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**edmanster** · 04-06-2011, 03:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheAnti

Would the best course of action be a hydrometer reading?

its the only way

azlightfighter · 04-07-2011, 03:20 PM

If the lid was not sealed properley there would be gas leaking out of it and not the air lock, I would take a reading to see what you have and seal the lid and let if finish or rack to a secondary.

tgriff00 · 04-15-2011, 09:51 PM

I'm brewing a Red Ale w/ WLP007 yeast. OG was 1.052 (1.055 target) and I started seeing bubbles in ~16 hours. It has been 4 days now and it seems like the bubbling has pretty much stopped. I was gonna rack to a secondary sunday (6 days total in primary), but do you guys think that this would be too long in the primary since the bubbling has stopped?

redpenguin01 · 04-20-2011, 03:17 PM

Well.. its day 5 right now on my first batch. The waterlock was bubbling vigorously the first day then started to curb off. A layer of krausen has formed but waterlock activity stopped completely at day 3. I'm not too worried but a little reassurance would help.

XXguy · 04-20-2011, 03:24 PM

Wait around for another week or two, then pull a hydrometer reading. Yeast dont "forget" how to ferment after they've started. It's what they're born to do.

It's 100 times more likely that your fermenter has a slow leak that's allowing an easier way for the CO2 to escape than the airlock. During the height of fermentation, there was probably more pressure being built up than the slow leak could pass....

redpenguin01 · 04-20-2011, 03:28 PM

Yeah, I'm using an HDPE bucket so I was wondering if that was the case. I guess its just a waiting game at this point.
Thanks for the quick response XXguy.

**rico567** · 04-20-2011, 03:41 PM

As has been said in this and other threads, and on other forums- the airlock is not an instrument that is particularly accurate in measuring fermentation. A lot of the standard "Ale Pail" bucket fermenters have no lid seal, it just snaps onto the bucket rim.

If you want to eliminate this type of leak, US Plastics makes buckets (their 7 gal. bucket is virtually ideal for 5 gal. batches) with a real neoprene 'O'- ring in the lid, which seals the bucket. I got three of these, with lids, for about $33 delivered. Drilled a hole in the lids with a 1/2" paddle bit and installed grommets available at fine homebrew stores everywhere.

The only foolproof way to see where your fermentation has gone is to pop that lid, take a sample and put the hydrometer in.

**edmanster** · 04-20-2011, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rico567

The only foolproof way to see where your fermentation has gone is to pop that lid, take a sample and put the hydrometer in.

Or be lazy like me and slowly put the hydrometer into your bucket... Don't suggest it but taking samples a couple days in a row with the thief got old to me.. Now I got a refractometer and I just pull a drop and save the tasting for kegging day. I use a foot long 1/8 inch ss tube and just go threw the airlock hole so I don't even need to take my bucket lid off...

redpenguin01 · 04-21-2011, 10:12 AM

It just occurred to me while working in the lab today that an easy method to prevent the leaks might be using Parafilm. For me, its convenient and available. Any thoughts or experiences on using this for a better seal?

redpenguin01 · 04-22-2011, 05:38 PM

So I parafilmed it.. got a few bubbles. Then the water lock stopped again. I'm thinking I stretched the film out too much in one area.

At least I know it is still producing CO2 slowly. Thanks for the help guys.