Did I kill it?

There it was just bubbling away. I wanted a better whiff of it so I pushed on the top of the fermentor and pushed some bubbles through the air lock, that was 24 hours ago and now...no more bubbles. Was this catastrophic? Did I kill the batch?

No!
Relax, your yeast knows what to do and it's probably happily cleaning up its waste after the big party. How long has it been in the primary?

No...when you opened the bung you released the built up CO2 pressure in the carboy...that is all....

Remember the airlock is simply a VALVE to release excess CO2, to keep from blowing the lid off the fermentor...If it's not bubbling that just means that there's not enough CO2 to climb out of the airlock, or the CO2 is just forming a nice cushion on top of the beer like it's supposed to, or the airlock is askew, or it is leaking out the cheap rubber grommet, or you have a leak in the bucket seal...all those are fine...if CO2 is getting out then nothing's getting in....

Remember that you should never use a cheap chinese plastic airlock as a "fermentation Gauge," it's not...It's an airlock, nothing more...

And quit sniffing the fermenter...just walk away...seriously..the more you do open it up, the more you do run the risk of something getting in...so,

Oh come on Revvy, sniffing airlocks is a perfectly acceptable activity!

It has been in the primary for only 4 days. Should I expect it to bubble again? I never lifted the lid or removed the airlock; just pushed on the top.

Revvy. I know you leave everything in your primary for a month. What keeps it from spoiling? the absence of O2?

I converted a chest freezer for fermentation. I can just put my head in there and take a big ol' hit any time I want.

LewBrew said:

It has been in the primary for only 4 days. Should I expect it to bubble again? I never lifted the lid or removed the airlock; just pushed on the top.

Revvy. I know you leave everything in your primary for a month. What keeps it from spoiling? the absence of O2?

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I've pushed the top accidentally before and had lots of CO2 escape but it's never really stopped the fermentation. I think it is probably just a coincidence.

LewBrew said:

It has been in the primary for only 4 days. Should I expect it to bubble again? I never lifted the lid or removed the airlock; just pushed on the top.

Revvy. I know you leave everything in your primary for a month. What keeps it from spoiling? the absence of O2?

Click to expand...

It might, or it might not start bubbling again, and it means ABSOLUTELY nothing either way.

Hops keep it from spoiling....that's why we use 'em.

Plus it's alchohol after a few days...and the CO2 protects it from oxydizing...

Your main fermentation was probably done and the bubbles you were seeing was just CO2 escaping. As staurtm said, it was just a coincidence that you pushed on it when you did.

What keeps it from spoiling? It's alcohol!

I like the Yeast Cop, I need one of them on my fermenter !!!

Ok, so I'm not weird in that I sniff the top of my airlock at least once a day? Awesome...