Airlock - Signs Primary is Complete?

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Ballardinho

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Into my first brewing experience...

I used vodka for my airlock. It began to show signs of fermentation within about 12 hours of sealing primary. Within 48 hours, it was up to a bubble every three seconds. It is now 4 days after placing in primary and bubbles are down to one every 8 seconds. Does this mean it is nearing completion in primary? I've read that it should be closer to three weeks? Should I be taking readings at this point?

Also, I am keeping fermenter in a small closet at proper temps. Good there. But I've heard from some that you can smell the brew? I can't....but can smell faint smell of vodka from airlock. Normal?

Thanks!
 
What you're seeing is the end of initial fermentation. Normally called primary fermentation in old school speek. But since many of us don't secondary all our beers anymore,I decided to rename it. Anyway,it'll then slowly,uneventfully creep down to a stable FG. Then I give it 3-7 days to settle out clear or slightly misty before packaging.
 
Sounds normal to me. The initial vigorous part of fermentation only takes around 3-5 days to be pretty much complete. Then after a day or two more the yeast will have cleaned everything up (diacetyl, etc.). Most people just leave it for 2-3 weeks before they take a reading to be sure it has completely finished and to let the yeast and other particles settle out a little. That's what I do at least. You don't really need to worry about what the airlock is doing. It's nice to look at but it can be an unreliable sign of fermentation.
 
How long to give for fermentation depends on the grain bill. My breakdown is:

Under 1.050 = 7days
Between 1.050 and 1.070 = 14 days
Between 1.070 and 1.080 = 21 days

There's two infinitives. Anything over 1.080 will sit for a month. Anything hoppy will sit for a max of two weeks.

I believe in letting fermentation take it's course. Generally speaking, I try not to rush and let every step in the process take as much time as it needs. I'm sure there's science to this. I remember reading about yeast cleanup and etc. But it also allows me to not stress about my beer.

I rush hoppy beers because giving them weeks in the fermenter ends up giving you less time to drink them in their prime. Giving a 1.080 DIPA 4 weeks in primary gives you about 2 weeks of good drinking before the alcohol comes through. It's not worth spending $20 on hops just to leave their flavors in the bucket.
 
RonPopeil said:
How long to give for fermentation depends on the grain bill. My breakdown is:

Under 1.050 = 7days
Between 1.050 and 1.070 = 14 days
Between 1.070 and 1.080 = 21 days

There's two infinitives. Anything over 1.080 will sit for a month. Anything hoppy will sit for a max of two weeks.

I believe in letting fermentation take it's course. Generally speaking, I try not to rush and let every step in the process take as much time as it needs. I'm sure there's science to this. I remember reading about yeast cleanup and etc. But it also allows me to not stress about my beer.

I rush hoppy beers because giving them weeks in the fermenter ends up giving you less time to drink them in their prime. Giving a 1.080 DIPA 4 weeks in primary gives you about 2 weeks of good drinking before the alcohol comes through. It's not worth spending $20 on hops just to leave their flavors in the bucket.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, if a 1.080 DIPA is done in two weeks why wouldn't a 1.080 stout or whatever be done in 2 weeks?
 
RonPopeil said:
I believe in letting fermentation take it's course. Generally speaking, I try not to rush and let every step in the process take as much time as it needs. I'm sure there's science to this. I remember reading about yeast cleanup and etc. But it also allows me to not stress about my beer.
Click to expand...
+1+1+1^^

The three signs that your fermentation is finishing are:
1) The airlock slows and stops;
2)The kraeusen disappears from the surface;
3) The beer gradually clears (this may appearas a darkening) from the top down.

These happen roughly in that order. There is no one sign that jumps out at you; you have to see the whole picture. When in doubt, wait. You won't be sorry. But if you jump the gun, you will be sorry.

Cheers,
 
A gravity table can't absolutely explain length of time to FG. Temps & yeast health/quantity govern a lot of that as well. I've had beers pitched on with rehydrated yest at high krausen & good temp range finish & clear in 10 days. Others would take 3 weeks to finish & clear. That's why we say every ferment is different. to a degree.
 
peterj said:
Hmmm, if a 1.080 DIPA is done in two weeks why wouldn't a 1.080 stout or whatever be done in 2 weeks?
Click to expand...
Sugar consumption will be done in 7 days generally. It depends on what you mean by "done". I drink hoppy beers early because they won't have their hop flavors when you let them age. The bitterness you get from hops will also cover a lot of the booziness you get in young beers that aren't hoppy.
 
unionrdr said:
A gravity table can't absolutely explain length of time to FG. Temps & yeast health/quantity govern a lot of that as well. I've had beers pitched on with rehydrated yest at high krausen & good temp range finish & clear in 10 days. Others would take 3 weeks to finish & clear. That's why we say every ferment is different. to a degree.
Click to expand...
I agree. The "table" above is just a generalized rule. If I crack the lid and see a layer of foam on top or it smells like green apples then I let it go another week. Generally I pitch a ton of yeast and either pitch on a cake or make a starter. Knocking on my particle board desk here, I've never had a fermentation issue. If anything I've over attenuated a couple times.
 
So, can I be punished for waiting TOO long? I mean, if I err on the side of waiting an extra few days, it sound like that is a good course of action?
 
I just think of it as wait till the beer's at FG while providing the right temp range as much as possible (however long that takes). Then give 3-7 days after FG to clean up any by-products of fermentation & settle out clear or slightly misty. A couple days won't matter too much as long as you follow some basic guidelines.
 
TOO long for a super hoppy beer would typically be considered anything over 3 weeks in primary. The hop flavor and aroma start to fade, so each week you wait is one less week you'll be excited to drink DIPA's or IPA's

For any other style the benefits of flavor mellowing and color/clarity improving are enough to justify waiting.

Assuming your first brew wasn't an IPA, you won't do any harm to stick to the tried and true 3 week guideline.
 
Ballardinho said:
So, can I be punished for waiting TOO long? I mean, if I err on the side of waiting an extra few days, it sound like that is a good course of action?
Click to expand...

Yes. When in doubt, you can/should generally err in favor of more time. But rushing the process --- under-fermented, under-conditioned, under-aged beer --- can result in issues.
 
Ignore the airlock. You need to use a hydrometer to determine if fermentation is complete.

Personally, I won't even think about moving my beer until at least 7 days for an ale or 14 days for a lager. Odds are it's probably done before then, but there's no reason a few extra days will hurt. Rather a few days too many than moving too soon.
 
What I've been generalizing about is after the FG test,you'll see where it's at gravity-wise & how many more points need to be knocked off vs the FG range for the kit or recipe. Yeast health & amount will govern lag time & fermentation time in the right temperature range for said yeast. Every yeast has it's sweet spot. Not to mention,some are slow fermenting,others are fast & sometimes explosively violent. Others still are quick fermenting,but ferment at a medium,steady pace. Like WLP029 Kolsch yeast. Steadiest fermenting,non temperamental yeast I've ever used. It's sweet spot,for example,is 65-69F to get those lager-like effects in the beer. I sometimes wonder if it's the beer world's missing link between ales & lagers? anyway,giving the particular batch of beer the time it needs to come out good is the most important thing to take away from this discussion. :mug:
 
The brew is a Pale Ale, with Warrior at 60 min, Cascade at 15 min and Cascade at 2 min. Also thinking of dry hopping with Cascade, Citra or Simcoe. OG was 1.050.
 

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