Fermentation can take 24 to 72 hrs to show visible signs.

H-ost said:

1.0918 sounds high but what did the recipe say it should be? If your gravity has dropped from 1.091 to 1.043 that means fermentation has/is happening. So your options are to wait and let your beer finish. This is why we say an airlock is not an indicator of fermentation.

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actually i have no idea cos i threw out the can and recipe already.
i'll check the gravity again this evening(24 hours since last check) and see if it has dropped some more

Edit:
just took gravity reading again - 1.0216 so it's already more than 4x lower than my SG and the best part. I guess it's fermenting after all

I'm glad its going well!

is it ok that the gravity has dropped to 1.0026 ?

I do not use a refractometer but I hear they are not very accurate POST fermentation. Do you have a Hydrometer you can check with?

i am checking it with hydrometer. the reading was 0.2

Hello everyone,

I'm a newb when it comes to brewing, although I recently fermented and bottled my first batch and am working on my next batch. I'm brewing 6Gal of Munton's Nut Brown Ale, using the instructions along with 1 tablespoon of Allspice and 5 cups of Light Spraydry Malt. I rehydrated the yeast which came with the kit according to the directions, aerated the wort in my carboy, and pitched once the wort reached 70 degrees F. I then put the carboy in a closet and left it alone overnight.

The next day the airlock was very active, with gas escaping about every second. I closed the door and checked on the fermentation again the following day, with gas escaping about as frequently as before. The third day I checked, and the airlock activity was almost non-existent. Although there was still some kraeusen, it's very little. I have not taken a gravity reading since I pitched the yeast, since the instructions stated fermentation should take 4-6 days. Today is the fourth day, and the airlock is still quiet, so I'm concerned with my fermenation.

Should I take a reading now, or wait until after the 6th day?

Thanks.

Everything sounds normal. Take a gravity reading at the two week mark and I'd bet you hit your target gravity.

Before you ask, ALWAYS take a hydrometer sample of the specific gravity to see if fermentation is/was taking place.

If you want beer to be ready in under a week, buy it from the store. The process takes longer than that.

I've got a question that I haven't been able to find an answer to. I'm using harvested WLP002 in 2 beers that I brewed Sunday - pitched about 6 PM. It's now been about 36 hours and there has been no notable activity. I've had beers take this long to get started before so I'm not terribly concerned, however in both beers the yeast has completely flocculated out. It honestly looks like most beers look about a week after pitching when the fermentation is complete (dense layer of yeast on the bottom, light dusting of yeast on the sides of the carboy). I've roused the yeast twice (at 18 and 24 hours), but same thing - flocs out.

I had harvested the yeast a week before repitching so it was still within that 2 week period. I added 60 seconds of pure 02 to each carboy. Do I need to be concerned since the yeast have flocculated? I would think if they are taking in oxygen, starting fermentation, etc they would be suspended, not flocculated.

no krausen, no noticeable activity, sediment layer on the bottom.
I'd be concerned....take a gravity and plan for plan b

Naturally 2 hours after posting one of the carboys is showing signs of forming krausen, the other not yet, but hopefully soon. I'll update the thread later.

TopOfTheLine89 said:

Over three days (around 85 hrs) since i set the brew to ferment and still no bubbling, keep in mind I'm using a Mr.Beer that was stored in a closet by my brother for the last year. I will let it go the full 2 weeks anyway and hope for the best because i don't have a new brew to start and my next brew will be 5 gallons in a carboy.

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Mr. Beer doesn't really bubble. Just wait the 14 days for fermentation, bottle it, and then I let mine wait a little on the longer side (for the Mr. Beer directions) - another 14 days. Also, when adding the sugar to the bottles for the Mr. Beer brews, be on the conservative side, as adding too much has led me to have some overcarbonated brews.

I brewed a Brewer's Best Kolsch, and everything went as expected. All readings were within range. I put it into a secondary fermenter as suggested and within a day the color went from light straw to a copper penny. Not too concerned about the taste, but I was wondering what might have done to affect the color. Brewer's best suggests that the color should be a light straw. Both primary and secondary fermenting were done within a PET better bottle carboy in a dark room in the sweet spot for the temperature. On rack day the was OG 1.010 which is the low end for a Kolsch but it looked like fermentation was slightly going. It has been in the secondary for four days and I am debating bottling as is instead of going the full two weeks. Any suggestions

It sounds like it is fine to bottle now but nothing will hurt it if you wait longer.

First question, do you sanitize with iodophor? If so that might be it, if not then my guess is below.

As for the color, it will always be darker in the fermentor than in the glass. Before you racked there was probably still plenty of yeast and some trub in suspension, then, when you racked to secondary you left a lot of it behind and that which was left began to settle so your beer is probably actually clearer now than it was before racking. The color change is from light being able to pass through all of the wort now instead of just bouncing off the first inch or so.

I OCD sanitize with LD Carlson. I figured it would be lighter out of the carboy, but I guess I was hoping for that light gold clear color. And yes it is certainly clearer now.

H-OST, I bottled a pilsner that had been lagering, was a medium brown color in the carboy, when put in a cylinder was a golden straw. I have no doubts that the Kolsch will be the same.

:rockin: pretty drunk.

I started brewing a Sierra Nevada clone from Midwest supply on Sunday (4/1/12). I used a white labs vial and did not do a starter, just sprinkled the vial on top after I aerated it (poured back and forth through a colander 10+ times to clean out some of the hops and aerate). It started a healthy bubbling Monday morning when I checked it. It's been very hot here in Florida, the first day it was at 82 (I have a strip thermometer on the outside of the bucket). I though this may be too hot so I put the bucket in a spare fridge that I have on Tuesday. My intention was to try and keep it around 70-75. I checked it Wednesday morning again for bubbling and realized it got done to 62. There was no sign of activity. I turned the fridge off and the bucket (as of Thursday) is up to 72F, though I still see no signs of activity. I'm wondering if I killed off the yeast and need to repitch some?

Bottling a kolsch tonight and my wife says it smells like sulfur. Skunked?

I think that's just kolsch yeast. I have only made one but it smelled like that too. It will age out.

During the normal carbonation period or should I age it longer?

2 things that I know of:

1) she could have just gotten a huge wiff of CO2 to the point it slightly burned or smelled of sulfur.

2) Although I personally have not experienced this, I have heard some yeasts/fermentations just stink. I have definitely heard it described as a sulfur smell.

All in all I HIGHLY doubt your beer is in anyway ruined. If you think you are ready to package you should proceed as normal with taking gravity readings and if you wish, wait an extra few days and see if it dies off. Aging the beer will only help it.

I bottled regardless and hoped for the best. The one thing I've learned from this thread is that as long as you do things normal it's hard to screw up a beer. The FG was Where it should be and hadn't changed in a while.ill ley you know in a couple if it aged out. Good thing there will be a pilsner ready in between

Lbillotto said:

I bottled regardless and hoped for the best. The one thing I've learned from this thread is that as long as you do things normal it's hard to screw up a beer. The FG was Where it should be and hadn't changed in a while.ill ley you know in a couple if it aged out. Good thing there will be a pilsner ready in between

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...Pipelines are glorious

CitizenSnips said:

I started brewing a Sierra Nevada clone from Midwest supply on Sunday (4/1/12). I used a white labs vial and did not do a starter, just sprinkled the vial on top after I aerated it (poured back and forth through a colander 10+ times to clean out some of the hops and aerate). It started a healthy bubbling Monday morning when I checked it. It's been very hot here in Florida, the first day it was at 82 (I have a strip thermometer on the outside of the bucket). I though this may be too hot so I put the bucket in a spare fridge that I have on Tuesday. My intention was to try and keep it around 70-75. I checked it Wednesday morning again for bubbling and realized it got done to 62. There was no sign of activity. I turned the fridge off and the bucket (as of Thursday) is up to 72F, though I still see no signs of activity. I'm wondering if I killed off the yeast and need to repitch some?

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I'm in Miami and I think I have the same problem. I put my carboy in my kegerator at the highest possible setting but it dropped into the 60s overnight. Now the fermentation seems stuck. I hope it won't be a problem. Did your fermentation continue?

CitizenSnips said:

I started brewing a Sierra Nevada clone from Midwest supply on Sunday (4/1/12). I used a white labs vial and did not do a starter, just sprinkled the vial on top after I aerated it (poured back and forth through a colander 10+ times to clean out some of the hops and aerate). It started a healthy bubbling Monday morning when I checked it. It's been very hot here in Florida, the first day it was at 82 (I have a strip thermometer on the outside of the bucket). I though this may be too hot so I put the bucket in a spare fridge that I have on Tuesday. My intention was to try and keep it around 70-75. I checked it Wednesday morning again for bubbling and realized it got done to 62. There was no sign of activity. I turned the fridge off and the bucket (as of Thursday) is up to 72F, though I still see no signs of activity. I'm wondering if I killed off the yeast and need to repitch some?

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This is just a "possible" scenario but if the initial fermentation was at a higher temperature, I.E @ 82F, that could have sped up the initial vigorous fermentation stage leading to a shorter fermentation period. You'll quite likely have some funky esters and phenols, as a result of the high temps in the initial stage, which might mellow out with another couple of weeks, or so, in the primary.

Generally, I try to maintain low to mid 60s for the first 4 or 5 days of fermentation then high 60s to low 70s for the next couple of weeks and its turned out some pretty god beers for me, so far.

Don't sweat it too much though. I'm sure you'll have a decent enough beer to drink for your efforts.

MostWanted said:

I'm in Miami and I think I have the same problem. I put my carboy in my kegerator at the highest possible setting but it dropped into the 60s overnight. Now the fermentation seems stuck. I hope it won't be a problem. Did your fermentation continue?

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See above post.

Also, if you established your OG, do a sample check for your present SG to see if there has been a drop. Worst case scenario you can raise the temp a bit, although you really shouldn't have any problems fermenting anywhere in the 60s, or you could pitch some more yeast to get it going again but you'll more than likely be ok. Supposedly Champagne yeast is pretty good for getting more attenuation when fermentation has stalled from certain long chain sugar compounds that don't break down so easily, such as those in darker or roasted malts.

Having said that, did you put the carboy in your kegerator before fermentation had even showed signs of starting?? If so, letting it warm up a little might be all you need to do to kickstart the yeast into action. Once they're up and running, cooling it down to the mid 60s will be good for your brew's first few days.

Low 60's are actually a great temperature for many yeasts. At 60* it is right around the lowest end of the optimum temp range for many common ale yeasts. This can be seen as good thing because, for me, my basement holds 58-60 around this time of year and once the yeast start eating they are producing their own heat, raising them temp a few degrees, and putting them in the correct temp range.

I had thought I stalled a brew once or twice due to temps as low as 56 before and was proven wrong in the end. Remember to give it time and let it do its thing then after a little or when you get curious consult your hydrometer.

Ogri said:

See above post.

Also, if you established your OG, do a sample check for your present SG to see if there has been a drop. Worst case scenario you can raise the temp a bit, although you really shouldn't have any problems fermenting anywhere in the 60s, or you could pitch some more yeast to get it going again but you'll more than likely be ok. Supposedly Champagne yeast is pretty good for getting more attenuation when fermentation has stalled from certain long chain sugar compounds that don't break down so easily, such as those in darker or roasted malts.

Having said that, did you put the carboy in your kegerator before fermentation had even showed signs of starting?? If so, letting it warm up a little might be all you need to do to kickstart the yeast into action. Once they're up and running, cooling it down to the mid 60s will be good for your brew's first few days.

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Ogri and H-ost,
Thanks for your feedback/advice! My OG was 1.048 and the wort temp was about 80 when I pitched. The kegerator was at room temp when I put the carboy in. Fermentation started the following day and had excellent bubbling the third day. Temp was at about 65. I had difficulties regulating the temp and it actually dropped to about 56. Turned off the kegerator and let it rise back to 68-70. The bubbling didn't come back so I got nervous.

It's now been 7 days since fermentation started. Temp has been roughly at 65. I checked SG and it's down to 1.012. The beer is actually tasting fine. It's still very cloudy though. I will leave it in primary for another 7 days and check SG again. If all goes well I will then keg it and have a brew party! It's been 18 years since my last home brew. I hope to do many more.

Ok so with the number of people on this thread I'm hoping someone will get back to me. I wasn't going to write but I guess I just want someone to ease my mind. So here is the deal, I'm doing an IPA (12# US 2 Row, 1# Crystal,1# Munich Lite 10L, 8oz Cara-pils, mashed at 154 for 70 minutes then flysparged), fermenting in a NEW bucket I haven't used, I harvested PacMan yeast off of two bottles of Rogue Chocolate Stout (delicious btw), the yeast was pitched in 1l starter. I started it at half a liter for 48 hours, shook it all the time and the yeast was working, I added another half liter for another 48 hours or more and had at least 1/2inch of nice creamy yeast on the bottom of the growler before I pitched. The beer's OG was 1.061, I made sure it got plenty of oxygen going into the fermentor like I always do, I pitched between 70 and 75 degrees I think, I broke my thermometer and had to use a back up that I calibrated in ice water but still don't trust it. I'm fermenting about 68 degrees (I know everyone ferments lower with PacMan but I don't have anyway to get it to 60-65 and hold it). Anyway I have a blow off hose running to a bucket with a few inches of Star San in it. After 24 hours no bubbles in the blow off bucket like I usually get. It's now 36+ hours and I spent last night reading almost every page on this tread and a few others. I popped the top this morning and I have a small Krausen ring and some undeniable foam almost up to the hose but still short by a few inches with some brown Krausen here in there on top of the foam. My LHBS isn't open until tomorrow so I'm waiting until then to go and get some dry yeast. So I guess my question is WTF is up with this. Did I under pitch and it's taking awhile to take off, is my bucket leaking somewhere (I'm going to spray some star san around the spots it may be leaking and see if I can get some bubbles from air escaping). Also when I push the lid of the bucket I almost immediately get bubbles in the blowoff bucket. I know there is pressure. Could this thing have stalled out or something. Like I said before I know the yeast was working, I'm posting a pick of it before I pitched. I'm just worried this will be a waste of time harvesting that yeast because I wanted to wash it and have it for other brews after this one finished so I really don't want to pitch dry on top of it. Then I also used some of my best Simcoe hops I've been saving for this IPA and don't want them to go to waste. I know the beer won't be bad even if I have to pitch dry on top but, well it's just irritating that this thing didn't take off and I'm regretting just not pitching WLP001 on it like I do all my other IPAs. Speaking of WLP001 I'll be washing some tomorrow morning and was just going to pitch one of the washed jars on top, it will be at the right temp, so I'm thinking just wash as usual, then instead of sealing it up with the others, just pitch it on top as another option. But as I said before I really wanted to harvest this PacMan and not use a different yeast. I'm leaving for a few days tomorrow so I have to make a decision by then if I'm going to pitch the dry, pitch the washed, or leave it. I'll probably take a gravity reading tomorrow but even if it has dropped a few points is there any chance it just stalled out because the yeast went South, which I don't even know if that is possible especially since I can see signs in the fermentor of something going on. Well thanks for whoever reads and replies to my whining. Cheers!

Well................as I should have guessed I posted too soon. Almost as soon as I got done posting my paranoid post above, I went to my fermentor and in what could have been a fit of rage I shook the S$#T out of it. It bubbled like crazy in the blow off bucket and now 4 hours later it is still just bubbling right along. Go figure. Guess that little shake was all it needed. Who would have thought. Cheers!!

I just pitched Wyeast London Ale 1318 yeast in this 1.046 OG wort at 6:30pm yesterday and already have significant (to my newby eyes) fermentation happening. I took a quick vid to get some advice. Is this normal for 14 hours after pitching the yeast?

[ame]http://youtu.be/BgQiz6e0m7E[/ame]

JDFlow said:

I just pitched Wyeast London Ale 1318 yeast in this 1.046 OG wort at 6:30pm yesterday and already have significant (to my newby eyes) fermentation happening. I took a quick vid to get some advice. Is this normal for 14 hours after pitching the yeast?

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That does look like two or three days into a 1318 fermentation to my eyes, but I usually make 1.060+ beers so my lag time is longer.

The only thing I'd check: what's the temperature at? If it's over 70 then it's possibly working too quickly. If not, then you just have a fresh active yeast strain that loves your wort. Good job.

It's been between 65 and 72. When I checked awhile ago it was bubbling up into and out of the airlock. I called my LHBS and asked what to do and was told to give it a little shake to suppress the bubbling over momentarily so I could clean and replace the airlock. I did and within a few hours it was bubbling over again. So then I went to the hardware store and got a larger gauge vinyl hose that fits over the airlock spout and created a makeshift blow-off tube until I can get into my LHBS tomorrow after work to set up a proper one. My LHBS warned against blow-off tubes as a big NO, but the way things were going I'd have wort all over the floor with the overflow of the airlock. Why would they warn against a blow-off tube? Anyway, this is my first batch, an oatmeal stout, and I've learned a lot about what to expect next time. I'm loving it.

Well, I just read the following on the wyeast site:


Flocculation: high
Attenuation: 71-75%
Temperature Range: 64-74° F (18-23° C)
Alcohol Tolerance: approximately 10% ABV

Apparently I'm in the sweet spot on the temp range and this yeast can really devour some sugar all the way to 10 abv. This may end up closer to the imperial stout spectrum.

Either you misunderstood what the LHBS was saying or you need to completely ignore everything he says. Just smile and nod.

There is absolutely no reason not to use a proper blow-off.

JDFlow said:

It's been between 65 and 72. When I checked awhile ago it was bubbling up into and out of the airlock. I called my LHBS and asked what to do and was told to give it a little shake to suppress the bubbling over momentarily so I could clean and replace the airlock. I did and within a few hours it was bubbling over again. So then I went to the hardware store and got a larger gauge vinyl hose that fits over the airlock spout and created a makeshift blow-off tube until I can get into my LHBS tomorrow after work to set up a proper one. My LHBS warned against blow-off tubes as a big NO, but the way things were going I'd have wort all over the floor with the overflow of the airlock. Why would they warn against a blow-off tube? Anyway, this is my first batch, an oatmeal stout, and I've learned a lot about what to expect next time. I'm loving it.

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Not sure why he said no blow off tube. I use one on every beer I do at the beginning and sometimes I don't even need it. The only suggestion I can offer is to use a bucket to catch what ever is blowing out and fill it up with Star San or even water to cover the opening of the hose. That way it is sort of like a make shift ferm lock and you can also see it bubbling so you know everything is working on the inside if you are using a bucket. I will usually leave the hose on for at least 4-5 days or less if I can see it's not going to push Krausen and foam up through the opening. Hope this helps.

Oh I'm with bleme also, if he is saying to "Never" use a blowoff tube then just smile and nod. Some people have weird practices and it isn't the law, although they would like you to think it was. A good book to pick up if you didn't get it with you starter kit is "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" I still reference mine sometimes, a lot of good info in there.

JDFlow said:

Well, I just read the following on the wyeast site:


Flocculation: high
Attenuation: 71-75%
Temperature Range: 64-74° F (18-23° C)
Alcohol Tolerance: approximately 10% ABV

Apparently I'm in the sweet spot on the temp range and this yeast can really devour some sugar all the way to 10 abv. This may end up closer to the imperial stout spectrum.

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LOL @ myself. Newb delusions of grandeur. I'd need more malt/sugars for the yeast to chomp on to boost the ABV. At least I'm learning...

guinness_time said:

Not sure why he said no blow off tube. I use one on every beer I do at the beginning and sometimes I don't even need it. The only suggestion I can offer is to use a bucket to catch what ever is blowing out and fill it up with Star San or even water to cover the opening of the hose.

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Exactly what I did, except into a pitcher with one step. The heavy fermentation only lasted two nights. I put a new sanitized airlock back on. Three days in and I'm still seeing a bubble every 37 seconds in the airlock. Is that good and how slow does bubbling usually get when primary fermentation is over?

JDFlow said:

Exactly what I did, except into a pitcher with one step. The heavy fermentation only lasted two nights. I put a new sanitized airlock back on. Three days in and I'm still seeing a bubble every 37 seconds in the airlock. Is that good and how slow does bubbling usually get when primary fermentation is over?

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It's really up to you. I used to rack to a secondary right at 7 days or when I had about a bubble a min in the airlock Now that I've got some brew stock piled I'll wait until most of the Krausen drops. Sometimes a week, sometimes more. It's good to wait until the yeast is done and cleaned up after itself. A lot if people won't touch the primary for at least two weeks. I've pulled it sooner just because I wanted beer to drink and it still turned out fine. It's just personal preference. You'll see as time goes on and you learn a bit more here and there. I'm still learning and reading. Always finding something I can improve. Cheers.