i have a question i made some beer 2 days ago and it didnt seem to be fermenting much (i suspect the wort was to hot when i added the yeast and killed the yeast), so this morning i added an addtional half a pack of yeast to my beer and some yeast nutrient (1/8 of a teaspoon). it went like crazy for about 10 mintues but now the airlock is back to its orginal postion. what should i do?? i really dont wanna loose my batch
questionable fermentation
- Thread starter pohanky
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demonrichie
Well-Known Member
you dont always get airlock action let it be just wait and check your hydrometer readings to be sure. if it changes that means fermentation. RDWHAHB
hoppymonkey
Well-Known Member
Check it out in a week or two from now.
Normally, I check after a week or two. But if you're concerned about fermentation (or the lack of), you could check it now. I'm assuming that you pitched the yeast while the wort was pretty warm, and it fermented out fast (warm fermentations go FAST) so I'm thinking it's finished. You still want to let it sit for a week or two at least, but I'm betting it's done.
If you check it now, you'll know whether fermentation is finished, or never started. That might help you decide what to do next.
bullinachinashop
Well-Known Member
If your close to your OG then you will need to repitch. If your near to your FG , leave it alone for 2 or 3 weeks and then either keg or bottle.
I would check it now just to see where your at.
Bull
bullinachinashop
Well-Known Member
Close is up and leave it in an area that will maintain a constant temp of about 68 +- degrees. Make sure it won't be exposed to any sunlight.
Give it 2-3 weeks and then you'll be good to go.
Good luck,
Bull
Give it 2-3 weeks and then you'll be good to go.
Good luck,
Bull
OG is Original Gravity. It's your gravity reading before pitching.
FG is Final Gravity. It's your gravity reading when fermentation is finished.
A FG between 1.010 and 1.015 is good, depending on OG and type of beer. Higher OG beers tend to have a FG a little higher than that.
As was mentioned, leave it for a couple weeks before bottling to let the yeast clean up after themselves.
What do you mean by not fermenting much? I'm not familiar with that concept. There no little or big, or good or bad fermentation. If you have fermentation, then it's fermenting. Tiny krausen, big krausen, bubbles in airlock no bubbles in the airlock, fast ferment done in a few days, slow ferment that takes weeks- it really doesn't matter.
There is nothing "typical" in brewing...every fermentation is different, and should not be used to compare one with another...you can't do that.
Just because you may have never had something happen before on your beers, doesn't mean that the yeast are doing anything wrong. It just means that you haven't experienced one of the infinite NORMAL behaviors that living organisms, living wildcards, are capable of.
you can't compare one brew to another. No two fermentations are ever exactly the same.
When we are dealing with living creatures, there is a wild card factor in play..Just like with other animals, including humans...No two behave the same.
You can split a batch in half put them in 2 identical carboys, and pitch equal amounts of yeast from the same starter...and have them act completely differently...for some reason on a subatomic level...think about it...yeasties are small...1 degree difference in temp to us, could be a 50 degree difference to them...one fermenter can be a couple degrees warmer because it's closer to a vent all the way across the room and the yeasties take off...
Someone, Grinder I think posted a pic once of 2 carboys touching each other, and one one of the carboys the krausen had formed only on the side that touched the other carboy...probably reacting to the heat of the first fermentation....but it was like symbiotic or something...
With living micro-organisms there is always a wildcard factor in play...and yet the yeast rarely lets us down. So it is best just to rdwhahb and trust that they know to what they are doing.
Don't assume the worst with the yeast, realize that they've been making beer since long before our great great great grandfather copped his first buzz from a 40 of mickey's out back of the highschool, so they are the experts.
Yeasts are like teenagers, swmbos, and humans in general, they have their own individual way of doing things.
So it's best not to try, and also not to worry about things, based on what you might experience.
The yeast are pros at doing there job, if we let them do it, we rarely have to monkey with our fermentation, once we pitch our yeast. Next time, trust them,
There is nothing "typical" in brewing...every fermentation is different, and should not be used to compare one with another...you can't do that.
Just because you may have never had something happen before on your beers, doesn't mean that the yeast are doing anything wrong. It just means that you haven't experienced one of the infinite NORMAL behaviors that living organisms, living wildcards, are capable of.
you can't compare one brew to another. No two fermentations are ever exactly the same.
When we are dealing with living creatures, there is a wild card factor in play..Just like with other animals, including humans...No two behave the same.
You can split a batch in half put them in 2 identical carboys, and pitch equal amounts of yeast from the same starter...and have them act completely differently...for some reason on a subatomic level...think about it...yeasties are small...1 degree difference in temp to us, could be a 50 degree difference to them...one fermenter can be a couple degrees warmer because it's closer to a vent all the way across the room and the yeasties take off...
Someone, Grinder I think posted a pic once of 2 carboys touching each other, and one one of the carboys the krausen had formed only on the side that touched the other carboy...probably reacting to the heat of the first fermentation....but it was like symbiotic or something...
With living micro-organisms there is always a wildcard factor in play...and yet the yeast rarely lets us down. So it is best just to rdwhahb and trust that they know to what they are doing.
Don't assume the worst with the yeast, realize that they've been making beer since long before our great great great grandfather copped his first buzz from a 40 of mickey's out back of the highschool, so they are the experts.
Yeasts are like teenagers, swmbos, and humans in general, they have their own individual way of doing things.
So it's best not to try, and also not to worry about things, based on what you might experience.
The yeast are pros at doing there job, if we let them do it, we rarely have to monkey with our fermentation, once we pitch our yeast. Next time, trust them,
I think what Revvy is saying in his thesis above is: RDWHAHB.
Being your second batch, you're doing the same thing that most new brewers do - worry about screwing up. I've learned to be patient, let the beer sit in the fermenter for 3-4 weeks, and then worry about it. I gave up bottling a while ago, so I don't worry as much, but I still get that pit in my stomach when I take the first hydrometer reading after fermenting for two weeks. Did it ferment all the way? How will it taste? And, before kegging; Am I adding enough priming sugar? Or too much? The last two are out the window with force carbing, but the first two are still alive. I now leave all my beers in the fermenter for 4 weeks. I take a gravity reading at two weeks, taste that sample, and then let it sit for another two weeks. Most of the time, the taste will be much better after the additional two weeks in the fermenter.
Another recommendation: get a second fermenter. That way, you can brew every two weeks and still keep your beer in the fermenters for up to four weeks.
Being your second batch, you're doing the same thing that most new brewers do - worry about screwing up. I've learned to be patient, let the beer sit in the fermenter for 3-4 weeks, and then worry about it. I gave up bottling a while ago, so I don't worry as much, but I still get that pit in my stomach when I take the first hydrometer reading after fermenting for two weeks. Did it ferment all the way? How will it taste? And, before kegging; Am I adding enough priming sugar? Or too much? The last two are out the window with force carbing, but the first two are still alive. I now leave all my beers in the fermenter for 4 weeks. I take a gravity reading at two weeks, taste that sample, and then let it sit for another two weeks. Most of the time, the taste will be much better after the additional two weeks in the fermenter.
Another recommendation: get a second fermenter. That way, you can brew every two weeks and still keep your beer in the fermenters for up to four weeks.
ChshreCat
Well-Known Member
Looks like it fermented the first time, then when you added the extra yeast and nutrient it gave the dissolved CO2 nucleation points to come out of solution and that's why you saw a bunch of bubbles in your airlock right afterward. Give it another week or two to finish up. You probably got some off flavors from fermenting too warm and the yeast will clean up some of them if you leave it be for a while.
