No bubbles in the airlock/ second batch tastes great

So,

Last friday, 7/17/9, my friend helped me brew my first all grain batch. I used Palmer's recipe for an american amber, and was real excited to test out my newly built MLT. The brew day had a few kinks, between the stuck sparge, the incoming thunderstorm, and me not knowing how to properly smack an activator pack (took me a few tries, and didn't realize i hadn't broken the inner pack).

when it was all said and done, the gravity looked good (1.048) and eveything was cleaned up an put away. four days later and no signs of fermentation. so, i went and got another smack pack, got it right this time and added more yeast. Bought a thermometer sticker at the homebrew store and found out the fermenting bucket was at 78 F. moved the whole set up into the basement, where its now 68-70. After 24hrs, no bubbles in the airlock yet. When do I worry? and what can i do?

On the bright side (and there is always a bright side) my second batch, an IPA kit i made, is finally ready. tried the first bottle tonight, and poured it slowly into a glass to see a beautiful head, with a very clear body. Oh, and it tastes amazing, although not as hoppy as i thought it would be. still, very well balanced and the long conditioning with oak chips seems to have paid off.

cheers all

You don't worry about anything, especially about airlock bubbling.

And you don't even concern yourself for 72 hours because; Fermentation can take 72 hours to start.

But airlock bubbling, lack of airlock bubbling, stopped airlock bubbling, fast airlock bubbling, slow airlcok bubbling, heavy metal airlcok bubbling, or disco airlock bubbling really is not an indicator of what is happening to your beer. It is NOT a fermentation gauge, it is a valve to release excess pressure, excess CO2...NOT AN ACCURATE INSTRUMENT....

I have 9 different fermenters and have been brewing for a few years, and OVER HALF OF MY BEERS NEVER HAVE ANY BUBBLING IN THE AIRLOCK AND THEY ALL TURN OUT FINE!

Fermentation is not always "dynamic," just because you don't SEE anything happenning, doesn't mean that anything's wrong, and also doesn't mean that the yeast are still not working dilligantly away, doing what they've been doing for over 4,000 years....

If you've oxygentated, and pitched plenty of yeast, then you SHOULD reach your yeast attenuation, and get close to the final gravity.....that is all that is important...NOT whether or not you airlock goes "blip" or "Rattattattatta!!!!"

An airlock is a vent for excess co2, nothing more, it's to keep your beer off the ceiling, and is designed to vent and still keep stuff out of your beer....that's really it...

In fact many no longer use airlocks at all, just cover the hole with a piece of tinfoil, or use a piece of plexiglass instead of a lid.

Read this for why airlock analysing is useless, and what is the only gauge of ferementation...https://www.homebrewtalk.com/1217925-post3.html And there is a link to my blog in there as well....

The only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in.....

So ignore your airlock, ok???? It's fun entertainment to watch, but doesn't mean anythings wrong if you don't see it.

Thanks Revvy.

Read the old threads and got a good sense of things. Will def, RDWAHAHB.

cheers