Stopped Fermentation?

Hello.

I brewed a batch of Red Ale this past Sunday. It fermented like a charm late Sunday night into Monday night. Tuesday morning I noticed the airlock was filled with blow off (beer, yeast, foam). I took the airlock out, cleaned and sanitized it then replaced it as it was before (water in the lock for bubbling, etc.).

Since then I've not noticed the airlock bubbling. Should I be worried?

brettaok said:

Hello.

I brewed a batch of Red Ale this past Sunday. It fermented like a charm late Sunday night into Monday night. Tuesday morning I noticed the airlock was filled with blow off (beer, yeast, foam). I took the airlock out, cleaned and sanitized it then replaced it as it was before (water in the lock for bubbling, etc.).

Since then I've not noticed the airlock bubbling. Should I be worried?

Click to expand...

If you haven't taken a grav reading you don't know if it has stopped fermenting or not...All you know is your airlock isn't bubbling, or has slowed down, and that is not the same thing.

If your airlock was bubbling and stopped---It doesn't mean fermentation has stopped.

If you airlock isn't bubbling, it doesn't mean your fermentation hasn't started....

If your airlock starts bubbling, it really doesn't matter.

If your airlock NEVER bubbles, it doesn't mean anything is wrong or right.

Your airlock is not a fermentation gauge, it is a VALVE to release excess co2.

So get out of the habit of thinking that an airlock bubble it telling you anything.

Fermentation is not always "dynamic," just because you don't SEE anything happening, doesn't mean that anything's wrong, and also doesn't mean that the yeast are still not working dilligantly away, doing what they've been doing for over 4,000 years....


The only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in....

It's the same with out beer, to know what's going on with your beer, you should check your gravity.

You beer is fine...when you removed your airlock, you VOIDED out any excess co2, so the airlock doesn't necessarily need to bubble.

just relax and walk away for a week....

Revvy,

Do you have that post ready for a copy/paste whenever this topic pops up?

dpittard said:

Revvy,

Do you have that post ready for a copy/paste whenever this topic pops up?

Click to expand...

Sadly, yes I do...like most of the things you see all the time. If people are going to ask the same questions every day, I'm not going to re-write the answer 10 or more times a day, was I?

Nah. If I have it memorized then he sure as heck has it burned into his memory.

Thanks for the response. One more question. After reading some other posts I'm not sure how to handle this. I bought a brewing kit (bucket, carboy, etc.) from a homebrew store. The recipe they gave me tells you to ferment in the bucket provided (with spigot). Isn't that the bottling bucket? Should I transfer to the carboy in a couple weeks, let it sit another week to settle then transfer back to the bucket to bottle?

I'm not a big fan of those spigoted fermentation buckets, but oh well....

Go to a hardware store and get a translucent or white bucket...but look for one where the 5 gallon mark falls way below the top of the bucket. Usually it will say 5 gallons at 3rd band from the top. (oh get the lid too....I totally regret not getting it when I did.)

Then get a spigot and make a dedicated bottling bucket. It really defeats the purpose of both a long primary/no secondary or a secondary if you have to stir up all the nice sediment you patiently waited to settle just so you can have consistent carbonation.

Mine is the translucent Leaktite brand 5 gallon container with the gallon and liter markings from Homedepot.