My very first brew!

I started my first-ever brew last night, a Red Ale from a Brewer's Best kit. I'm very excited. OG was right where it was supposed to be. I made sure everything was cleaned and sterilized, and that all the temperature readings were in the correct range.
We're about at about the 12-hour mark post yeast pitch. There is still no activity in the airlock, but I don't think I should be worried yet. (Should I?)

It could take a couple days for activity in the airlock to start. Watch for foam (krausen) to form on top of the wort first. This time of year with cool temps fermentation can often start slow and build up.

forstmeister said:

It could take a couple days for activity in the airlock to start. Watch for foam (krausen) to form on top of the wort first. This time of year with cool temps fermentation can often start slow and build up.

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Is it alright to remove the lid from the fermenter in order to do this?

matyas said:

Is it alright to remove the lid from the fermenter in order to do this?

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I would not recommend removing the lid. You don't want to risk infection or crap falling in the fermenter. I assumed you were using a clear vessel, which was my fault. Keep an eye on it for a couple days. If there is no activity in the airlock after that maybe check it. In the meantime make sure your lid has a good seal.

Although its best to leave it alone & be patient - I wholeheartedly understand the desire to take a peak!

forstmeister said:

I would not recommend removing the lid. You don't want to risk infection or crap falling in the fermenter. I assumed you were using a clear vessel, which was my fault. Keep an eye on it for a couple days. If there is no activity in the airlock after that maybe check it. In the meantime make sure your lid has a good seal.

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I thought removing the lid was a bad idea. Thanks for the tip. In the meantime, I just read the sticky about fermenting potentially taking 24-72 hours.

Congrats on the first brew!! Don't worry, 12hrs is still real young. Give it another 24hrs before you do anything. Chances are it will start bubbling soon.

Enjoy!

lespaul23 said:

Congrats on the first brew!! Don't worry, 12hrs is still real young. Give it another 24hrs before you do anything. Chances are it will start bubbling soon.

Enjoy!

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Exactly. If it was an extract kit there is almost no way to not get fermentation at the very least.

It's bubbling away! I went out this morning, and got home a few minutes ago. Of course, the first thing I did was to check on my brew, and was very pleased to see the bubbles in the airlock.
Thanks for all the tips an encouragement!

Another stupid newbie question:
Now that the airlock is bubbling away profusely, do I need to remove the cap every once in awhile to let the C02 out? I've not seen any references to doing that in any of the materials I've been reading, but it seems to be building up in the airlock. Is that bad?

The bubbling is the CO2 escaping. Just let it go. It'll be okay. Is the beer foaming up into the airlock?

Nah...

The bubbling IS the CO2 being released into the atmosphere. It's one way...CO2 gets out, no bacteria or airborne nasties get back in.

Now, if the krausen gets so high that it clogs the airlock, you'll have to remove it, clean and sanitize it, and reinstall.

Good job so far!