Airlock activity

OK, i know that lack of activity is NOT a good indicator that fermentation is done... how ever , is current activity a good indicator that fermentation is NOT done, I assume it is...

I pushed down on the lid of my ale pale gently this morning to allow the airlock to settle to neutral, this evening 6 hours later the airlock torpedo is pushed up showing some off gassing is still active, this, in my logic, is an indicator that fermentation is still happening thus i should not bother to even test gravity yet...

Seem on target?

Bigbens6 said:

OK, i know that lack of activity is NOT a good indicator that fermentation is done... how ever , is current activity a good indicator that fermentation is NOT done, I assume it is...

I pushed down on the lid of my ale pale gently this morning to allow the airlock to settle to neutral, this evening 6 hours later the airlock torpedo is pushed up showing some off gassing is still active, this, in my logic, is an indicator that fermentation is still happening thus i should not bother to even test gravity yet...

Seem on target?

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How long's it been in the fermenter?

To weeks today... i was hoping to bottle this weekend (ish) as i promised a buddy so this is not a crisis, it still has at least 3 days but i wanted to start getting measurements early so that i was confident for this weekend. I know it may be rushing it a touch but I promised a buddy he could brew a heifweizen over his break with me so i need the fermenter.. grrr

It's probably just off-gassing dissolved CO2, you will get small amounts long after it's finished the actual fermentation. If it's been two weeks, I would take a gravity reading and if you're on target, go ahead. I bet it's done, I usually check mine after 10 days and so far all have been finished in that time.

How to Brew - By John Palmer - Fermentation

Read chapter 8 or at least 8.2. As a noob myself I thought fermentation was exclusively the production of alcohol and CO2 but it's also yeast multiplication in oxygenated wort and conditioning of other fermentables in the later phases. Some of these other stages do not always result in off-gassing. Also a fully fermented beer may start to release CO2 from solution giving bubbles even where there is no fermentation.

You might consider a secondary or buying a second bucket. Revvy will tell you all about patience and you won't want to listen but the man knows, as do most of the others here. Besides, if you only have one fermentor, where are you going to brew your inevitable first batch of EdWorts Apfelwein?

Do you have hydrometer readings? If not, you don't know what is going on in your beer and any decision you make will at best be an educated guess based on the experience of others. A hydrometer is the best 8 bucks you can every spend on your homebrew.

My recommendation is that you hit up your LHBS for a hydrometer tomorrow and take a reading as soon as you get home. Take another one saturday morning before your buddy comes over. If they are the same, bottle. If it looks like it is still dropping, wait.

If you can't get a hydrometer... my guess is that if it's been in there for two weeks above about 62 deg. F and you had a couple (or so) days of good strong fermentation early on followed by a drop off to current rates, you are probably fine. Maybe round down when you are measuring out your priming sugar. But like I said, that's basically an educated guess and not much better than pure speculation so I can't be responsible for any bottle-bombs.

In summary:
DWHAHB. Getting a hydrometer will help with that!

I think he has a hydrometer but was wondering whether he should check it now.

ifishsum said:

I think he has a hydrometer but was wondering whether he should check it now.

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Forgive me if I sounded like a tool from my previous post. I am an insecure brewer and I like my hydrometer. I get three readings off all my brews: OG, another one a week or two after strong primary ferment is over, and another one a few days after that. Once I had a stuck ferment and I caught it, otherwise I can't ever remember having to take more than three readings, but remember being reassured every time that third one came in right on the second!

If you have hydrometer readings and post them I (or someone else if they beat me to it ) will do my best to help you interpret them. If you have a hydrometer but no readings, and are uncertain regarding whether it is safe to bottle yet, I'd say take some readings.

Good luck!

ifishsum said:

I think he has a hydrometer but was wondering whether he should check it now.

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Yeah exactly, it SOUNDS like I am good to begin measurements,
so really outside of strong initial fermentation airlock activity is a poor indicator of ANYTHING haha. I do have a hydrometer and will use it rest assured!

I'm sure everything's fine, more than likely you had an uupswing in ambient temperature and it kicked up some yeast activity...But before you bottle take a hydro reading...what miht have happened is that you had a temp drop a couple degrees, the fermentation got stuck, then the ambient kicked up a bit and it started again...who knows why...just don't bottle if you are above 1.020...

So i took a reading, it was ~1.013 on a listermann kit that has a Starting Gravity of 1.042 as stated on the label, i brewed this prior to appreciating the importance of my hygrometer so i did not take a SG reading myself, will in the future.

I say it was ABOUT 1.013 because there was a thick gelatinous froth on top of the brew... and the bottom of the lid... how do i know if this is just krausen or WHAT exactly it may be... underneath looked clear and clean, nothing suspended IN the brew just a good 1/4 inch layer on TOP...

ruh roh raggy...

well I can't tell without pictures...but it sounds like a re-formed krausen, which goes back to my stuck and re-started fermentation theory...

Now that you've "messed" with it, you've released some pressure, so it will probably stop bubbling...I'd give it til the weekend to see if the krausen falls..

Thanks for everything guys, always helpful, I am only on my 5th batch so still seeing new things, REALLY want a glass carboy so begin visualizing the process, and while i dont hate the ale pale having a 2nd fermenter (maybe even a thrid?!?!?) would be nice!