Airlock stopped moving, bubbles gone - Day 5

Hello,

I was told my beer would have to ferment for 2 weeks. I have not been home too much because of travel, but I have been having my friends check on it.

The beer is kept in a colder, dark basement, however it is in San Jose california, and temperature outside regularly reaches 80 degrees. I am not sure what the temperature is in the basement, but I do know it is significantly cooler.

My Housemate just checked on my beer and he said the airlock stopped moving and the bubbles are gone. As I am not there to take a gravity reading or take the temperature, I am not sure what went wrong - If anything.

So, help a fellow new brewer out... Is it dead? Should I just wait 2 weeks like it says? What should I do?

KappaSigMike said:

Hello,

I was told my beer would have to ferment for 2 weeks. I have not been home too much because of travel, but I have been having my friends check on it.

The beer is kept in a colder, dark basement, however it is in San Jose california, and temperature outside regularly reaches 80 degrees. I am not sure what the temperature is in the basement, but I do know it is significantly cooler.

My Housemate just checked on my beer and he said the airlock stopped moving and the bubbles are gone. As I am not there to take a gravity reading or take the temperature, I am not sure what went wrong - If anything.

So, help a fellow new brewer out... Is it dead? Should I just wait 2 weeks like it says? What should I do?

Click to expand...

Nothing's wrong. It's not dead. Don't do anything.

It is not uncommon for airlock activity to cease after a few days. It is important also to remember that airlock activity is not necessarily an indicator of fermentation. Either way, gravity readings are the only true way to tell. No worries leaving it in the fermenter for a while though, it won't spoil

evrose said:

Nothing's wrong. It's not dead. Don't do anything.

Click to expand...

Thank you! Why is it doing this? Is it too cold? Too hot? It was bubbling and breathing vigorously at first, and now it's not. Is this normal?

Its fine. Just let it sit until you're home and then take your gravity. If the active fermentation is over then the yeast is in "clean up" mode and making your beer taste that much better.

aryoung1980 said:

Its fine. Just let it sit until you're home and then take your gravity. If the active fermentation is over then the yeast is in "clean up" mode and making your beer taste that much better.

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It is a Golden Ale with Cascade Hops, Nottingham Ale (11g) dry yeast. What should my gravity readings be?

And holy crap, I love these forums already!!

The active portion of the fermentation has probably finished. When you are able take gravity readings 2 days apart, if they are the same and near predicted levels you can package. There is no need to rush this. Longer primary is often better than packaging as soon as you can.

KappaSigMike said:

Thank you! Why is it doing this? Is it too cold? Too hot? It was bubbling and breathing vigorously at first, and now it's not. Is this normal?

Click to expand...

At first there is a lot of sugar for the yeast to eat and poop out waste CO2. As the days go by, the supply of sugar is reduced. After a few days, it's not uncommon for airlock bubbling to reduce or cease. Airlock activity is not indicative of anything. A tiny bit of CO2 could be leaking out from the rim also... It's normal for vigorous bubbling to slow down after a few days.

The only real way to be sure that fermentation is complete is to take consecutive gravity readings. Once the gravity isn't changing, the fermentation is done... of course, it can benefit by sitting in the primary a bit longer.

What your seeing is totally normal.

KappaSigMike said:

It is a Golden Ale with Cascade Hops, Nottingham Ale (11g) dry yeast. What should my gravity readings be?

And holy crap, I love these forums already!!

Click to expand...

Did you take an original gravity reading before pitching the yeast?

There's no way to tell exactly what it should be without the entire recipe, including amounts of malt used.

If you pitched the correct amount of yeast, and you have a good seal on your fermentor, the bubbles usually stop after 2-5 days. That doesn't mean that your beer won't benefit from 2 or 3 more weeks in there.

Yes, your beer is fine. If you research the threads a little bit, you will find that it is pretty common for people to leave their beers in the primary fermenter for 3-4 weeks. As previously mentioned, active fermentation lasts for about a week or two. The only way to be sure that fermentation is complete is to take a gravity reading, then 3 days later, take another gravity reading. If it is the same, then fermentation is done. If you bottle and fermentation is not complete, you risk the possibility of bottle bombs because co2 is still being produced.

The purpose of leaving the beer in the primary for longer is to allow the yeast to clean up after themselves. This has become a widely accepted practice, but some people will rack to a secondary. The first rule of homebrewing is.... be patient. Its hard to do when first beginning, but it will pay off in the long run. Good luck and cheers :rockin:

My best advice is "it is ready when it is ready". I was just like you when I started. When you get to the point that you just kind of forget about it and let it ferment even longer than the minimum, the results will improve even more.

If my recipe says one week, I wait two. I might stare at it, but I don't even bother with a reading, opening the top to peek, etc.

That is hard to do when you first start out. Especially if you are in a bucket and can't see anything.

If you really wanna know, take a sample. It's full of carbon dioxide. Also, get a gravity reading (if you don't have a hydrometer yet, buy one). And taste it (don't expect good beer yet). Once you get better at this, you'll forget the beer and let it do it's thing. But until then play with it. Worse you can do is learn something that you can't read on these threads. First hand experience. Okay and you can damage your beer, which will teach you somethin' else. Enjoy!