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satstrn

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aight guys,

I've never tried to make beer before and I went into it with not much knowledge. Anyway, everything was fine until about 3 days into the fermentation period. The airlock bubbled every 10 or 15 seconds for about 2 days, then nothing. Its been about 2 and a half days since i noticed any activity (6 days total). Eventually I opened it and measured a 1.014 spec gravity (after 5 days or so) along with a 2% potential alcohol percent and "5" for the balling measurement. I'm thinking I killed my yeast somehow, maybe because I didn't put enough in or I didn't clean the bleach out well enough when I washed the container. What do you guys think? Why would it bubble for 2 days and then abruptly stop?
 
Gravity reading of 1.014 means it's likely done. What was your OG? I'll bet you probably have more than 2% beer. Need the OG to tell, though.
 
Most of the time you will have a couple of days of major activity then it will slow down/stop. You did the right thing by checking the spec gravity, what final gravity did the recipe call for? You are probably just be done fermenting.

The 2% alcohol reading you are getting needs to be subtracted from your beginning reading to tell the alcohol content.
 
The potential alcohol reading of 2% on the hydrometer is meaningless for our purposes. You're only going to be using specific gravity.

Ale fermentations can be lightening fast, and an OG of 1.014 tells me it is done, recipe dependent. Don't be in a hurry to move it off the yeast, though; they'll now turn to metabolizing the funky tasting byproducts of fermentation - like diacetyl and acetaldehyde.

To calculate ABV: (OG - FG) x 131
 
Thanks everyone, wow that was fast. flyangler-when you say move it off the yeast do you mean bottle it or ferment it in something else? My recipe was extremely simple, it just said to stick it in the primary fermenter for 7 days and bottle. That isn't what I've been reading though, most of what I've read is saying to put it through a second fermentation. It is an ale though, which leads me to think it might just be ready to bottle. Thanks again.
 
satstrn said:
Thanks everyone, wow that was fast. flyangler-when you say move it off the yeast do you mean bottle it or ferment it in something else? My recipe was extremely simple, it just said to stick it in the primary fermenter for 7 days and bottle. That isn't what I've been reading though, most of what I've read is saying to put it through a second fermentation. It is an ale though, which leads me to think it might just be ready to bottle. Thanks again.
Click to expand...

Seven days is far too short in my opinion; I'd leave it in primary for at least two weeks and forgo moving it unnecessarily into a secondary vessel. 'Secondary fermentation' is a misnomer - the purpose of the secondary fermenter is for bulk aging or clarification, as the yeast begins to drop out of suspension.

I tend to leave most of my beers in primary for around 30 days before bottling or kegging; the only exception to that is my Mild recipe that goes grain to glass in around 21 days (I keg).
 
It's not ready to bottle, ale or not. Let it sit on the yeast at least 2-3 days post-fermentation. This is when the yeast metabolise those fermentation byproducts like flyangler talked about. After this 2-3 day period, the beer will then benefit from sitting longer because the yeast will continue to fall out of suspension, making a clearer beer and the flavors of the beer will begin to come together a little bit better.

I would say keep in in the fermenter (don't move it at all) for 2-3 weeks total, then bottle/keg.
 
So even though its not bubbling anymore, the fermentation period isn't over? Also-right before I checked the spec gravity I mixed it up a bunch with a spoon. Any chance I could have messed something up? Might be a silly question, but I'm realizing this is a careful process.
 
Was that spoon sanitized? If not, you'll still probably be OK. The bulk of fermentation may be done but it's still a good idea to let the yeast clean up after themselves. Give it a couple more weeks.
 
satstrn said:
So even though its not bubbling anymore, the fermentation period isn't over? Also-right before I checked the spec gravity I mixed it up a bunch with a spoon. Any chance I could have messed something up? Might be a silly question, but I'm realizing this is a careful process.
Click to expand...


don't do that anymore there is no need and it just increases the chance of infection and oxidizing the beer . Fermetation is most likely over but the yeast clean up after themselves so leave it another week at least then bottle.
 
The beer is fine, but I wouldn't stir it (or any other batch), ever again. Stirring can introduce oxygen, which introduces yucky flavors. It can also introduce bacteria that will spoil your batch. This batch you are fine, but in the future, never stir the beer! (Well, stir it before you pitch yeast to aerate, then never again).

You get alcohol by subtracting the % alcohol at the end from the % alcohol at the start.

You want to let it sit for a while after the actual fermentation is over so it can age. It will taste very "green" right now....If you are going straight from primary to bottle, you want to wait at least 2 weeks, if not 3. Trust me, your beer will taste 1000x better if you just wait 2x as long.
 
You get alcohol by subtracting the % alcohol at the end from the % alcohol at the start.
Click to expand...

That's not correct. By that logic, you'd have a negative alcohol content because prefermented wort contains no alcohol. ;)

To calculate ABV from a hydrometer reading, you subtract the FG reading (1.014 in this example) from the OG reading (1.050) and multiple this difference by 131.

So: (1.050 - 1.014) x 131 = 4.716% ABV

Math is fun! :rockin:
 
flyangler18 said:
That's not correct. By that logic, you'd have a negative alcohol content because prefermented wort contains no alcohol. ;)

To calculate ABV from a hydrometer reading, you subtract the FG reading (1.014 in this example) from the OG reading (1.050) and multiple this difference by 131.

So: (1.050 - 1.014) x 131 = 4.716% ABV

Math is fun! :rockin:
Click to expand...

Right....the hydrometer he, (and I), have has 3 scales on it. One of them is a % alcohol scale, which is simply the SG scale multiplied by your 131 modifier....

So when you take your initial reading, (say it's 1.050), and read the % alcohol scale, it will say (1.050*131-1.000*131) or 6.55%. When you take your final reading, you get 1.014, and the % alcohol scale reads (1.014*131-1.000*131) or 2.834%.

Subtract the two, and you get 4.716%.

Math IS fun, which is why (OG-SG)*131 is the same as (OG*131)-(SG*131), which is the same as (OG*131-131)-(SG*131-131). They just did the math for you on the hydrometer....the noob mistake is to assume when you read the OG and get 6.55% on the hydro, that your final beer will be 6.55% alcohol. In reality, you have to subtract the % alcohol reading at the end (2.834 in this hypothetical case), to get the actual % alcohol in the beer.

;)
 
shortyjacobs said:
Right....the hydrometer he, (and I), have has 3 scales on it. One of them is a % alcohol scale, which is simply the SG scale multiplied by your 131 modifier....

So when you take your initial reading, (say it's 1.050), and read the % alcohol scale, it will say (1.050*131-1.000*131) or 6.55%. When you take your final reading, you get 1.014, and the % alcohol scale reads (1.014*131-1.000*131) or 2.834%.

Subtract the two, and you get 4.716%.

Math IS fun, which is why (OG-SG)*131 is the same as (OG*131)-(SG*131), which is the same as (OG*131-131)-(SG*131-131). They just did the math for you on the hydrometer....the noob mistake is to assume when you read the OG and get 6.55% on the hydro, that your final beer will be 6.55% alcohol. In reality, you have to subtract the % alcohol reading at the end (2.834 in this hypothetical case), to get the actual % alcohol in the beer.

;)
Click to expand...

Well, holy crap - I just learned something new! Thanks bro!
 
I never took that scale to be too accurate,but I never did the math with it either.I guess for 5 g batches it's pretty close.Even the og-fg(131) isn't completely accurate....I know what your all thinking...Now I'm going to revel the RIGHT way to do it!No because I don't know either:tank: John Palmer apparently has an EXACT way to calculate abv%,But theres no way I'll ever remember it..nor does it matter.
 
Joos said:
Even the og-fg(131) isn't completely accurate..
Click to expand...

Math nerd alert... PEMDAS - Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication and Division, and Addition and Subtraction

131(og-fg) :mug:

The only math lesson I've been given by swmbo is that when football season rolls around, lower OG = good!
 

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