Need Help With First Wort - All Malted Barley

[Pamulli]

I am attempting my first run with an All Malted Barley recipe however I'm not sure if I'm doing this right.

My ingredients are 8lb crushed malted barley, 4 gallons of water and 1 pack of Wyeast Scottish Ale yeast.

I heated my water to 170F, poured it into my fermenter (big plastic container from a brewing kit) and then poured my barley in which dropped the temp to about 150F. I wrapped it in blankets for a few hours, and then uncovered it and let it sit until the temp dropped to 75F (recommended temp on yeast packet), which took about 5 hours. I then pitched my yeast and covered it with the lid and airlock and let it sit overnight.

This morning I expected to find the air lock bubbling away, but nothing was happening so I pulled the lid off and I could see bubbling in the fermenter. The fermenter was only about half full and it seems like it has a good seal so my question is whether it just hadn't been long enough to start pushing air out or is something wrong? The fermenter was at 68F when i checked it this morning.

I have no clue what I'm doing and don't know if I messed something up or if this is what is supposed to happen so any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

[Dnderhead]

as much as 24 hours lag befor yeast really gits going,,, just a pin hole can keep a bubbler from working,,, extra room in fermenter
also takes time to fill, and if you open it then it has to start "filling all over

[Pamulli]

Thanks Dnderhead...I just didn't want to let it sit if something was wrong, so glad to know it is going as expected.

One more question regarding oxygen....
I used a whisk and stirred it as much as I could prior to pitching my yeast to try and get oxygen in the water...is that good enough and do I need to do anything while it is fermenting?

Thanks again

[Dnderhead]

yeast neads 02 to maltaply after that none so it produces alcohol , so if you use tap water good to go as is,, if you heated the water
that can drive off o2 so you should airate to give the yeast a start.egg beater , wisk, stick blender , air stone ,shaking/splashing all
work.

[Pamulli]

Checked on it this morning and there is still some bubbling going on, but it seems really slow. It is still around 68F. Is this temp ok and is there any way to get things moving better? I have another pack of the Ale yeast and could throw it in if it would help, but I don't want to mess anything up.

Thanks,

[rubber duck]

Don't pitch more yeast unless it's been 3 days or more. Your useing a liquid culture and it is notorious for lagging unless you do a starter, especialy if it was out of date or not stored properly. Your temp is good. Just wait and see it will take off I've never had a bad smackpack yet.

[Pamulli]

OK, I'll wait it out.

Thanks,

[rad14701]

A few extra degrees of wash temperature wouldn't hurt...

[rubber duck]

A few extra degrees of wash temperature wouldn't hurt...

I agree that would be ideal, but what your doing will work. By what you described your doing everything right.

[rad14701]

The extra dose of patience will help... We've all experienced the mother hen syndrome a time or two... Hurry up and wait...

[Hack]

Your recipe is good. pH can slow it down you want that to be around 4.5 to 5, but don't worry if it's already bubbling. A few degrees warmer temp will speed things up, but it will work fine at 68 too. If it was me I'd sit back and be patient, it'll finish eventually.

[Pamulli]

Thanks for all the great advice. Since this is my first wash, I'm just a bit over worried that i did something wrong. Checked it again last night though and it was bubbling good, but you couldn't really see it because all the barley husks had risen to the top and the bubbling was below. Still nothing in the air lock though...I guess there is an air leak somewhere. It sure has our dogs interested...they can't stay away from it.

[Dnderhead]

""It sure has our dogs interested...they can't stay away from it.""
they use distillers grain (used grain) in dog food/biskets

[Hack]

Still nothing in the air lock though...I guess there is an air leak somewhere.

On the first ferment I ever did I drilled a hole in the lid of the fermenter I'd bought, pushed a tube into it, ran it down into a jar of water, and waited for it to start bubbling. Then a few days later when it wasn't bubbling, but the mash definately was I looked into it and discovered that my fermenter wasn't made to seal air tight. Now I have a hole in the lid with a piece of tape over it that reminds me every time I start a ferment.