In my experience regarding poor or slow fermentation and carbonation
1. the temp at which you ferment is very important. For ale, above 65
MINIMUM. I prefer 72 degrees.
2. I was told by my supplier to NOT use liquid yeast unless I was making an
exotic like Begian style beer. He told me to mix the beer very well by
shaking and stirring the fermentor and then ADD THE DRY YEAST AT THE TOP
without rehydrating it first. Let it sit, do NOT shake or stir again. In
24 hrs I get perfect slow fermentation and essentially complete. I usually
put in 2 packets dry.
3. My secondary fermentation is for the more complex sugars to convert. I
do not get any reaction from the water air lock. What is important is the
completion via the FG readings of the hydrometer. When they repeat each
day, you are complete.
4. I had a Red Hook Clone not ferment in the bottle and almost completely
flat. I uncapped each one and poured in a 1/2 teaspoon of the carbonating
corn sugar to each bottle and recapped them. After about two weeks at room
temp, I tried one and it was fine.

Let me know if any of this is helpful.
Jose'


"ChasM" <chasmill70@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:c3kmia$rk8$1@news.astound.net...[color=blue]
> I posted last week about my ailing lager that doesn't seem to be[/color]
fermenting.[color=blue]
> Now I have an ale that has the same problem, brewed a week later. The new
> things I haven't done in the past are:
>
> #1: I used liquid yeast. It did a great job on the primary ferment, so I
> figured this isn't the problem.
>
> #2: I did a secondary fermenting for the first time. It was about 2 week,
> only, making total fermentation time about 4 weeks.
>
> #3: I added water to the secondary to bring both brews up to 5 gallons.
> I've usually been at about 4 gallons in the past. I still used the[/color]
priming[color=blue]
> sugar provided with the specialty grain kits, about 3/4 cup or so.
>
> #4: I used one-step to sanitize the bottles. I've always used chlorine in
> the past, but I liked the quicker sanitizing time. I DID NOT RINSE.
>
> Could it be that the one-step killed the yeast? I see a powdering of yeast
> on the bottom, but only a TINY bit of carbonation (not even any bubbles
> rising). I just bottled the ale 8 days ago. Does liquid yeast take[/color]
longer[color=blue]
> to carbonate a bottle. I moved the lager back to a warmer room, and the[/color]
ale[color=blue]
> is in a room about 65 degrees.
>
> How long should I RDWHAH before I panic and try to do something? Is there
> anything I CAN do to save these brews?
>
> Thanks for any help!!
>
> ChasM
>
>[/color]