Bubbling in the Lock?

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SkewedBrewing

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Hey, I'm on day three of my first brew and I feel fairly confident that I've done everything correctly. My source of nervousness, however, comes from the "bubbling" that should be taking place in my airlock. There are a lot small bubbles gathering in the water and the plastic stopper/floating thing in the water rises up, but there is no bubbling in terms of a boiling like action in the water of the airlock. If you understand what I am asking please send me some information on what kind of "action" and "bubbling" I should be seeing in my lock.

SkewedAle
 
There should be a big "glug, glug, glug" of bubbles coming through about every 5 to 10 seconds. Are you using a carboy or a bucket as your primary?

loop
 
it sounds like youve got a 3 piece airlock. im not liking these more and more, ive had a no-bubbler myself that was fine. the best way to tell if you beer is fermenting is by looking for about an 1/2 - 2 inch foam on top of the beer. now if your using a pastic bucket its kind of hard to see, but you should still be able to make it out. another thing to look for is movement, especially near the bottom of the bucket, if you look real close youll see a different color sediment on the bottom, stuff should be rising from this area. if you see none of this(no movement, no head, no bubbling)it could be that your beer fermented right under your nose with out you knowing it. i recommend leaving it for the 6-7 days you were going to give it for primary fermentation, then rack it to your secondary, and by then by tasting it you will know if its beer or if its sickly sweet its not beer and you had aproblem.
whatever you do, dont open it up and stick your bacteria covered nose in there to check it...just leave it alone.

im guessing its the airlock...get the single piece one for the future they are fool-proof.
 
Probably a sealing problem. If you have a bucket fermenter, press the lid lightly & the lock should bubble.
 
I am using a plastic bucket. Maybe it is a sealing problem because i pushed on the lid and it bubbled, so i know there is at least a little CO2 building up in there. I'm using a three piece airlock, so this is most likely is the problem.
 
SkewedAle said:
. I'm using a three piece airlock, .


yup its probably the airlock...i bought one thinking, "gee they are easier to clean, and they look more sophisticated" some how though, the stupid thing didnt work... the 1-piece is the same concept/design as luis pasteurs swan neck bottle which they still use today in chem/biology labs...ive never had a problem with one.

they even sell glass ones which would the the s**t...
 
You might also want to be sure that you have enough water in your airlock. This was my problem. Make sure there is water up to the line on the airlock. Then after you've done that push down on the lid to see if you get some bubbles in the lock, this will ensure that you're bucket is pressurized properly. Then if all else fails, you need to take a temperature check to be sure that the temp is at a good fermenting level (70-75 degrees) If not then you can carefully place it in a warm bath to warm up the yeast and facilitate fermentation. I had this problem last night, I hope this helps.
 
I went ahead and popped the airlock off and peered through the hole on top of my bucket and there was a good amount of krausen in there, well it was a light colored bubbly mass on top of the wort, so I assume its fermented. There is a good amount of crap on the bottom as well, but I can't tell through the bucket whether or not it has a lot of action going on. Instead of risking anything i have decided to ride it out until I move it to my secondary in a few days instead of putting in more yeast like my local supplier told me to. I hope I haven't contaminated anything by taking off the airlock for a minute or so.
 
SkewedAle said:
I went ahead and popped the airlock off and peered through the hole on top of my bucket and there was a good amount of krausen in there, i have decided to ride it out until I move it to my secondary in a few days instead of putting in more yeast like my local supplier told me to. I hope I haven't contaminated anything by taking off the airlock for a minute or so.

if i were in the business of selling yeast i would tell you to put more in there too;) ...i wouldnt worry about contamination too much just from peeking in there, just dont make it a habit.
 
I normally use a blow-off tube for the most vigorous part of the fermentation process. When it calms down I put a fermentation lock on, and, to tell you the truth, I sometimes have very little bubbling.

Foam on top of the beer is a good indicator of fermentation. Also, it should smell like beer when you sniff the top of the lock.
 
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