Moving the primary

Hi. Currently brewing my first batch. This morning the air-lock was bubbling; however, I had to move it (out of the way) of some cabinets. After moving it, it seemed that the bubbling stopped. I didn't notice any action for about 1 or 2 minutes, but have since had to go to work so I'm not sure if it has picked up again. It had been bubbling overnight for several hours and am curious if I (temporarily?) disrupted fermentation...? Can I expect it to resume?

Your beer is fine. You did not affect the fermentation.

I am assuming that you are fermenting in a bucket. When you moved the bucket, you relieved some of the pressure built up in the headspace of the bucket. Once that pressure rebuilds you will see more activity in the airlock.

I'm sure it's fine. I've disturbed them on occasion...Usually the opposite happens, a slow fermentation suddenly kicks up a notch or two.

Are you usuing a 3 piece airlock? The inner piece may a little dislodged and stuck on a co-2 bubble. Or the stopper, or gasket might be a little dislodged. You can tap it with a finger tip when you get home, and also make sure the whole airlock is seated right.

Thanks for the rapid replys. I am doing the primary fermantation in a plastic bucket with a plastic conical airlock. I'm pretty sure it is the three piece. I did check to see if I had pressure and everything appeared air-tight when I depressed the lid.

happens all the time with fermenting in a plastic bucket, some of the pressure is pushed out from the handle pressing against the bucket as well as from depressing the lid. usually builds back up with in seconds to minutes, depending on what stage of fermentation you are in. Just moved one of my plastic buckets today, same thing happened.

Not to worry, everything should be fine. It takes a lot to really mess up your beer.

TheJadedDog said:

Not to worry, everything should be fine. It takes a lot to really mess up your beer.

Click to expand...

I'm really hoping that's true! I'm looking forward to transfering this batch into a secondary and starting another in the bucket.