No foam or bubbles

I recently brewed my first batch of beer. I used coopers pale ale. I brewed as instructed and poured the wort into the fermenter. I never really noticed any bubbles in the airlock and couldn't really see any foam at the top. There is some brown cake above the wort line that tells me there must have been foam at some point. I brewed it 3 days ago on Saturday. Should there be foam still and should I have bubbling in the air lock? Thanks for the help!!

do you have anything to take gravity readings? if not, go to your homebrew store and get a hydrometer or refractometer. very important, at least till you get the feel of fermenting. the caked line is a good indicator, but no sure sign. there are so many things that can affect this, there's no way to say for sure

ChrisAllenLV said:

I recently brewed my first batch of beer. I used coopers pale ale. I brewed as instructed and poured the wort into the fermenter. I never really noticed any bubbles in the airlock and couldn't really see any foam at the top. There is some brown cake above the wort line that tells me there must have been foam at some point. I brewed it 3 days ago on Saturday. Should there be foam still and should I have bubbling in the air lock? Thanks for the help!!

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There's one sure fire way to test this here. Get yourself a 2 liter bottle. Fill it up with the beer. Drink this in one sitting, try to finish it in 30 minutes (you can do this watching your favorite sitcom!). Repost to us how you feel in 1 hour after starting. :cross:

Really though, if you're concerned fermentation never ocured, go get some Nottingham dry yeast for under $2, rehydrate it, and repitch! It won't hurt and if a vigorous fermentation starts, you know you at least hit it right this time, if not, you just missed seeing activity before and were already good! $2 insurance is cheaper than a possible bad batch!

You could definitely take DannPM's suggestion! But you'd also be less 2 liters of good beer later. Did you ferment in a bucket? Sometimes the seals are crap, so please remember, airlock activity is NOT a good sign of fermentation! Do like lumpher says and take your gravity readings like a good brewer would! You're gonna need it anyway. I would spend the money on a hydrometer before spending money on more yeast if you don't need it.

r_flagg said:

You could definitely take DannPM's suggestion! But you'd also be less 2 liters of good beer later. Did you ferment in a bucket? Sometimes the seals are crap, so please remember, airlock activity is NOT a good sign of fermentation! Do like lumpher says and take your gravity readings like a good brewer would! You're gonna need it anyway. I would spend the money on a hydrometer before spending money on more yeast if you don't need it.

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The only reason I didn't say get a hydrometer is because he never had an OG reading to compare against. I'm not sure how'd you calculate the SG of a coopers kit as it isn't listed :-/

But agreed, you'll definitely need a hydrometer so you might as well get one now and learn how to start using it to make better beer!

Thanks for the help fellas. I think because there definitely was krausen do the brown residue left above the wort, I'm gonna just let it be and bottle it in a week and hope for the best.

Same situation with a coopers lager. First time brewing but my equipment kit had a hydrometer. SG=1.050, after 4 days 1.045. Doesn't seem like much and I could have measure wrong at the start, but what do I know. Its been cold, thermo says 63F on the bucket. I think I'll do the same and wait until 2 weeks total. If anyone has insight, it would be very helpful.