Question About Day 3 of Fermentation- Bubbles Stopped

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I am brewing my first beer, an IPA and started the process Wed night. The next day, we pitched the yeast when it got down to 72 degrees F. I was a bit concerned when I didn't see bubbles in the airlock 20 hours after yeast at 68 -70 degrees, but some helpful people here put my mind at ease. Sure enough shortly after that, it started going crazy! So crazy in fact that yesterday afternoon the lid started to look as if it were going to blow. This happened to my neighbor on his batches and beer exploded everywhere so I took the lid off to relieve pressure thinking the airlock got clogged.

This was the case, so I cleaned the cake off the lid and the airlock and placed the lid back on again. This happened two more times and got to the point where liquid was coming out the top of the airlock and getting everywhere- though not much. So I took off the lid one last time last night, cleaned the lid and the airlock again, and cleared away some of the cake on the top of the inside of the bucket and some of the foam on the top since there was so much and I was thinking it was clogging the airlock. There was still a lot of foam when I put the lid back.

It started bubbling again a bit slower but not as aggressive and more consistent, no more leaking. So I thought, great! Woke up this morning to nothing happening...for the last two hours there has been no gas escaping at all. Is this normal? Did I mess something up by cleaning it a little last night? I was careful to disinfect everything and run filtered water over the lid and airlock to wash away the disinfectant before replacing. Thoughts?
 
I am brewing my first beer, an IPA and started the process Wed night. The next day, we pitched the yeast when it got down to 72 degrees F. I was a bit concerned when I didn't see bubbles in the airlock 20 hours after yeast at 68 -70 degrees, but some helpful people here put my mind at ease. Sure enough shortly after that, it started going crazy! So crazy in fact that yesterday afternoon the lid started to look as if it were going to blow. This happened to my neighbor on his batches and beer exploded everywhere so I took the lid off to relieve pressure thinking the airlock got clogged.

This was the case, so I cleaned the cake off the lid and the airlock and placed the lid back on again. This happened two more times and got to the point where liquid was coming out the top of the airlock and getting everywhere- though not much. So I took off the lid one last time last night, cleaned the lid and the airlock again, and cleared away some of the cake on the top of the inside of the bucket and some of the foam on the top since there was so much and I was thinking it was clogging the airlock. There was still a lot of foam when I put the lid back.

It started bubbling again a bit slower but not as aggressive and more consistent, no more leaking. So I thought, great! Woke up this morning to nothing happening...for the last two hours there has been no gas escaping at all. Is this normal? Did I mess something up by cleaning it a little last night? I was careful to disinfect everything and run filtered water over the lid and airlock to wash away the disinfectant before replacing. Thoughts?

Sounds like your fermenter was possibly pretty warm. If the room was 70 F then the fermenter may have been up to 80 F. You probably should have used a blow off hose (as large as a carboy hole to suck off the excess) in the beginning. How much sugar/ malt extract did you use in 5 gallons? I don't know if touching the foam was a good idea either.
 
Thanks badbrew. Yeah, the temp on the bucket read 68-70, so hopefully that was ok. I started with a 5 gallon kit that came with 8 pounds of light dry malt extract. Thanks for the tip on the hose. I just used a sterile spatula to remove a very small amount of the foam and the cake around the side. Does the fact that there has been no action on the airlock for at least the last three hours this morning (it was bubbling before bed last night) mean its done? Is that bad/ too early? Temps have been consistent- right now it's at about 66 in the bucket.
 
Its not done. Give it at least 2 weeks in the primary. If you were to bottle at this stage your probably all but guaranteeing yourself bottle bombs.

That said, nothing is wrong from what you've said. You had a very vigorous fermentation which is good, and now the yeast need a few weeks to clean up all the nasty tasting thing's they have produced and finish attenuating the leftover sugars.

You could take a gravity reading now if you want to, just to give yourself an idea of where you are now and how far you have yet to go. Depending on the size of the beer you started with I'll bet you could have 10 points or more to go.
 
Thanks badbrew. Yeah, the temp on the bucket read 68-70, so hopefully that was ok. I started with a 5 gallon kit that came with 8 pounds of light dry malt extract. Thanks for the tip on the hose. I just used a sterile spatula to remove a very small amount of the foam and the cake around the side. Does the fact that there has been no action on the airlock for at least the last three hours this morning (it was bubbling before bed last night) mean its done? Is that bad/ too early? Temps have been consistent- right now it's at about 66 in the bucket.

^^^that's probably why it blew up.
 
It could be done fermenting, especially if it fermented at 70F. But as others said, it's not done. It needs to clean up. The 70F fermentation temp is probably why it was a crazy fermentation.
 
While ferment temps help things along with how vigorous a ferment can be,It's mostly how much yeast was pitched & how healthy it is. And it's typically just for the initial fermentation that a blow off rig is needed to handle all the excess gas & krausen.
After that,it slows down for the crawl down to a stable FG. I give it 3-5 days usually to clean up & settle out more. some have taken 7 days to acomplish this. Then bulk prime to style & bottle. And using DME is not the lone cause. It'a def more yeast related.
 
While ferment temps help things along with how vigorous a ferment can be,It's mostly how much yeast was pitched & how healthy it is. And it's typically just for the initial fermentation that a blow off rig is needed to handle all the excess gas & krausen.
After that,it slows down for the crawl down to a stable FG. I give it 3-5 days usually to clean up & settle out more. some have taken 7 days to acomplish this. Then bulk prime to style & bottle. And using DME is not the lone cause. It'a def more yeast related.

Does a starter lessen, increase or neither the chances of blow off?
 
Starters & re-hydrating def increase the need for a blow off due to more vigorous initial fermentation. It's a good thing,in my opinion. You want a good,healthy ferment.
 
If you don't want to use a blow-off, the only real solution is either a smaller batch size or a larger fermenter. In either case, more headspace for the krausen is the key. Even then, using a blow-off as standard practice is probably a good idea.
 
Wow great stuff everyone! Thanks for the info. Being a noobie I wasn't sure what to expect, but it sounds like its good that it fermented so vigorously and that, being the 3rd day of fermentation, it just slowed down a lot and giving it another 2 days before moving it to the carboy is ok to let it clean up. Sound about right? The kit said it should yield about a 7.2 ABV when done. Wondering if I should add a little more malt and yeast to bring it up a little more. I'll probably just continue on with the instructions being this is my first go. Thanks again everyone! I welcome any other tips you have...
 
giving it another 2 days before moving it to the carboy is ok to let it clean up. Sound about right?

No. Leave it in the primary for 3-4 weeks in total. Then check fg for completion.

I would not add more malt or yeast at this point. I'd leave it.

B
 
Yea. Just leave it alone. Its hard to fight the urge to mess with the first few batches.

I agree about leaving it in primary. But i personally disagree with the 3 to 4 weeks. It gets repeated here a lot, but i think if ferment temp is consistent and not too hot and you pitch enough yeast, 2 to 3 weeks is plenty. I just havent found a need or benefit for 4 weeks.
 
Yea. Just leave it alone. Its hard to fight the urge to mess with the first few batches.

I agree about leaving it in primary. But i personally disagree with the 3 to 4 weeks. It gets repeated here a lot, but i think if ferment temp is consistent and not too hot and you pitch enough yeast, 2 to 3 weeks is plenty. I just havent found a need or benefit for 4 weeks.

That can definitely be the case. I only suggest the 3-4 in order to more likely ensure full fermentation and clean up the flavours.

B
 
I'm partly to blame for 3-4 week mantra,as I preached that from my original experiences with brewing. I then did a simple series of tests over the next couple of brews & found that after FG is reached,3-5 days additional time is all that's needed. Clean up & further settling generally doesn't take more time that 3-5 days,sometimes 7 days.
That little experiment def changed things.
 
As everyone has already said, leave it alone!

You'll be much happier, what happens in the primary just cannot happen in the secondary or bottles; and it take a few weeks for that to happen.

Tide yourself over with some beer you haven't tried and build your collection of bottles for the next batch!

3 weeks, don't add anything, don't shake it up, don't even look at it if you can help yourself, just leave it in the closet/basement/cellar whatever and do your best to forget about it till Christmas at least.
 
Thanks everyone, but I have a question about that. You guys mentioned 3-4 weeks (or 2-3) then Union mentioned 3-5 days is all that's needed. Obviously you guys are the experts and I want to glean from your experience! :) but the instructions say this "between 3-5 day fermentation will slow or appears to stop (I should have read this again prior to the thread, I'm right on schedule haha). This is a good time to...test your specific gravity. After 5 days, transfer your beer to your secondary if you are using one. Add dry hops...condition for 7-10 days..." but you guys are saying at least a couple weeks. Union is suggesting 5 days from now, correct? According to the instructions, it sounds like, since this is the 3rd day, I should transfer to the secondary in two days. So, not to sound naive (which i am), but what's best here? 2 days from now, 3-5 days from now, 2-3 weeks from now or 3-4 weeks from now followed by dry hopping and conditioning?

Oh and I plan to let everyone know how it turned out! :)
 
What I meant was,after your beer get's down to a stable FG (however long that takes),give it 3 to 5 additional days to clean up & settle out more. Anyway,at two weeks from the date I pitched the yeast,I take a hydrometer reading. If it's not down to FG yet,I'll give it another week. It can take that long to knock off another point or two. Then take another FG test. If it's lower by a bit,I'll give it 2 more days,then check it again. You want the reading to be the same over 2-3 days,in other words.
Then give it the 3-5 days I mentioned to clean up & settle out more before dry hopping or priming & bottling. Hope this clears it all up...:mug:
 
Thanks Union, I think so. Just so I know I understood you, instead of following the instructions that came with the kit of testing the FG within 3-5 days of yeast pitch and transfer to secondary after the 5 days, I should give it at least a couple weeks, testing the FG at the end it that time every two days or so until it stays consistent, then transfer to the secondary, add dry hops and let condition for another 7-10 days according to the instructions. Did I get that right? Sorry if I'm reading too much into it. Thanks for all your help!
 
Thanks Union, I think so. Just so I know I understood you, instead of following the instructions that came with the kit of testing the FG within 3-5 days of yeast pitch and transfer to secondary after the 5 days, I should give it at least a couple weeks, testing the FG at the end it that time every two days or so until it stays consistent, then transfer to the secondary, add dry hops and let condition for another 7-10 days according to the instructions. Did I get that right? Sorry if I'm reading too much into it. Thanks for all your help!

Sounds like a plan to me.
 
Check it at the 2 week mark to see if it's done or close to it. No need to check it every other day,that wastes to much good beer. If it's not down in the stated FG range yet,just wait 1 more week & check it again. Then if it's in the FG range given,& the #'s are the same over 2-3 days.
No need to secondary for dry hop,but you can if you like.
And yes,7-10 days dry hop time is good & generally excepted practice.
 
Uniondr knows his stuff. Clarifying my comments above... rather than checking all the time, I use the "set it and forget it" method. After a number of weeks when everything is nice and clear I prime and bottle or keg. For me, this usually comes out in the 2-5 week range depending on the brew.

Once bottled I let it condition a number of weeks, too. When I have had the patience to wait, I get rewarded. My Irish Red is a case in point.

B
 
Thanks for the props,man. I do try to help out with everything I've learned since I started fermenting stuff some 40 years ago. That just made the transition to beer brewing easier. Still asked/ask questions about grey areas now & then. But this ain't one of them,since I won't be kegging anytime soon.What I've passed on here is generally fool proof. Not to mention,minimalistic.:mug:
 
Hey everyone, just wanted to provide an update on my beer and thank everyone for their advice and comments. I read up on this a bit more and started to see that there are really two schools of thought: the older method was to leave it in the primary for a few weeks before transferring to the secondary; the newer method is based on some of the newer "technology" which requires getting the beer off the cake and into the secondary for conditioning much sooner.

Being that this was my first batch, I decided to follow more closely to the instructions that came with the kit. I waited about 6 days in the primary and transferred to the secondary glass carboy, adding the flavoring hops and let that condition for about 3 weeks before bottling. Not sure what the difference would have been, but after leaving the bottles untouched for another 16 days, this was the result: a wonderfully mellow, yet hoppy IPA with almost 8% ABV with strong citrus notes (I am guessing due to the secondary and flavoring hops conditioning for three weeks). It tasted amazing! So smooth, the higher ABV was mellowed out by a nice, smooth.

I want to try this same recipe again, only this time follow the advice you guys gave here with the first method of leaving it in the primary for 3 weeks instead of the secondary just to taste the difference. It may be even better, who knows? First I am going to try a chocolate coffee stout! Anyway, thanks again!
 
You're welcome. But racking to secondary asap can be a smoking gun. Always make sure you have a stable FG before racking. Otherwise,the fermentation can be interupted & stall. It was thought in earlier times that the yeast settled because they were dying. Maybe back in the 70's to 90's yeasts weren't as good as today. But nowadays,that old autolysis bit is just another muth disspelled. Some LHBS owners that have been brewing for a long time still preach it. Twaddlespeak says I.
At this point,to secondary or not is purely a matter of personal choice.
Just get a stable FG first!
 
Good point Union! Thanks! Yeah, I made sure to get that FG stable before I racked it onto the secondary. I think I still want to try it e way others on this read mentioned (keeping it in the primary much longer) just so I can compare. I'm just glad this first batch turned out so good- got lots of compliments and gave a lot away so this next batch will be more for me anyway, LOL.
 
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