking inside again. Seriously. Don't keep opening container and looking inside.

Skip secondary. Seems all kits say "do secondary" but as best practice it's just not necessary and introduces risk of infection and oxidation.

I really wish the people who write kit instructions would move forward into the 19th, err, 20th, err, 21st century.

What is your other container? Is it another 6.5 gallon bucket? Do you also have a bottling carboy/bucket on top of that?

 

I would second that motion as you do not want to risk contamination on what may be a perfectly good batch of beer but slow yeast. Personally if you can afford to do it you may want to consider going with liquid yeast, at least this way you know you have a healthy thriving culture.

 

I agree with everyone else. Don't rack to secondary. As said before, If there's no activity by 3rd day, repitch. Any dry-hopping you need to do you can do in primary with the bucket. Also, make sure you confirm that the lid is fully sealed. It may seem sealed but may actually only be partially sealed. I made this mistake on my first batch. I didn't see any airlock activity on first day, but I noticed there was that sweet smell of what I assumed to be fermentation. Sure enough, as soon as I applied pressure to every part of the lid, I found one section that I apparently didn't press on when I initially closed it. As soon as the lid was fully closed, the airlock started going nuts.

 

Please tell us you didn't forget to aerate the wort before the yeast was pitched.

 

The OP used dry yeast. I am unsure which brand he used but Danstar states that their dry yeast does not require aeration.

Cheers!

 

Sorry to do this to you Jack, but you're flagged.

While the yeast may not require aeration, the wort most certainly do.

Can I call you a cab?

 

OK, I’ll bite. Why does “wort most certainly do” require aeration if it’s not for the yeast?

Cheers!

 

As a FYI below is from Danstar as a FAQ:

“I always aerate my wort when using liquid yeast. Do I need to aerate the wort before pitching dry yeast? No, there is no need to aerate the wort but it does not harm the yeast either. During its aerobic production, dry yeast accumulates sufficient amounts of unsaturated fatty acids and sterols to produce enough biomass in the first stage of fermentation. The only reason to aerate the wort when using wet yeast is to provide the yeast with oxygen so that it can produce sterols and unsaturated fatty acids which are important parts of the cell membrane and therefore essential for biomass production. If the slurry from dry yeast fermentation is re-pitched from one batch of beer to another, the wort has to be aerated as with any liquid yeast.”

Cheers!

 

Tell the truth, Jack - do you or do you not aerate your wort before and / or after pitching your yeast?

 

Why in the world would anyone not aerate their wort after its been boiled for 60 - 90" during which all, if not most, of the O2 has been driven off?

Maybe I'm the one who needs a ride home?

 

The reason for wort aeration is that yeast need oxygen to build up their cell walls prior to propagating. JackHorzempa's point is that Danstar says that their dry yeast has already built up those walls. So no additional O2 is needed.

 

Good the hear.
At this point...as others have said...patience is called for.

Vikeman is probably right.
Come tomorrow, fermentation will be well underway.

 

Can't imagine pitching any type of yeast without aerating the wort.
Does anyone actually do that?

 

You don't HAVE to rehydrate dry yeast, but it's been said to be better for it.

I've gotten lazy and at the end of the brew days, if I happen upon a recipe that I've decided to use dry yeast on... i just pitch two packs and dry as a bone into the well aerated wort. Usually less than 12 hours later I've got a boat load of activity, unless it's BRY-97.

 

I believe they are full of shit and use it as a way to sway people to use their product. Much like white labs says their yeast vial is plenty for a batch of beer. Yeah. Right.

 

Don't white labs and wyeast both state their vials/smakpaks are 100 billion cells? And don't most beer calculators/software call for around 200 billion for the average 5 gallon batch of typical ABV beer? More for stronger beer? These are rhetorical questions, obviously. I make starters.

With dry yeast, I rehydrate. Although I admit I made a batch or two without doing so. But that was when I was new at brewing. Now I rehydrate.

 

“Don't white labs and wyeast both state their vials/smakpaks are 100 billion cells?” White Labs states a range of 70 to 140 billion yeast cells. Wyeast advertise 100 billion yeast cells in a smack-pack. An article in BYO states: “Wyeast’s 125 mL Activator packs are advertised to contain 100 billion cells, but actually average around 120–130 billion cells, according to Les Perkins, microbiologist and quality control manager for Wyeast.”

“And don't most beer calculators/software call for around 200 billion for the average 5 gallon batch of typical ABV beer?” Yeast calculators such as the one on the Mr. Malty website will typically state that you need more yeast cells than the above mentioned values (it is dependent on wort gravity). For example, the Mr. Malty yeast calculator lists the need for 177 billion yeast cells for an 1.048 OG ale. The Mr. Malty yeast calculator has a number of conservative assumptions and consequently will result in providing an ‘answer’ for a yeast starter size that is conservative (i.e., larger than otherwise):

· The Mr. Malty yeast calculator utilizes the George Fix assumption that you need 0.75 million yeast cells per ml per degree Plato. This assumed value is predicated upon the assumption that the yeast is being re-pitched. For ‘new’ yeast (i.e., a White Labs vial or a Wyeast smack-pack) you are not re-pitching so the value of 0.75 million cells/ml/°P is very conservative.

· The Mr. Malty yeast calculator utilizes a value of less than 100 billion yeast cells for brand new yeast. As you can read above, for the case of Wyeast smack-packs this is a very conservative assumption.

There are other conservative assumptions in the Mr. Malty yeast calculator. The net result of using an estimator that has multiple conservative assumptions is an ‘answer’ that is very conservative.

There is nothing wrong with following the advice of an estimator that is providing a very conservative answer (e.g., make a yeast starter of x liter size). There is little chance that the result will be over-pitching such that it will affect the quality of the beer (e.g., yeast bite). If making a starter for every batch of beer is your homebrewing practice you should continue to do so.

A moderate gravity ale can be homebrewed with high quality by simply pitching a Wyeast smack-pack or a White Labs vial without making a starter. I have done so many, many times.

Cheers!