Hi, So I'm doing my second brew. A stout. I followed the exact same process as my first brew (which came out ok), but this one I don't see any bubbling in the airlock, nor any foam/yeast ring at the top of my fermenter. Specific gravity was 1.005 I believe if Im reading it right, and I forgot to get the OG reading (my bad). I opened the fermenter and there are small bubbles coming from the bottom. Should I throw out my batch and try again or is there something I can do?
Welcome to the BA site and to this great homebrewing hobby, MrChoob. How long has the beer been fermenting? If you properly read your hydrometer at 1.005 then your beer is likely already done. That's a pretty low gravity reading unless it is a typo and you meant 1.050 or some other higher number. Does the beer smell like beer?
Im not exactly sure but the numbers goes from 1.000 - 1.100 and its really close to the 1.000. I can't smell the beer at the moment, allergies blocking my nose. Is such a low gravity reading bad?
Welcome! When new to brewing you should get a few gravity readings. Post boil and 2 weeks after fermentation would be good marks. An OG and FG are what you need to determine if your yeast have done their work. If you haven't seen any activity in you fermenter I've got a few quesitons. How long ago did you brew, and did you add your yeast on brew day? What strain yeast did you use, and how much did you pitch? What was the temp of the wort when you pitched and what was your fermentation (ambient) temperature after that? Most importantly, how does it taste? It should be a little off if it's young, warm, and flat. It should taste a little boozy and a little like warm soda.
It just depends on what style you're brewing. Unless this was a dry stout, 1.005 does seem a bit on the low end. If you could post the recipe and process, I think that would be helpful to answer some questions.
