[Ale_Man]

I confess, I am perplexed.  I brewed a Milk Stout Monday. Rehydrated two packs of S-04 with pre-boiled, then cooled, water to recommended temp on Fermentis/Safale site,  into sanitized container. Both packs were well within the expiration date by years. I saw vibrant foam and cream build up. Pitched yeast into 1.060 wort at 65.4 F wort, then oxygenated with a freshly boiled stone. The fermentation chamber is temp controlled for heat at 63F and cooling at 68F. I usually allow the fermentation to rise to 68F.  Been doing it for years. After three days there is still no activity.  This yeast is usually a sprinter; fast, vigorous and drops like a rock.  Nothing! I am perplexed.

[denny]

I know this is obvious, but did you take a gravity reading just to confirm?

[Ale_Man]

OOPS! Boy do I feel like an idiot. Its actually about 3/4 of the way through. Thanks for the prompt to check the obvious thing.
So why no krausen?, The airlock activity is apparently so slow at this point that i do not see it. I usually checkup my fermentations in the AM, at lunchtime, and when i go to bed. I never saw any krausen.
Thanks again.

[Robert]

Two possibilities,  not mutually exclusive:

A)  S-04 is fast like you said.  You just blinked and missed it.  Is there a "bathtub ring" showing where it was?

B)  S-04 is also not a top cropper, so it's not surprising if it doesn't throw much of  a head of kräusen anyway.

EDIT In addition,  no apparent airlock activity sounds suspiciously like you have a  leaky seal somewhere and the gas is finding another way out. 

Sent from my SM-J727V using Tapatalk

[Ale_Man]

No bathtub ring. I put some zip ties around the cap. It did help. Now more of it passes through the airlock.
Thanks

[ynotbrusum]

Back when I used buckets exclusively, I had several occasions where I thought I had pitched dead yeast only to find that fermentation had in fact occurred.  Those bubbles in the airlock are nice for a show, but their absence can mean very little.  So you are not the first, nor last to be concerned about verifying fermentation activity when the bubbles aren’t verifying activity.

Cheers and good luck with your brew!

[goose]

Back when I used buckets exclusively, I had several occasions where I thought I had pitched dead yeast only to find that fermentation had in fact occurred.  Those bubbles in the airlock are nice for a show, but their absence can mean very little.  So you are not the first, nor last to be concerned about verifying fermentation activity when the bubbles aren’t verifying activity.

Cheers and good luck with your brew!

+1.

 My lack of airlock activity was usually due to not having a good seal on the bucket lid.