15 days and still rapidly bubbling airlock

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Just-in

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I am a newbee...I have a belgian white ale with an og of 1.062. Day 2 and 3, I had to used a blow off valve.. I switched back to an air lock and it's been bubbling every 5 secs for 15 days with about an inch of krausen.. I took a gravity reading today and it's still at 1.033, the temp is around 68-70 F. What in the heck are these yeast (belgian wit ale 400 *00015*) doing :confused: It' smells and taste like beer.. but is everything ok in there?
 
Everything is A-ok, nothing to worry about here. The krausen will stay up for awhile, which is nothing to worry about. it just means the little guys are doing their thing. From my own experience, which isn't much, just leave the **** alone! yes, it is fun to play with the beer and check the gravity.... but... you risk infection everytime and it is best to just let the fermentation do its thing until its done. When the krausen falls take a gravity reading and you should be around your target gravity... but it is your beer, so do as you please but I would leave it alone for a day or two until after the krausen has fallen.

happy brewing
 
Revvy said:
What's the gravity? Airlocks bubble, or they don't and often the bubbling have little or no correlation to what the yeast are doing.
Click to expand...

I realize that consecutive gravity readings are the only conclusive factors that can provide details of a finished fermentation, and airlock activity can not. Even if the airlocks have been lacking activity for days, the yeast may still be working.

I have a question though on the contrary.

If the airlocks are still actively bubbling, isn't this a sign that the yeast are not finished and that primary fermentation is still active?

If not, how could the airlocks have activity without yeast still working?
 
Looper said:
I realize that consecutive gravity readings are the only conclusive factors that can provide details of a finished fermentation, and airlock activity can not. Even if the airlocks have been lacking activity for days, the yeast may still be working.

I have a question though on the contrary.

If the airlocks are still actively bubbling, isn't this a sign that the yeast are not finished and that primary fermentation is still active?

If not, how could the airlocks have activity without yeast still working?
Click to expand...

Let me count the ways that happen and are mentioned daily on here, that muddies up the water and requires a grav reading.

Often an airlock will bubble if the fermenter has been disturbed in some way, like a change in temperature, change in atmospheric pressure, the cat brushing against it, opening it up to take a hydro reading, any number of things.

Or you could indeed have fermentation happening, since maybe your fermentation was laggy and a change in temp restarted fermentation.

Airlock bubbling only tells you that co2 is coming out of the airlock, it is not telling you why. And there's various reasons. That's why it's not a good idea to equate airlock bubbling with fermentation...It could be because it is fermenting, or it could not be because of fermentation...so it's not a trustworthy tool.
 
Well since you already let us know your gravity is at 1.033 right now (did nobody read the whole post before responding or did he edit that later?) And since you also said there is still an inch of krausen, it sounds like it's probably still working. I've heard belgian yeasts can take longer to ferment out. Never done one myself but plan to soon. Keep that temp up and it should ferment out. Did you aerate it pretty good before pitching your yeast? Has the temp been pretty consistent?
 
chapa said:
Well since you already let us know your gravity is at 1.033 right now (did nobody read the whole post before responding or did he edit that later?) And since you also said there is still an inch of krausen, it sounds like it's probably still working. I've heard belgian yeasts can take longer to ferment out. Never done one myself but plan to soon. Keep that temp up and it should ferment out. Did you aerate it pretty good before pitching your yeast? Has the temp been pretty consistent?
Click to expand...

Yep the gravity was there all along! hehe It's ok, thanks for the reply everyone.
Is shaking the jug for about 15 sec's enough to aerate? I don't remember, but that's how long, I probably did it. Temperature is pretty constant 70F +- 2.
It's been another 24hrs with no change (bubbling, krausen ect) Should i take another gravity reading to see if it's dropping?
 
Just-in said:
Yep the gravity was there all along! hehe It's ok, thanks for the reply everyone.
Is shaking the jug for about 15 sec's enough to aerate? I don't remember, but that's how long, I probably did it. Temperature is pretty constant 70F +- 2.
It's been another 24hrs with no change (bubbling, krausen ect) Should i take another gravity reading to see if it's dropping?
Click to expand...

I'd leave it for several days, if not a week, and then see if it's still going down. If there was no activity and you were stuck at 1.033, I'd be concerned...but thats not the case.

Do some research on your yeast also. You'll be surprised what you learn, when you google your strain. From optimal fermentation temps to attenuation, and of course possibly coming across threads with people who have had similar experiences to yours.

I've just recently been developing a taste for belgians, so I'm really looking forward to brewing one.

I hear it's a really good idea to make big starters for them and aerate really good though. That may explain the sluggishness with yours. Hopefully it will still pull through though. Keep that temp up! Once it gets too low and craps out, it's really hard to get it moving again. Good luck!
 
chapa said:
I'd leave it for several days, if not a week, and then see if it's still going down. If there was no activity and you were stuck at 1.033, I'd be concerned...but thats not the case.

Do some research on your yeast also. You'll be surprised what you learn, when you google your strain. From optimal fermentation temps to attenuation, and of course possibly coming across threads with people who have had similar experiences to yours.

I've just recently been developing a taste for belgians, so I'm really looking forward to brewing one.

I hear it's a really good idea to make big starters for them and aerate really good though. That may explain the sluggishness with yours. Hopefully it will still pull through though. Keep that temp up! Once it gets too low and craps out, it's really hard to get it moving again. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Will do, Thanks
 

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