I've been reading through this thread for about an hour now and have been reassured that everything is going just fine, many times over. Cheers to all of you knowledgeable and patient brewers out there.
Fermentation is visibly underway on my 2nd 5-gal batch. I've been following instructions from ingredient kits so far. I keep hearing that it's important to aerate the wort before pitching the yeast. (I have not been doing this) What is the best way to do this? I gave mine a stir when I pitched the yeast. (Like I said, fermentation went along as expected, I'm just trying to use the best methods possible)
Also, when is it okay to open the lid and take a gravity reading? Am I at risk of ruining my beer if I open the lid too much during fermentation? And how often do you check gravity?
Shearn, I usually avoid opening the fermenter until I believe fermentation is complete and I think it's good practice to open as seldom as possible. Looking through the thread there is a lot of good advice, but I think the most important advice one could give is for new brewers to really understand the process...and sometimes that takes time. I remember when I started a few years ago. I read How to Brew by John Palmer and I was both very interested in the science of it all, and also thinking that JP was taking things way too seriously. Only later did I realize that brewing is like golf. You catch a bug and can't stop thinking about it.
That said, understand the yeast, what it's doing, and why aeration is important. I've also seen people say that it's important that your fermentation doesn't take off TOO quickly and rapidly. Again, JP says the same thing. I believe it has something to do with the yeast using up valuable resources too quickly, but it also raises the temp of the wort significantly. Fermentation is a warming process.
To aerate, I usually cool my wort in the brew pot and pour it very vigorously into the fermentation bucket. This is not as possible with a carboy, so in that case use a sanitized whisk and whip the wort. My last batch I added yeast nutrient. Although most batches don't need it, mine was a fairly high gravity batch and really benefitted from it. I'm at 1.010 now and just about ready to bottle.
I'm at 72 hours plus and have no fermentation happening. This morning I tried swirling the wort gently, 12 hours later, nothing. I thought maybe I missed fermentation so I checked with the hydrometer, nothings happening, hydro reading is the same as it was when the wort was put in the bucket. I aerated this wort more than any batch before (poured back and forth between pot and bucket), added the yeast, stirred and covered. The wort was 70 degrees when the yeast was added. The yeast was Danstar Munich and it was rehydrated. Wort was kept in the basement at 65 degrees. Initial hydro reading was 1.051 as it is today. The kit was http://www.ldcarlson.com/public%20catalog/Brewers%20Best%20Recipes/1030_Weizenbier.pdf
So far I've moved the wort to a warmer room.....within the past few hours. I also stirred it up a bit (nicely) when I took the hydro reading.
Any thoughts? I don't have any of that strain of yeast, I do have Safale US-05 which I'm guessing wouldn't be great to use in this case.
Thanks for any help!
Ryan, I'd say that the US-05 is better than no yeast at all. I would guess your yeast was old. When you rehydrated, did you do so at a safe temp and did you see any actvity (bubbling)? Some kits are notorious for having old yeast. I almost always use liquid now as I believe it's superior to dry. I also discovered yeast nutrient, which I think I'll use in every batch from now on. It's cheap and it works really well.
I just made my first batch about 48 hrs ago.
I am brewing a Muntons Connoisseurs Export Pilsner.
I started getting airlock bubbles about 4 hrs after I put the lid on the fermenter.I get a bubble about every three seconds.Is this normal?Should there be constant bubbling or will it stay about every three seconds until fermentation is done?
Thanks for any input...AA...
Congrats on the first batch, Admiral! You got a still out back too? I got family down there somewhere and bourbon's always been a big favorite in my family.
Anyway, sounds real normal. Although I don't usually get activity in 4 hours, it is certainly possible. Keep an eye on it though. Sounds like your using a bucket and a kit. Check on it every once in a while to make sure your fermentation doesn't go nuts because it can clog the airlock. Doesn't usually happen with kits, but it can. As for the rate of bubbling, like everything else in brewing, it depends. It will probably speed up before it slows down.
Congrats on the first batch, Admiral! You got a still out back too? I got family down there somewhere and bourbon's always been a big favorite in my family.
Anyway, sounds real normal. Although I don't usually get activity in 4 hours, it is certainly possible. Keep an eye on it though. Sounds like your using a bucket and a kit. Check on it every once in a while to make sure your fermentation doesn't go nuts because it can clog the airlock. Doesn't usually happen with kits, but it can. As for the rate of bubbling, like everything else in brewing, it depends. It will probably speed up before it slows down.
Thanks for responding Songtre! Na no Still here.
Yea the other day I was about a hour away from Danville in a town called Bardstown Ky...That's where alot of the bourbon is made.
Thanks for the Advice I will keep a close eye on it and let you guys know how it turns out!
I'm having the exact same situation right now. I got some of the same yeast from NB and pitched it on Saturday morning. I went to the local shop and picked up some WB-06 tonight to repitch and when i came home and pulled the top off the bucket i had bubbles. That means it took almost 100 hours to start anything. I'm hoping its fermentation and not infection from me having to check on it so much. I'm going to let mine go, so i guess what i'm saying is give I would it a little more time. I don't know if this might be a problem similar to what they had with the Nottingham, but mine seems to be going now. I guess i'll just have to make another hefe to use the new yeast.
I ended up calling my LHBS and he said they've been having problems with this brand of kit lately. I didn't get too into the questions I asked but he sounded as if I wasn't the first one to complain of this problem recently. Anyway, he said pitching the US-05 would be fine, which is what I did. I still have no airlock activity but when I removed the airlock to get a peek inside I saw some bubbles/foam on top so I think it's starting to ferment. Mine ended up going about 100 hours before I repitched too and I'm also worried about infection....only because it had so much time to gain a foothold.
Ryan, I'd say that the US-05 is better than no yeast at all. I would guess your yeast was old. When you rehydrated, did you do so at a safe temp and did you see any actvity (bubbling)? Some kits are notorious for having old yeast. I almost always use liquid now as I believe it's superior to dry. I also discovered yeast nutrient, which I think I'll use in every batch from now on. It's cheap and it works really well.
Yeast expiration date was 10/2011. I think it was probably exposed to something that killed it at some point? Rehydration temp was 70 and I did not see any activity, just a bunch of sunken yeast which I didn't see a problem with at the time, but now that you brought it up I do usually get a bit of foam on top of the rehydrated yeast. I'm just glad I had some US-05 yeast in the fridge to fall back on. Hopefully this beer doesn't end up tasting like "satan's anus"
The last two batches I've made have gotten stuck fermentations after about 7 days in primary. Both of these had similarly small krausens (about 1/4"). The second batch I made sure to aerate the wort a lot, and rehydrated the yeast as per the instructions.
Both fermentations got stuck in the mid 1.030 range coming down from mid 1.050 range. Is it possible the yeast I used was expired? Or if its expired would it not have fermented at all? Used US-05
doing my first lager - pitched the yeast saturday afternoon. Pretty sure I under pitched for a lager (used 2 wyeast actavitor liquid packs for a 5 gal batch - no starter, did not "smack" it first either). Pitched it cold (50F), moved it to my lager fridge and set the temp to 50F
48 hours - nothing I was starting to get a bit worried (never had an ale lag this long before), started reading the forums found this thread and read the entire 37 pages. Also found a bunch of other posts about lagers taking longer to kick off. So I RDWHAHB and tried not to think about it. Trust the yeast.
60 hours - no change. I did another RDWHAHB even though it was well before noon - hey I felt better.
67 hours - ok time to pull a SG reading with the hydrometer. Go to the lager fridge open the door and what do ya know. The airlock is going steady and the krausen has formed. hydrometer reading shows fermentation is moving right along.
Had it not been for this thread I probably would of done something stupid.
so a big thank you to the OP and all the others that have chimed in. in 10 weeks or so if your around bend oregon look me up ;
I'm on my third batch of beer (Imperial Stout) and I've got a good grasp of how things should be going. Waiting for that bubbling airlock is a very stressful step in the process, especially when you are new to brewing! My first and third batches started soon after 12 hours but my second was still until about 36 hours! Go yeast, go!
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