Is it stuck or just Sloooooow

[BackOffMyBrew Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BackOffMyBrew]

So I pitched S-23 (I know) into my latest brew this past Sunday and by Monday morning there was a yeast party going on - visibly vigorous fermentation with plenty bubbling going on on the air-lock. Yesterday, dead still in the airlock. I thought maybe the cupboard it was in was too warm for this strain (cupboard seems to hold at about 15 - 18 deg) and seeing as I haven't completed my ferm chamber yet I moved it to the garage which gets a lot cooler that the rest of the house. Checked again this morning and still nada in the airlock.

I'm hesitant to open up and take a sample to get a gravity reading but I suspect that is the only way to tell if it is stuck right?

Edit: Pitched directly into wort, no starter

[CaPunT Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close CaPunT]

Is your FV sealed/closed nicely?
If you press down on the lid, does the airlock move/bubble?

Only thing I can think of here is that you have a leak. Unless the temp changed by some massive amount? (massive as in 5-10deg)

[BackOffMyBrew Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BackOffMyBrew]

The airlock does move if I press gently on the cube but maybe there is a leak, I've not used this vessel before. Definitely no big temp drops like that though

[jannieverjaar Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jannieverjaar]

3 days with a lager yeast sounds really fast. Usually the best thing is to just wait it out

[BackOffMyBrew Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BackOffMyBrew]

3 days with a lager yeast sounds really fast.

Especially this one, I definitely do not think it's finished

[groenspookasem Banned Find all posts View Profile Close groenspookasem]

Airlock activity is a bad indicator of fermentation, just let it do it's thing for at least 10 days and then check sg. I've never fermented with s23 though. 34/70 was my lager yeast of choice

Sent from my SM-N970F using Tapatalk

[JIGSAW Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JIGSAW]

So I pitched S-23 (I know) into my latest brew this past Sunday and by Monday morning there was a yeast party going on - visibly vigorous fermentation with plenty bubbling going on on the air-lock. Yesterday, dead still in the airlock. I thought maybe the cupboard it was in was too warm for this strain (cupboard seems to hold at about 15 - 18 deg) and seeing as I haven't completed my ferm chamber yet I moved it to the garage which gets a lot cooler that the rest of the house. Checked again this morning and still nada in the airlock.

I'm hesitant to open up and take a sample to get a gravity reading but I suspect that is the only way to tell if it is stuck right?

Edit: Pitched directly into wort, no starter

Yea, there's no way its done, but why hesitant?

The liquid inside is sanitary ... if your hands and equipment is sanitary there's nothing to be scared of.
If you really paranoid use a sanitized turkey baster and suck up ±100ml ... the lid is going to be open for no more than 10seconds

[BackOffMyBrew Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BackOffMyBrew]

What the Hell!!! is my Hydrometer bust?

Took a reading, it's down to 1012 already after just 4 days

[JIGSAW Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JIGSAW]

lol

ok, next thing to check is temperature gauge ... are you sure that cupboard is at 15-18ºC

[BackOffMyBrew Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BackOffMyBrew]

lol

ok, next thing to check is temperature gauge ... are you sure that cupboard is at 15-18ºC

STC 1000 has it at 16.6 currently

[Beachless Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beachless]

Airlock activity should never be used as an indicator of yeast activity. Just let it do its thing and take a reading when you think its done.

[BackOffMyBrew Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BackOffMyBrew]

Airlock activity should never be used as an indicator of yeast activity. Just let it do its thing and take a reading when you think its done.

Indeed, I was just very surprised it fermented that fast considering the strain I used