Fermentation can take 24 to 72 hrs to show visible signs.

Hi all,

I just made my first batch on Saturday, and all went fairly well. The OG was right on, and everything else went as expected.

Well this morning I checked the fermentor, and it is not bubbling. I thought at around 24 hours it was supposed to start bubbling. Does this mean that something went wrong, or that it is not fermenting?

Any help would be appreciated.

(I could just be overly anxious)

It can take up to 72 hours for fermentation to begin depending on certain conditions. Check out this sticky, it should cover all your questions/concerns.

Congrats on the first batch! You'd better start a second quickly, that first one doesn't last long!

Yeah no worries, it can take a while but there is no reason to be concerned! Even if it goes past 72 hours you may still be okay and have options to take care of it. One day is nothing

I'm at about 1.5 days without any action in the airlock after pitching at about 4:45pm on Saturday (First timer -- using an IPA kit; dry yeast -- I rehydrated it in 6 oz of spring water at room temp for about 15 min before pitching).

I'm trying to remain patient although am considering picking up some extra yeast when I go to the brew store this afternoon -- just in case I'm still not getting anything on day 3 and yeast is pretty inexpensive. If I get additional yeast and I don't use it for this batch, how long will it remain viable? Should I freeze it (if in liquid)?


In other news, I haven't opened the lid of my bucket, but... I think I can see some krausen (sp?) at the 5 gallon mark when I turn on the light in the room. Is this just wishful thinking or can people really see this through a white bucket? Hoping for the best and thanks for all the useful posts!

Don't freeze your yeast! Putting it in the fridge is best. It will last a long time in the fridge. They have "best by" dates on them, so try to purchase the ones with the latest date on them.

You might be able to see krausen forming through the bucket- I hope it is because that will mean it's fermenting!

Thanks for the advice on (not) freezing yeast. Not sure where I heard/read that. I'm still hoping that there is fermenting going on, but don't mind spending a fiver in case I need to re-pitch.

I brewed my first batch last Thursday (4 days ago), and took great pains to follow all of John Palmer's advice in How To Brew (awesome book btw). I made an Irish Red Ale, and when rehydrating the dry yeast I used water that was about 100 degrees F. I then aerated the 70 degree wort really well before adding the rehyrdrated yeast, but I saw zero activity in the airlock after 60 hours. So...being a nervous mother hen I went to the LHBS and bought some wyeast and added that to my primary. The airlock was bubbling 12 hours later, so I'm happy to say the least.

My main question is this: Did I kill the yeast by rehydrating it at 100 degrees? I could have sworn Palmer's directions were to add it to heated water and cover for 20 minutes.

thanks

I was a getting a bit nervous today (Tues) with an Amber Ale that I brewed on Saturday morning. No airlock activity at all since going in the fermenter. I thought I had aerated okay when racking from the kettle to the fermenter by splashing the siphon tube on the sides of the bucket. I used dry yeast, pitched directly onto the wort once it reached 75 F.

Going through my head were things like I should have made a starter, I should have at least rehydrated, I could have aerated better, so many things I should have done, but didn't....

After about 80 hours of no airbubbles in the airlock, I finally broke down and opened the bucket prepared to repitch. Sure enough, there was a ring of krausen on the sides and some still on the top - great sign. Took a gravity reading and the wort had dropped from 1.056 on Sat. to 1.022 on Tuesday night. Things appear to be going fine despite the lack of airlock activity.

Lesson learned 2 fold:
1) don't count on the airlock as a sign of fermentation
2) make a starter (or at least rehydrate)

Now I can relax and enjoy a homebrew.

don't count on the airlock as a sign of fermentation

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QFE

make sure that lid is sealed nice and tight, too

Good point, DB.

I had thought of a loose lid, too. I made sure that the lid was properly sealed during the fermenting, by pushing it down on the edges. It was a bit** to get off when I opened up - so it seemed to be on tight. Checked the airlock seating, too. Still no bubbles. Don't know what else I could do there except add a rubber gasket to the lid. Never heard of anyone doing this one, though.

Now I have 2 lids and 2 buckets, and I can't be sure that I ever had this lid/bucket combo before, so maybe this combo didn't seal well?

i didn't observe one bubble coming out of the airlock on my most recent stout. i did see a small krausen, and did check the lid and airlock for leaks several times.

it seems to have finished up fine, and tastes great. i'm going to bottle this weekend.

I brewed my second batch this weekend. My first batch had airlock activity in about 6 hours. This second batch has hit the 48 hour mark, with no activity. I was afraid I pitched the yeast when the wort was too hot.
I picked up a new smack pack on the way home.
I planned to open it up and take a hydro reading, and re-pitch if neccessary.
As I started to open the bucket, that fermentaion smell hit me.
I peeked in and saw that all is well.
I smiled, put the yeast back in the firdge, and cracked open a brew.

Cool thread! I've been skimming trying to find it for the last half hour or so. Apparently my google key words suck. *lol* I'm glad all y'all are putting this info. onto the boards, it's way helpful for a new-bee on the first batch who is wondering when all the fermentation should be starting.

Hey just a question. I've read thru this whole thread now and it has calmed me down after 30 hrs and no signs of fermentation. However, when IS it time to worry and re-pitch some dry yeast? After the 72 hours??

Ale to the Chief said:

Hey just a question. I've read thru this whole thread now and it has calmed me down after 30 hrs and no signs of fermentation. However, when IS it time to worry and re-pitch some dry yeast? After the 72 hours??

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I personally wouldn't repitch even after 72 hours unless I was sure that fermentation didn't occur. I would go by my hydrometer to see if there's been any change in gravity. I would try the "nudge" the fermentor trick to try to rouse the yeast, I'd even consider relocating the fermentor to a warmer place or covering the fermentor with blankets to insolute it...and most inportantly, I would wait a full week at least before taking the first reading..and trust that the "fermentation Fairys" just came and did their magic while I was asleep (That's why I leave a thimble full of whatever is drinkable as a bribe/offering- They tend to prefer Stouts and Porters, and really hate foo foo fruity wits):fro:

I "panicked" and repitched once (in my very first batch ever) and it resulted in really overcarbed beer (like soda pop), and some off flavors.

So I try to avoid that whenever possible.

Thanks for the advice. If I do wait a week though, take hydrometer readings, and find out that nothing happened am I still able to re-pitch after that length of time?

I read an earlier post that I thought was curious enough that I wanted to follow up with it. I read there is a brewing line of thinking that after the primary fermentation is complete, allow the beer to condition over the yeast cake for some time. The reasoning is that this minimizes the chance for contamination; however, the guidelines for this seem to fuzzy.

Ale to the Chief said:

Thanks for the advice. If I do wait a week though, take hydrometer readings, and find out that nothing happened am I still able to re-pitch after that length of time?

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Yeah...If you've waited a week and done the other things I suggested and there's nothing, go ahead and repitch...you're yeasties were toast...

Was it earlier on this thread (or maybe elsewhere...) did someone mention a good yeast to repitch with? I thought I read somewhere recently...

I know for winemaking Llavin Ec 1118 is recommended as a clean yeast to repitch for stuck fermentation...I'm pretty sure there must be something in the beer strains that won't add it's own characteristics to what you're brewing.

Anybody know?

ALthough I doubt you'll need to worry about it...I bet you'll find that it's all good, when you take a grav reading.

Well, I just had what I thought was a "stuck" fermentation. I'm using up the last of my Mr. Beer mixes with the help of Revvy and his suggestions.

I got another batch into primary on Saturday night. I re-hydrated my yeast and it looked proofed while I was stirring my wort. I even fed it with some wort after I allowed it to hyrdrate for about 30 minutes. It started to take off with the wort.

I waited until my wort in the primary was about the same temp as the yeast - around 78°F and pitched. I had nothing, I mean, NOTHING in the primary until this morning. I got a smack pack ready to pitch in this morning and before I opened the primary I took one last look inside - well, wouldn't you know - there were bubbled on top.

So, patiences pays I guess! We'll see how it turns out.

Thanks again Revvy for all your help.

You're welcome.

Just don't stress about this stuff...don't worry that fermentation hasn't occured until a week goes by...Fermentation can sneak up on you...Or it could be explosive.

I also have a question about fermentation times as a new brewer...third batch now in primary. English Ale. First two, Flat Tyre Too....and excellent too!
I used a White Labs English Ale yeast and it took 36 hrs before fermentation really got going (via airlock action). When I pitched the yeast it may not have been at room temp and I didn't do anything with the wort after I pitched the yeast. This is my first time using liquid yeast and the container says 5-15 hours. I'm wondering what happened? The wort did cool to about 68 for the first day, now it's up to 72. Is it because I didn't aerate the wort? Temp differences between yeast and wort? Thanks for any information!

I'm going to keg my first batch of homebrew this week, so hopefully my repitching of the yeast won't add too many ill-effects. Oh well....my hopes are set pretty low since it's my first batch. However, I did just order another recipe kit - a sweet stout extract kit from Austin Homebrewing - I'm hoping it taste more like Left Hand Milk Stout and less like Quick.

I brewed my beer on Thursday night and still have yet to see any signs of activity in my airlock. Should I be worried or is this normal? The only reason I am worried is that 1. this is my first batch and 2. when i pitched my yeast my wort was around 60 degrees. Any help is greatly appreciated.

that says fermentation could take 24-72 hours. I'd be worried though if'n it was me. Then again, I'm on my first brew but, it only took 15 hours to start showing some activity. Is it an ale or a lager? Need more info bro. What temp range does your yeast packet say it works at? 60 degrees could be a bit low.

Has anyone had a problem with back pressure during primary? It's been about 24 hours since i pitched and no evidence of fermentation; however, my airlock keeps empting into the carboy (Yikes)...starting to worry me a bit.

worts cooling down, reducing presure and casuing back flow.

Hello ,this is my first post ,Im glad I found this site it`s awesome, But I have a question, im brewing My first bach of lager and I chilled the wort to 65 degrees before adding the liquid yeast smack pack ,then refridgerated it to 46 degrees,its been 48 hours and still no bubbles..... My question is does the low temperature make it take longer to start ? does lager yeast take longer to start? is it a combination of the two? also if I wait a week and there is no activity is it ok to repitch another pack of yeast? im thinking that the smack pack wasnt good because I smacked it 4 hours prior to pitching and it never swelled. Thank`s

Johnnyv said:

Hello ,this is my first post ,Im glad I found this site it`s awesome, But I have a question, im brewing My first bach of lager and I chilled the wort to 65 degrees before adding the liquid yeast smack pack ,then refridgerated it to 46 degrees,its been 48 hours and still no bubbles..... My question is does the low temperature make it take longer to start ? does lager yeast take longer to start? is it a combination of the two? also if I wait a week and there is no activity is it ok to repitch another pack of yeast? im thinking that the smack pack wasnt good because I smacked it 4 hours prior to pitching and it never swelled. Thank`s

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Airlock activity or lack or is not a true indication of fermentation, your hydro is the only way to tell...Some beers bubble, some don't... The only way to tell is to take a reading...

Low temps do slow fermentation...

Next time you smack a pack you should make a starter...

I've just looked at the temp ranges of various lager yeasts and it looks like the range is 48-65 depending on the yeast you used...so 46 may be too low for the yeast you used....it will take eventually, but if the bottom end of your lager yeast was in the 50's it will take longer, so check the range for your brand of yeast..

You may need to bring the temp up a few degrees and it will jumpstart.

If you've done that and still nothing changes on the hydrometer after a couple readings then you could repitch...although I'm not a fan of doing it myself. In ales, usually just rousing the yeasts and warming the fermenter gets them going, but I can't say about lagers....

is pitching yeast at 80 degrees too high? kind of rushed it... the wort with yeast has since cooled down to 72 degrees. I know patience iskey here but just curious for some opinions.

thanks in advance.

it will be fine

Arneba28 said:

it will be fine

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thanks for the quick and short answer!

I'm using a Coopers Kit with the Coopers pre-hopped beer kits. Its almost like cheating but I figure its a decent start for a beginner. Anyways...

My first batch was the Lager that comes with the kit. Before I put the yeast in my OG was 1.032 (I am guessing I didn't stir well enough). I put the yeast in at about 24C/75F. It took a few minutes to get the lid sealed right but a little food grade plumbers grease fixed the problem. Its been a couple weeks but I could have sworn the airlock was showing activity after just an hour or two. Plus there was significant krausen at the top of the fermenter for days. After 8 days (FG: 1.010) I bottled (keep in mind this is a Coopers kit) and I hope to enjoy my first homemade brew in the coming weeks.


So my second batch was another Coopers pre-hopped beer kit (Bitter). This time I put a little more effort into mixing the wort before checking the OG and was happy to see 1.042. Which is what I expected. So I pitched the dry Coopers yeast at 26C/78F (still within the 21-27C Coopers recommends) sealed it up and left it.

After about 5 hours there was virtually no airlock activity and I started to worry. Thank god for this site. I found this thread and was happy to know that everything could be fine and this is probably the way the first one should have gone. The next day the airlock activity improved to a noticable level and my airlock fears are gone. So I now know that airlock activity doesn't necessarily mean much. However, what about the krausen? After 18 hours there is airlock activity but absolutely no krausen on the top of the beer.

Is Krausen, or lack there of, a 'reliable' indication of fermentation?



EDIT: Turns out my fermenter has quite a 'head' on it. I couldn't see it in the fermenter as I had with the first batch probably because I had moved my primary to a darker location. It took a flashlight shining right on it before I could see a hint of the krausen

This was a great post. I just did my first batch, the English Bitter kit from Midwest, on Friday (night). The bubbles started about 12 hours later, which I thought was quick, but seems about right according to the posts here.

The bubbling has now stopped (now Sunday about 6 central time) or at least slowed quite significantly. So is this normal? How long should one expect to see bubbling out of the airlock, in general? For what it's worth the yeast was Wyeast Brittish ale.

Its been 36 hours and still no sign of bubbling. I stirred the mixture after adding the yeast. Could that be a problem?

andrew jerusalem said:

Its been 36 hours and still no sign of bubbling. I stirred the mixture after adding the yeast. Could that be a problem?

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No....All stirring did was mix the yeast into the beer.

And does it say is the title of this thread? How many hours has it been

Bubbling means little to the fermentation process, the only way to tell is with a hydromenter. Wait a few days and take a hydrometer reading.

Heya all, Im a noobie to actually brewing but Im a baker by trade so have abit of an understanding about the whole process, albeit a little different working from a liquid medium... Anyway no queries today, just wanted to give a thumbs up to all you brew meisters out there helping each other out on the forums, underling the fundamental mateship of a good beer!

Hey everyone – here's another fermentation question. We just brewed up a batch of 1.071 OG IPA (our first), and everything went perfectly until we pitched our yeast. We forgot that you had to remove the yeast from the fridge several hours before pitching, and since we put it away in the fermenter (cold yeast into about 70˚ wort...), nothing has happened. It's sat all night at about 70-65˚, getting close to 24 hours now, and there's no movement, no bubbling, no yeast collection – nothing.

We're worried that we shocked the yeast (White Labs California V liquid yeast), and that we'll have to re-pitch it. Is this the case, and is it worth worrying about yet? Or should we wait longer? I know that the advice is generally to wait, but we're worried about the cold yeast factor. If we have to re-pitch, how much will that cold, dead yeast affect our flavor?

eforrest said:

Hey everyone – here's another fermentation question. We just brewed up a batch of 1.071 OG IPA (our first), and everything went perfectly until we pitched our yeast. We forgot that you had to remove the yeast from the fridge several hours before pitching, and since we put it away in the fermenter (cold yeast into about 70˚ wort...), nothing has happened. It's sat all night at about 70-65˚, getting close to 24 hours now, and there's no movement, no bubbling, no yeast collection – nothing.

We're worried that we shocked the yeast (White Labs California V liquid yeast), and that we'll have to re-pitch it. Is this the case, and is it worth worrying about yet? Or should we wait longer? I know that the advice is generally to wait, but we're worried about the cold yeast factor. If we have to re-pitch, how much will that cold, dead yeast affect our flavor?

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More than likely everything is fine, and you will just have a long lag time, as the yeasties come up to fermentation temperature. The yeast won't die unless they get boiled, if they get too cold they just will go to sleep...pitching them into your wort probably woke them up.

Don't repitch...wait 72 hours, don't rely on the airlock...take a hydro reading...and mostly relax...the yeasts and your beer are hardier than most n00bs give them credit for.

if you did have to repitch anydead yeast becomes yeast food....so you would never notice.

if my lager airlock is slowly bubbling its nothing to worry about? i pitched it friday and its been slowly bubbling since 12 hours after that its at 50 degrees... and i did not make a starter at all i use a Wyeast smack pack 2206 Bavarian.

Patrick

Well I fell victim to the dead yeast. Entirely my own fault but I could not pass on a surprise opportunity to brew. Friday afternoon, I found out our plans got cancelled for that night so at 5:00 I pulled the wyeast smack pack out of the fridge and smacked it. Brewed that night and pitched at about 9:00. I noticed even then that there was no swelling of the smack pack but pitched it anway. This morning - 81 hours later there still was no activity so I pitched a pack of nottinghams I had on standby. I guess asking the yeast to make the trip from Austin, TX to Minnesota in the dead of summer was a little too much to ask. I know, I should have made a starter but I couldn't resist the last minute opportunity to brew. Lesson learned.