No activity in my fermenter at all

Mal1841

I started a brew of a festival ale old suffolk strong ale yesterday.  This is my 4rth batch of homemade beer I've done, each one a different kind from a different maker so this is the first time I've made a festival ale.
All the other beers I've made start to foam a day after I've added the yeast but this one I checked on this morning has no foam whatsoever on the top and doesnt look like theres any activity going on in the bucket at all.  Its sitting at a temp of 22 degrees so I would expect some sort of activity happening by now.  The lid is concaved into the bucket from me pushing the air out when sealing it yesterday afternoon and usually it starts to bulge outwards from the pressure building up.  the air lock is inactive to.
Any suggestions?

HBO_Staff

It can be quite common for some kits not to get properly going for a day or two, as long as it is at a good temperature, which it is, and you have added the yeast, it will get going. If there is no sign of any activity in the next day or two, just take a hydrometer reading as this is the only true way to tell what is going on, it would be handy if you had the starting reading or take one now to compare it to

Mal1841

Hi Thanks for this.  My starting gravity was 1.0053 or is it 1.053 I cant remember off hand how many zeros there are in a hydrometer reading lol.  I have to add the hop pellets in 4 days time so I'll do a check then and see whats going on.  I saw a guy do a festival ale in the video on your site when I bought the kit and his was bubbling away like a wizards cauldron.  I have to say all the beers I've done never really do that but theres at least a foam appears on the surface.  My fermenting bucket looks like its full of flat coke at the moment.  

One other thing.  When I bought the starting beer making kit last year I bought a heat pad in case my house was to cold.  I've found this puts the wort at a temp of 25 degrees. isnt this a little to high? 

HBO_Staff

It will be 1.053 so if you check when you add the hop pellets and see what's going on. That will be Glenn in the video, he makes and reviews beer kits independently for us and we think the guide he has done is great, we're just waiting for the taste test which he says is due in around 3 weeks! The heating pad would certainly help it get going, it wont do any harm to use that. They pads raise the temperature by around 8 or 9 degrees above the room temperature, but even if you just turn it on at night when your house probably gets cooler it will help. 25 degrees would be fine for the kit, but you wouldn't want it too much warmer, too warm and it will ferment very quickly so lower end of the temperature range is ideal, so intermittent use of the heater tray may be the best option in this case

Mal1841

Ok thanks for that.  I've left the thing on this morning before I left for work so lets hope its not boiling over by the time I get home lol!

HBO_Staff

It is a gentle heat which will take quite a while to warm 23 litres of liquid so we wouldn't worry about that!

Mal1841

Ok new problem! Last Saturday I went to keg my festival strong Suffolk ale and I added the sugar to the barrel as I've done before. I syphoned the beer from the bucket and placed the lid on the top to give the barrel a good shake to mix the sugar completely. This time though a lot of beer seeped out of the lid onto the floor!. I looked at the seal and it was pretty mashed so I replaced the lid as best I could and ordered a new rubber seal from here. It arrived tonight so I replaced it and screwed the lid down again only for the beer to pour out again!. I looked at the neck of the barrel I bought as a starter kit on here a few months back and it's warped out of shape!. I've only had 4 batches of ale through it. What should I do to save 40 pints of what could be really nice beer! Or is it already knackered?