BlackAle1
Member
hello fellow brewers.
My first batch has been in the fermenter for the last 6 days. Everything went relatively good throughout brew day, and the airlock started bubbling away withing 8 hours.
I watched the airlock for about 30 minutes last night without any bubbles. I decided to open it for the first time since brew day to take a gravity reading. This is the first time I have seen the brew and when I opened it there was a thick (maybe 1/4 of an inch) layer of light brown bubbles and crusties. Does that mean it's infected?
The other option is that it is Krausen. I admit ignorance, and I don't know really what the krausen is supposed to look like, but it looked kind of nasty, but it didn't really smell bad.
The other mistake I made was a gut reaction, which was stupid. I moved about a 2-3 inch circle of the crust out of the way with the gravity meter in order to stick it in for the gravity reading.
I got a gravity reading of 1.021 and the initial gravity was 1.050. This indicates an ABV of right around 4.0% This beer is supposed to end at 5.0%. Do you think I messed it up by opening too early or moving the krausen?
My first batch has been in the fermenter for the last 6 days. Everything went relatively good throughout brew day, and the airlock started bubbling away withing 8 hours.
I watched the airlock for about 30 minutes last night without any bubbles. I decided to open it for the first time since brew day to take a gravity reading. This is the first time I have seen the brew and when I opened it there was a thick (maybe 1/4 of an inch) layer of light brown bubbles and crusties. Does that mean it's infected?
The other option is that it is Krausen. I admit ignorance, and I don't know really what the krausen is supposed to look like, but it looked kind of nasty, but it didn't really smell bad.
The other mistake I made was a gut reaction, which was stupid. I moved about a 2-3 inch circle of the crust out of the way with the gravity meter in order to stick it in for the gravity reading.
I got a gravity reading of 1.021 and the initial gravity was 1.050. This indicates an ABV of right around 4.0% This beer is supposed to end at 5.0%. Do you think I messed it up by opening too early or moving the krausen?