Newbie Needs Help Please!!

Hi Guys,
I'm a fairly new brewer and I have a question. This past weekend (3 days ago) I made a brewed a Bavarian Hefeweisen. I did everything by the books or so I believe. I used Wyeast 3068 and did a partial mash. I racked into my primary and set covered by a box in my living room corner. Temperature ranges from 66-69.

After about 24 hours I noticed that there was no fermentation starting. Worried that I hadn't aerated the Wort enough I carefully removed the airlock and gave the carboy a good couple of spins. The next morning fermentation (or at least I could visually see it) had started and I could see a Krausen forming on top of the wort. It was about 1/2 an inch at this point.

That was about 36 hours ago. Based on the yeast packaging I was expecting a very large head to form, but for the past 36 hours it's been largely at 3/4 of an inch. The airlock is moving slower now then it was 24 hours ago and I'm afraid fermentation is completing long before it's supposed to. There is a large amount of trub at the bottom.

I'm considering the following, and I would like everyone's thoughts:
1) Do nothing and let nature work it's course
2) remove the airlock and give it another spin, not sure if that's ever adviced once fermentation is started
3) pitch additional yeast

Any help would be greatly appreciated, and I'm new to brewing.

You beer will be fine.....it was more than likely fine before you aerated the wort after 24 hours...in fact that is one of the worse things you could do...Aerating after fermentation is starting is an invitation to trouble, and fermentation was more than likely already starting. It's only recommend to add additional O2 within the first 12 hours for BIG beers, not normal beers.

Just read this thread, especially my answers and know for the future what to and what not do...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/2nd-batch-no-airlock-activity-after-72-hours-235955/

Just leave your beer alone and realize that the new advice is just to leave your beers alone in primary for a month, and not worry. Even though fermentation is not evident in ways you might think, the yeast have been doing it for 4,000+ years, and they only stop fermentaing when the job is done, they don't just die out. In fact fermentation is only one thing they do, they clean up after themselves after.

SO don't worry, and walk away for awhile it will be fine.

Gotta love newb nerves. I had them too. Sometimes it gets the best of you and could cause you to do disastrous things to the delicate fermentation process. I'm fairly new myself still, not so much to brewing, but to the site, welcome!

Do 1, relax, always relax. Airlock activity isn't always a sure fire indication of fermentation. Please don't shake it. Shaking it introduces oxygen, introducing oxygen after a certain point is no longer beneficial, but could cause oxidation. Since all you did was swirl it I'm sure you didn't oxidize anything. Just wait it out, all will be fine.

I have brew that's been in primary for 4.5 weeks now. During fermentation there was barely any foam, very little airlock activity, but I wasn't worried because I knew the yeast were doing their job. I tasted it after 14 days and I could tell it was progressing well. I'm going to bottle it very soon and I'm sure it'll taste great!

The good piece of mind I have now is that there is always someone who has had the same problem before, no matter what it is. Before you act on it, ask here. I've had my nerves eased many times in the 6 months I've been here.

1) Do nothing and let nature work it's course

It is possible you missed high krauesen and just didn't see the level of activity you expect. That yeast can go crazy at optimum temps, and if your ambient is 69F, the temp in the fermenter was likely quite a bit higher. I bet everything is fine. I would let it go and then check gravity in a few days if you must.

Do nothing. If you absolutely can't stand it, the only thing you should do is take a gravity reading. Fermentation can be fun to watch, but the visuals aren't really reliable indicators of exactly what's going on. I wouldn't be surprised if your hef, in the upper 60's or warmer, finished in two days.

I just brewed a mild, OG 1040, that developed high krausen, fell, and finished in the span of Saturday afternoon to Monday morning. It happens.

Thanks everyone for the quick reply and re-assurance. Greatly appreciated!! Hands are officially off it. How long do you guys recommend I let it sit it in the primary?

I'm actually amazed at my newbie nerves also. But it's been a blast learning and doing it. I'm just waiting for my first one to complete so I can say "Relax and Have a HomeBrew!"

ImNewToBrew said:

Thanks everyone for the quick reply and re-assurance. Greatly appreciated!! Hands are officially off it. How long do you guys recommend I let it sit it in the primary?

I'm actually amazed at my newbie nerves also. But it's been a blast learning and doing it. I'm just waiting for my first one to complete so I can say "Relax and Have a HomeBrew!"

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You're probably like me and don't do gravity readings... 4 week minimum.

Wow. I was planning for 1 week in primary and 1 week in secondary. Maybe I should reconsider that plan? I thought that would be sufficient.

A lot of people will tell you that secondary's are unnecessary except for certain situations (like adding fruit). For almost all of my beers I let them primary for 3 weeks and then keg or bottle. Some may require longer, but 3 weeks is the minimum.

You don't even need a secondary. In fact, some on this site preach against it as unnecessary unless you intend on introducing fruit or spices for additional flavor when you transfer to a secondary.

I notice a much better refreshing and much smoother taste to my brews when they spent 3-5 weeks in primary as opposed to one week which was what my impatient self used to do.

ImNewToBrew said:

Wow. I was planning for 1 week in primary and 1 week in secondary. Maybe I should reconsider that plan? I thought that would be sufficient.

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Read this.

Thanks Revvy. I ran across that link yesterday in my searches, and based on that I am changing to a minimum of 3-4 weeks in primary and no secondary.

Actual time will be depend on my thirst level

Maybe I'm alone in this, but when I brew a hefe as soon as terminal gravity is reached, I bottle. That could be as soon as 1-2 weeks. The Fresha the Betta, IMO. And in this case, I really don't care if the majority of yeast drop out of suspension.