fermentation questions

Hello I made my first all grain batch 2 days ago. Its an an American Pale Ale. its in a glas carboy, and it been fermentating for 30 hrs. my question is: i dont see a lot of fermentation going on, it bubbles in the airlock are constant every 20+ seconds, is this allright or should I do something? thanks

Chefjp said:

Hello I made my first all grain batch 2 days ago. Its an an American Pale Ale. its in a glas carboy, and it been fermentating for 30 hrs. my question is: i dont see a lot of fermentation going on, it bubbles in the airlock are constant every 20+ seconds, is this allright or should I do something? thanks

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Can you post the recipe and process you used? What was the OG? Did you use a yeast starter? What yeast did you use? Did you aerate the wort properly? What was your pitching temp? What is the temp now?

More information would be helpful

30+ hours and slowing down to a few bubbles in a minute is fine. It is fermenting, leave it alone, let it do its thing. Give ti a couple weeks, check with a hydrometer. It is easy on a brew to get jitters, but this is fine and normal. Fast fermentations happen.

here is the recipe I followed:

4 kilos pale malt 2 rows
120 gms chocolate malt
180 gms caramel malt 40L

mashed with 12 lts water at 150°f for 75 min.
sparged with 3 lts at 160°

boiled for 1 hour with:
1 oz cascade 60 min
1 oz carcade 10 min
1 oz cascade 1 min
2 tbsp irish moss 10 min

cooled to 70°f

used fermentis safbrew t-58, hidrated for 20 min with 1 cup water.
added yeast and water to 18 lts

Okay, that's part of the info. What was the OG? Did you aerate the wort properly? What is the temp now?

Right off the bat 2 tbsp of Irish Moss seems like a ton. This won't affect the fermentation, but it will probably impact the flavor.

sorry Im new at this, What is OG? and how do you aerate?

temp right now its 70°

thanks

Chefjp said:

sorry Im new at this, What is OG? and how do you aerate?

temp right now its 70°

thanks

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OG is Original Gravity. It's obtained by taking a specific gravity reading (I use a hydrometer) after you've cooled your wort, but before pitching the yeast.

Aerating can be achieved by stirring the wort vigorously. Some people use compressed O2, but that's pretty advanced. I usually put the lid on ants shake for about 30 secs.

Chefjp said:

sorry Im new at this, What is OG? and how do you aerate?

temp right now its 70°

thanks

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Oh boy...first thing for you to do is read this entire book (available online) http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html

It is not gospel, but its pretty close.

Gravity is a way to measure the amount the amount of sugar in the water. Normal water has a gravity of 1.000 at 60 degrees. Beer wort gravity varies based on the amount of sugar that was extracted from the grain/malt extract.

Original Gravity - measurement taken before fermentation
Specific Gravity - measurement(s) taken during fermentation
Final Gravity - measurement taken after fermentation

To calculate the alcohol content of a beer you need an OG and an FG. Google for online abv gravity calculators.

Aeration is the process of adding oxygen to the chilled wort. Wort is aerated so the yeast have the necessary levels of oxygen to properly reproduce. Without areation the yeast would consume all available oxygen and stop reproducing. Then there would not be enough yeast to achieve your desired FG. There are many methods to aerate (read How to Brew).

well for aeration, I stired a lot, like 5 mins. was that enough? can I do something now?

thanks for the INFO Ive been reading how to brew as I go along, mistake on my part, but Im learning!!!!!, can I do something now to introduce more oxygen?

Chefjp said:

well for aeration, I stired a lot, like 5 mins. was that enough? can I do something now?

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Grab a beer and read the book. Your current brew is probably fine, but it is nearly impossible to tell since you are not entirely familiar with the overall brewing process.

I'm not putting you down and I'm not trying to discourage you. We all started out very green and we became better and better over time. Reading this book will give you a great understanding of some of the basic steps needed to brew a great beer.

Chefjp said:

thanks for the INFO Ive been reading how to brew as I go along, mistake on my part, but Im learning!!!!!, can I do something now to introduce more oxygen?

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I mean, the answer to this question is yes, you can add more oxygen if you like by stirring/sloshing/throwing it in the bed of a pickup trcuk and going offroading.

But I wouldn't. I'm guessing the fermentation is going fine. Without having an original gravity reading to compare to a current one, the discussion is pointless. We don't know that lack of oxygen is the issue. We don't even know if there is an issue.

Chefjp said:

thanks for the INFO Ive been reading how to brew as I go along, mistake on my part, but Im learning!!!!!, can I do something now to introduce more oxygen?

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To directly answer your question, no. You do not want to introduce more oxygen once fermentation has begun.

Edit: Buy TWO hydrometers. One for checking specific gravity, and the other... for when you break the first one.

I'd leave it be. If the airlock is bubbling, you have fermentation. Every few day you should take a Specific Gravity reading (make sure to sterilize equipment!), and that will give you proof of fermentation. Are you going to transfer to a secondary fermentor? If not, just leave it be and the yeast will do the work after a few weeks (~4 weeks).

nbolmer said:

Edit: Buy TWO hydrometers. One for checking specific gravity, and the other... for when you break the first one.

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So true

I just order a hydrometer- yes Im doing a second fermentation

Chefjp said:

I just order a hydrometer- yes Im doing a second fermentation

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Can you explain why you are doing a secondary fermentation? If the answer is "no" then don't do it.

Chefjp said:

I just order a hydrometer- yes Im doing a second fermentation

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Once your fermentation slows down, you should transfer (aka racking) the beer from your primary to your secondary. Take care to avoid sucking up the sludge at the bottom of the bucket. If you do, it's not that big of a deal, but the idea of using a secondary is to get away from that stuff.

As for how to tell when your fermentation slows, when you take a SG (Specific Gravity) reading, you want the number to be the same on back to back days (some people go back-to-back-to-back). Other people suggest waiting until the changes are very minimal, but not necessarily the same. I have a friend who uses a rough approach of when the airlock bubbling has really, really slowed. All the methods guarantee beer, it's just how precise and methodical you want to be.

Relax and have a beer.

Yesterday i moved the fermentor to a spare fridge that i have i have it at a constant 65°f. its been fermenting for 3 days now and the bubbles in the fermentor have really slowed. i was timing them today and its like 1 every 2 mins.
I did read yesterday "how to brew" by palmer, and I realized I could have done some things diferently (dont lecture me Im learning!!!).

Im not going to do a second fermentation like i was planning. My hydrometer hasnt arrive so I canot check the alcohol content or the OG.

My question is: is there anyway I could check if this batch is going to work?

Thanks everyone

No lecturing here, if people are "lecturing" in a mean way then they don't deserve to be helping in this forum.

Using the airlock as a gauge of fermentation is fun but not accurate. you can have fermentation still going without any bubbles coming through. The batch is very young, the best thing to do is to leave it be. You can take a hydrometer reading after 1 week (if you have one by then), and taste the sample. This will give a clue as to the flavor, though will change drastically with conditioning, carbonation, and additional aging.

Tall_Yotie said:

No lecturing here, if people are "lecturing" in a mean way then they don't deserve to be helping in this forum.

Using the airlock as a gauge of fermentation is fun but not accurate. you can have fermentation still going without any bubbles coming through. The batch is very young, the best thing to do is to leave it be. You can take a hydrometer reading after 1 week (if you have one by then), and taste the sample. This will give a clue as to the flavor, though will change drastically with conditioning, carbonation, and additional aging.

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Sorry if I came across as lecturing. Just meant to give a few options for how to solve the predicament. I agree that if you have a hydrometer on the way, no harm can come from waiting for it to arrive; that's probably the best option.

I also should stress that my friend who has used the airlock to "read" fermentation left the beer for quite some time.

Good luck!

Finally, tried the beer today, 1 week in fermentor, it tasted fine ( happy happy) thanks every one. It is very cloudy. Im going to keep it 2 more weeks in the primary fermentor. Will it get clear with time? I did use irish moss.

Yup, it will clear up some. Just needs time.

What really helps clearing is once it is in the bottle and carbed sticking it in the fridge for a while. Any remaining bits at that point will settle to the bottom.

Really looking forward to starting my next brew. Hefeweizen maybe?

Finally got my hydrometer, got a reading today the gravity is 1010. And the alcohol % is 2. Should i start over or is this worth saving?

1.010 is a fine final gravity for many styles of beers.

The 2% alcohol you are reading on the hydrometer is not the actual %ABV. What that says that is your beer had an OG of 1.010 and then finished at a 1.000 (water) then it would have 2% ABV. You need your OG and FG to know what the actual ABV is.

If you know if fermentation is done (look up the beginner's guides, want consistent readings over a couple days), then go ahead and bottle it up, that is if it has been in primary for a couple weeks at least to allow conditioning. Does it taste like it is beer? It will be young and not developed at this point, but really it should be fine. You are stressing on the details.

Ita actually tastes great!!!! I even got a buzz from trying it. I'm keepjng it 1 more week and dry hoping it!!!!