First Time Brewing: Fermentation Question (Picture Inside)

This is our first beer. Its been over 72hours and although its been chilly here in San Francisco, it appears to smell like its fermenting. Is this is what it should like?



I am only worried since there not any bubbles. We pitched dry yeast (Nottingham Ale Yeast) on Tuesday to make an Irish Red Ale kit.

It looks perfectly fine! Your krausen dropped as it should (evidenced by the ring of sludge around the top of the beer). Close the lid tight, put the airlock in, and don't open the fermenter for another 2.5 weeks.

You want to open the fermenter as little as possible to keep so you keep a nice layer of co2 over your beer.

temple240 said:

It looks perfectly fine! Your krausen dropped as it should (evidenced by the ring of sludge around the top of the beer). Close the lid tight, put the airlock in, and don't open the fermenter for another 2.5 weeks.

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Thanks, good to hear! We are moving into a secondary fermentation and then will let it ferment from there.

That is fermenting or has fermented. Depending on conditions fermentation can be either very quick or quite slow.

If you didn't see bubbling in the airlock that most likely means that the excess co2 found and easier way out of the bucket, like a leaky seal.

Wait until 10 days to 3-4 weeks after brew day and take gravity readings to check for final gravity.

It's looking good so far.

If you haven't moved it already, don't. There's no need to move it to a secondary and even if you decide to move it you should wait at least a week before doing so. Patience is the hardest part of brewing!

Search the forums for info on secondary fermenters and you'll find a lot of great advice.

temple240 said:

Close the lid tight, put the airlock in, and don't open the fermenter for another 2.5 weeks.

You want to open the fermenter as little as possible so you keep a nice layer of co2 over your beer.

Click to expand...

This is very important based on what I've read (and my own experience). Keeping that layer of Co2 on top of your beer will reduce the chances of infection by displacing any oxygen left in your fermentor. Every time you open the lid, you're opening your batch up to the possibility of infection. If you want to know what's going on in your fermentor, watch the airlock and your hydro readings.

temple240 said:

If you haven't moved it already, don't. There's no need to move it to a secondary and even if you decide to move it you should wait at least a week before doing so. Patience is the hardest part of brewing!

Search the forums for info on secondary fermenters and you'll find a lot of great advice.

Click to expand...

Most folks, from what I've seen, are only racking to secondary if they're adding fruit or dry-hopping. Personally, I have done it on a couple batches for clarity only and it seemed to work. However, I still normally leave it in primary for 10 days to 2 weeks (based on style and hydro readings) before transferring to secondary. I'll normally only leave it in secondary for 1 more week since by that point all the fermentation is done at that point. It's more for letting more of the sediment fall out of solution and I let most of the conditioning and flavor development/maturity happen in the bottles.

That's just how I do it. There will be 100's of people that will give you their techniques. The most important things is that you enjoy your beer.....which short of a catastrophic failure....will always taste better than anything BMC!

+1 on DO NOT move to secondary yet! Just let it sit a couple of weeks and the yeast will do their job.

I let all of mine sit for at least 3 weeks but I like to go 28 days, normally. I then drop the temperature to about 38 for a few days and rack straight to keg (or bottle). My beers have been very clear.

When and if you move it to another vessel (I like the term Bright Tank, instead of secondary fermentor), it should be for a specific reason. Bulk aging is fine but FERMENTATION should be finished. Dry hopping, fruit additions, wood aging etc., but not secondary fermenting.

temple240 said:

If you haven't moved it already, don't. There's no need to move it to a secondary and even if you decide to move it you should wait at least a week before doing so. Patience is the hardest part of brewing!

Search the forums for info on secondary fermenters and you'll find a lot of great advice.

Click to expand...

Yes I agree

Roger.

temple240 said:

If you haven't moved it already, don't. There's no need to move it to a secondary and even if you decide to move it you should wait at least a week before doing so. Patience is the hardest part of brewing!

Search the forums for info on secondary fermenters and you'll find a lot of great advice.

Click to expand...

Oh I had no idea it was an option. We were just following the recipe. We will let it sit then. Thanks!