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Hi all,
Just thought I'd register here and say hello, having just broken my first Hydrometer! It seems that Gravity, Tiles and hydrometers do not make the best of friends. Kit brewing is exciting, isn't it. <!-- s:oops: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_redface.gif" alt="" title="Embarassed" /><!-- s:oops: -->

Anyway, the kit has an O.G on the label, so I hope I can use that and a new Hydrometer to see how pickled I'm likely to get on this stuff. It's an Ambiorix kit - fingers crossed!

Hoping to see bubbles in the airlock soon, and bubbles in the glass after that!

Welcome.

Hydrometers are a fragile piece of kit, and for the pro brewers they come in at about 150 quid a pop so they are extra careful with them.

All going well you kit should be bubbling away nicely in a short while. Is this your first attempt or have you tried a few others?

First try. No sign of bubbles yet, about 12 hours after the brew. Is it possible to kill the yeast by adding water to it at too high a temperature? Should I consider getting some more yeast to kickstart it, or do i need to be more patient?

You can kill yeast if it is dropped in liquid that is too hot. How hot was the water you added? If you're rehydrating the yeast before you pitch the water should be around 35 C.

Even if you haven't damaged the yeast, the fermentation can be slow to start because dried yeast in kits has usually been hanging around a while and isn't in top shape.

Many kit brewers buy a seperate sachet of yeast that they can be sure is in reasonable condition and use that instead of the one provided with the kit.

The water i used for the yeast was probably hotter than 35 celsius, though I did put the glass i was using into cool water to bring it down below that. I had read somewhere about boiling the water and then adding the yeast, but hadn't read the bit in the middle about allowing the water to cool, so it could have been a very high temperature. Time to replace the yeast?

I'd throw in another pack just to be safe. I never bother to rehydrate my yeast and i've never had any problems but like hendrixcat said that kit yeast is not very good. Have you got some yeast?