Help! Hardly any action in primary fermenter

Hello Beersmith community,

This is my first time brewing an all grain beer and an IPA. The mash didn't go that well bringing me to an OG of 1.055 instead of the 1.068 I was aiming for. I decided I would ferment it nonetheless and see how things would go.

From monday night to wednesday morning (today), all I've seen appear on top is a thin film of kreusen about 1/4 of an inch thick, where my other beers produced one to two inches of thick kreusen. My yeast is dehydrated Safale s-05 which I rehydrated prior to use. This is my first time using that too, I usually use Nottingham.  oh, and I'm fermenting in a bucket.

Should I be alarmed? It's been almost two days. Should I pitch in another packet?

Thank you!

Don't worry about it. Safale US-05 is my workhorse for ale. What you describe is perfectly normal.

Check the seal on your bucket and make sure it's all the way down.  Also, airlock activity is not necessarily a good indicator of fermentation activity.  Different yeasts produce more or less Krausen.  They will also react differently to the sugar make up of your wort.

Because you have evidence of fermentation, I wouldn't worry about it.  In addition, it may have been more active and you just missed seeing it.  You may have had more Krausen, but if it happened in the middle of the night, it may have fallen back and it's already through the high Krausen phase of fermentation.

The best indicator of fermentation quality is measuring the gravity and finding out how much of a gravity drop you've experienced.

I think you're just fine.  Leave the yeast be, they're probably happy and doing their thing.  If you disturb the process, you might actually cause your fermentation to slow down.

Thank you, it's very reassuring! How long should I wait before measuring gravity, and how much should I expect?

When I was in cooking school, the bakery chef would always answer the question of how long to cook something with "Until it's done."

The yeast isn't following a calendar. It's done when it's done.  When the krausen falls and you can clearly see the bottom, it's done. On what day will that occur? I have no idea.