OMG! No Airlock Activity!

Just a reminder to all the newbies that your airlock is no safe way to judge fermentation.

I've been brewing (again) for a couple of years. Batches here and there, learning and improving, and for the most part I feel like I've gotten a good handle on the basics and then some. I've never had a problem getting my airlock to bubble.

Well, I think it was the last batch, when I was cleaning the old fermentation bucket, I discovered a slight bit of "flash" around the top of the rim. I took a razor and trimmed it away.

Fast forward to the last batch. I brewed a Belgian Pale Ale and felt confident that my temps were in order and all was good. I stuck in the basement to start the ferment and after a day checked it.

No bubbles.

Waited a few more days.

No bubbles.

Opened the lid and peeked inside. Lots of foam, which could be Krausen, or just foam from the ride home from the brewday that never settled (although that would have been amazing IMO). BUT! I did get a good whiff of CO2 burn in my nose, so I had to assume the thing was going. Jammed the lid on tight.

Brought it upstairs because it was getting too cool in the basement for a Belgian.

Another few days and I pop the lid. Still foam and CO2, but no bubbles.

Another few days I bust out the Hydrometer and take a reading... 1.010. Nearly done fermenting. Even had some yeast gunk stuck to the thief.

Lesson is, use the hydrometer, and don't trust your airlock as a measure of fermentation activity.

Of course a carboy, or Better Bottle, would have less chance of leaking CO2, but if you use buckets, the airlock can be unreliable. Read Revvy's post on this. He is the man!

Are you just trying to stir the pot here or what? Just when you thought the waters had calmed down and it was safe to get back in...

Tonedef131 said:

Are you just trying to stir the pot here or what? Just when you thought the waters had calmed down and it was safe to get back in...

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Tone, I don't think you can be considered a newbie. Sorry.

Homercidal said:

Of course a carboy, or Better Bottle, would have less chance of leaking CO2, but if you use buckets, the airlock can be unreliable. Read Revvy's post on this. He is the man!

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Thanks bro!!!!
(of course now my trolls will hate you too )

but what is I brewed a lager, should I see bubbles? :cross: (sarcasm)

The OP is absolutely correct, as is Revvy. I brew in buckets and I have had several batches where the fermentation was slow and steady and didn't show up at all in the air lock. The key here is patience. Let the yeast do their job and don't disturb them. Maintain as constant of temperature as you can for the yeast and then sit back and relax. If you want to know if fermentation is happening, look at the side of the bucket in the light. If you see a layer on top of the liquid, everything is progressing normally. Be advised that fementation may take between 1 and 3 days to get a good kreusen layer on your wort.

So clearly there is a leak in the seal on your bucket now. Will you continue to use that bucket or will you replace it? I know there's the argument of the protective layer of CO2, but what about if you leave it in the bucket for 4-6 weeks and most of that CO2 dissipates and is replaced with oxygen, nitrogen, and whatever else is in the air we breathe?

Just curious as I assume you saw airlock activity before you trimmed the bucket and the CO2 has to escape the bucket somehow. And once the yeast are no longer producing CO2 the escaping CO2 will be replaced by other gases in order to equalize pressure.

I say never trust a ale pail. If I put the same batch that was not bubbling in a pail into a carboy it'll usually bubble or I can at least see the krausen and know that it is going.

So never ever trust the cheap piece of plastic that is called "Ale Pail."

Also, that yeast is a pretty shady looking bunch too. I would keep my eye on them as well. See, the carboy helps here too. They have been around for billions of years yet they are still only single celled organisms. Never trust anything that doesn't evolve.

( )

knappster said:

So clearly there is a leak in the seal on your bucket now. Will you continue to use that bucket or will you replace it? I know there's the argument of the protective layer of CO2, but what about if you leave it in the bucket for 4-6 weeks and most of that CO2 dissipates and is replaced with oxygen, nitrogen, and whatever else is in the air we breathe?

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I've said this a million times before, but I'll say it again, I have 9 different fermenters, buckets, carboys, etc, I've been brewing for years, I have airlock activity about half the time....and I leave my beer for a month or more in primary....And all my beers have turned out fine.


So yes that maybe means there's leaks in there, and so what? Oxygen, nitrogen, and all the baddies you're afraid of are not going come rushing in and ruin your beer. You have pressure pushing outward, somewhere, and that is going to keep anything from getting in.

Hell, plenty of people don't even use airlocks, or even lids on buckets, they put a sheet of plexiglass on top of the bucket or tinfoil and call it a day. So there's really no need to replace your fermenter just because the airlocks not bubbling.

An airlock is just a vent to release pressure, and if pressure is getting out somewhere, then that's all that matters.

More here. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/no-fermentation-lost-re-pitch-105051/#post1156967

humann_brewing said:

but what is I brewed a lager, should I see bubbles? :cross: (sarcasm)

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The answer is simple my son....If a tree falls in the forest, is there a sound? Does the lightbulb really shut off when you close the door on the fridge, or does it just blink once but come back on so the eggs can read by?

And is a year to us humans but a second in the life of a tree? Does an airlock in near frozen conditions go "blip" or does it go "bliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip?"

ANd how long do you want to sit in your fermentation chamber to find out?

The real reason I brought this up was because although I agreed that the Hydro was the only sure way to know what is going on, I've never had a problem seeing bubbles before, at least through most of the fermentation process. I'm guessing my little trim job is what made the bucket leak. Maybe I am using a different lid. I don't know.

The thing is, with out Revvy's recommendation to RDWHAHB, I might have freaked out. But being here has given me a good idea of what is going on in the bucket. I knew what to look for, and understood the chances of something having gone wrong, and dealt with the situation in a mostly relaxed and homebrewed attitude.

I'll still be using buckets, if only because I just prefer them for most of the beers I'm making, and using my carboy for secondary when necessary. But I'll probably try and figure out why this one is leaking anyway. I don't NEED to see bubbles to know what is going on, but it can be useful and encouraging nonetheless.

So, hopefully newbies will know that they can check their gravity after a few days, and look for krausen, or take a sniff and see if their nose burns real bad (CO2) as a sign of fermentation, just about as surely as an airlock will bubble.

I am having similar problems with a stout I brewed 2 days ago. I have it in a glass carboy. I can see kreausen and CO2 rising to the top but I have absolutely no airlock activity. The CO2 has got to be going somewhere. I must have a leak but I can't find it. I have an orange carboy cap with a blowoff tube on it at the moment. I am 99% sure there are no leaks in the hose or cap. Hopefully I'll see something when I get back home. I'm not particularly worried about it just confused. I know the beer is fermenting I just don't know where the CO2 is escaping. I used the same orange carboy cap on an apfelwein last week and it bubbled away perfectly.

And damnit, I like to watch the bubbles. It's like a lava lamp or watching a really fat guy run. It's mezmerizing

Maybe try spritzing the cap with a bit of Star San. I have never used those things. I've only used rubber bungs, and I can't imagine any gas escaping past those.

Daughter and I added a blowoff tube to the stout I brewed this past weekend. It was going crazy! We caught it just in time. But the tube was a bit too narrow, so I ended up wrapping packing tape around one end to fill in the space. Even so it was still bubbling out the top of the bucket some.

If you are using a blowoff tube, be careful ti not have too much stuff in the airlock container. The further down you place the end of the hose, the more resistance against the flow of CO2 from the carboy, and the better the odds that it will force it's way out some other way.

Homercidal said:

If you are using a blowoff tube, be careful ti not have too much stuff in the airlock container. The further down you place the end of the hose, the more resistance against the flow of CO2 from the carboy, and the better the odds that it will force it's way out some other way.

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Good point. I did raise my blowoff bucket up about 10 inches this morning. Originally I had it sitting beside the carboy on top of a milk crate, now its on a milk crate and an upside down pot so the end of the blowoff tube is about level with the neck of the carboy.

If gas can get out, fruit flies can get in.

Gah! I have tons of fruit flies in the house right now as well. We've stopped composting altogether to get rid of them. Gas gets out of ailocks, I can't imagine fruit flies getting in through those.

steinsato said:

I can't imagine fruit flies getting in through those.

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The gas can swim, fruit flies can't. Maybe you should read this.

Oh son of a -----! I really hope I don't end up with that kind of crap in my beer. I do have airlocks on the carboys BUT I used tin foil for my starter, so there is a very good chance they impregnated my starter before I pitched it. I guess I just have to wait and see.

On a positive note I removed a few inches of iodophor/water from my blowoff bucket and the tube started bubbling. Makes me wonder where exactly the CO2 was getting out the last 24 hours. I haven't had an infected beer (that I know of) in the last year but this one could be a winner.

steinsato said:

Oh son of a -----! I really hope I don't end up with that kind of crap in my beer. (

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Sorry man, not trying to incite panic. I always use loose foil on my starters. I'm gonna shut up now and let you RDWHAHB.

passedpawn said:

I'm gonna shut up now and let you RDWHAHB.

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That is all I can do at this point anyway. I can't beleive I didn't think of this before hand though. I set my starter right on the counter next to our compost jar (which was a fruit fly farm a few days ago). I have since gotten rid of all the fruit and compost in the house and they seem to be quickly dissappearing but the damage could be done.

Made a brew with Black Rock East India Pale ALe and Black Rock Light Malt Extract, 1/2 the extract and 3litreswater and 2oz of Casacde hops,then added the kit and used Safale us-05 dry ale yeast,pitched at25 degrees Celsius, but no air lock activity yet but looks like I've got some krausen going...I guess I'm woeeied for nothing....any advice out there?

Made a brew with Black Rock East India Pale and Black Rock Light Malt Extract.Added 1/2 can on unhopped malt 3 litres water and Cascade hops 2oz,1 hr steeping and then added the pale ale kit.Pitched yeast at 25 degrees Celsius but no air lock activity yet,but it looks like I've got some krausen going.If I take hydrometer readings and they go down in several days am I ok with this brew?

KIPBREW said:

Made a brew with Black Rock East India Pale and Black Rock Light Malt Extract.Added 1/2 can on unhopped malt 3 litres water and Cascade hops 2oz,1 hr steeping and then added the pale ale kit.Pitched yeast at 25 degrees Celsius but no air lock activity yet,but it looks like I've got some krausen going.If I take hydrometer readings and they go down in several days am I ok with this brew?

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If you have krausen, you have fermentation. I'm not an expert at that fancy new Celsius system you guys have, but I think I set my ferm chamber to 15C the other day, which is about 60. I think 25C might be too high. For Ale yeast, you want low 60s Fahrenheit, and that's not air temp, that's fermentation temp.

The yeast produce a bit of heat when they ferment, and they can raise the temp of the wort by a few degrees F.

I would see that the temp is where it ought to be, maybe setting up a "Swamp Cooler" if need be, or some other means of keeping the temps down and somewhat consistent. It may be too late in this case, since most of the fermentation happens during the krausen stage, but it's good to get this stuff worked out.

FYI - I had no airlock activity for the first few days this batch as well. Since I didn't put any liquid in my airlock! I'll probably add some if/when the krausen doesn't blow out the top! I didn't see the sense in adding liquid if the krausen was just going to contaminate it anyway. I'll add some in the secondary if I even use one.

Used to manage a large LHBS and ran across this problem. Seems the Purchasing Wizard (the boss) found cheaper lids and suddenly no more Ferm bubbles and didn't tell anyone. Clever that one...

Seems the guy was buying lids without the round rubber gasket in them. Saved him a buck but... you get the rest.

Make sure you have a gasket. Do remember to keep that gasket clean. Take them out wash them off and lube SPARINGLY with a food grade grease. Doesn't cost that much for one of those caulking gun sized tubes that will out last the both of us and then you can get real nuts and start sealing/lubing everything in the house (fridge gaskets, gears on the KitchenAid) and who knows, you might find other use's for this lube.

Yes the grease does attract dust and dirt but since we are sanitation nuts normal cleaning and maintenance will solve this problem.

REMEMBER, SPARINGLY...