first batch... fermentation stall questions?

Hey Everyone,

I am new to this brewing thing... just started my first batch of red ale from a kit on Saturday. Everything seemed to go along pretty well. Granted i had no idea just how long it took to get that 3 gallons to boil, but I finally made it through the long process.

To my delight after pitching my yeast and sealing it up tight, five hours later it was bubbling. The next morning it was still fermenting like crazy... bubbled once every 1.5 seconds. this lasted all day and was still working well before i went to sleep.

This morning however when i awoke and checked on my batch before work, it seemed to be stalled. no bubbles from what i could tell. It was down a few degrees to 66 F, and the day before had been set at 70 F. (cold evening might have chilled it)... So i turned on some heat and wrapped a blanked around it.

Could it have really finished it's original rapid fermentation in only 30 hours? or do i have an issue with it being stalled?

My OG reading was 1.048 (at 79 F)

I would guess it is too early to check the Gravity just yet...

Any suggestions?

It is possible that your beer finished fermenting in only 30 hours, yes. However, it's more likely that it's still going. Airlock activity means nothing.

Give it a week, then start checking your SG.

treemind said:

I would guess it is too early to check the Gravity just yet...

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That's the only thing that'll be able to tell you if you have a stalled fermentation. I doubt that's the case - 66 deg F is quite comfortable for ale yeasts.

I just finished my first batch and had the same concern/question. That being said, I transferred to secondary this week, there was a krausen line inside my bucket and my hydrometer read 1.020 after 7 days. higher than I want, but I believe if I keep it racked in my secondary for an extra week, maybe it will come down. What do I know, I'm new....but I'm sure reading alot and that seems to be the general consensus.

oldwarrior86 said:

I just finished my first batch and had the same concern/question. That being said, I transferred to secondary this week, there was a krausen line inside my bucket and my hydrometer read 1.020 after 7 days. higher than I want, but I believe if I keep it racked in my secondary for an extra week, maybe it will come down. What do I know, I'm new....but I'm sure reading alot and that seems to be the general consensus.

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It's generally not a good idea to rack the beer off the yeast prior to reaching final gravity - doing so increases the chance for stalled fermentations and off-flavors in the beer.

Thanks to all of you for the feed back!

I think i will just wait and see what happens over the next few days then take a gravity reading. I was hoping to transfer it to my secondary fermenter this weekend on day 7.

my recipe says it should have a final gravity of between 1.012 and 1.016...
is that the reading I need to have before transfering to a secondary?

A follow up question would be...
when taking a gravity reading from my fermentation bucket, can i just drain a small amount from the spigot? or do i need to use a sanatized glass on the top of my wort to get the sample?

Thanks again for all the help!

Same question along these lines:

I am brewing my first batch right now and the temp says 63 degrees. I know ales are supposed to be 65-70. Will this be ok, or should I try to get it to a warmer spot?

Thanks everyone. I have been soaking up as much info as possible here. This resource has been invaluable to me starting out.

BrewKepf: It's all good -- 63 should be just fine, unless you're brewing a Belgian. Belgians like things a bit warmer.

Treemind: Do not rack yet. I recommend you seal up that fermenter and ignore it for another week, if not two. The extra time on the yeast will not hurt. Patience is rewarded in this hobby.

Yes, it is possible to go from grain (or extract) to glass in just a few weeks. However, most beginners are better served by giving the beer some extra time to ferment out and allow the yeast to clean up its byproducts.

thanks for the tips! Sounds good, I will wait and plan for a two week primary fermentation before checking the gravity, then hopefully move to secondary fermentation.

My Wort seems to have cooled even more today to 66 degrees...
I will watch it close to make sure it doesn't drop too much. Still not bubbling much if any.

A lot of ale yeasts can go down to 60 without any problems except a slowing of activity. I regularly ferment ales in my basement at 60-65F. RDWHAHB.

ArcaneXor said:

It's generally not a good idea to rack the beer off the yeast prior to reaching final gravity - doing so increases the chance for stalled fermentations and off-flavors in the beer.

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Thanks for the feedback. I read a ton of conflicting info based on the above. I can see the yeast now in the bottom of my secondary fermentor, will that be enough to bring the FG down?

Oh well...it is my first batch. I'm taking notes to ensure I don't make the same mistake twice.....hopefully my second batch will be better.

This is my standard "new brewer" answer to your question...

You should never rely on the bubbling or lack of on a cheap plastic airlock as a "fermentation Gauge," it's not...It's an airlock, nothing more, a VALVE to release excess CO2, to keep from blowing the lid off the fermentor...

If it's not bubbling that just means that there's not enough CO2 to climb out of the airlock, or the CO2 is just forming a nice cushion on top of the beer like it's supposed to, or the airlock is askew, or it is leaking out the cheap rubber grommet, or you have a leak in the bucket seal, or around the carboy grommet...all those are fine...if CO2 is getting out then nothing's getting in....

Over half of my beers have had no airlock activity...AND that is spread out among carboys, buckets. water bottles, and anything else I may ferment in, and regardless of the type of airlock...I have 9 different fermenters...

That's why I and many others say repeatedly that the only gauge of fermentaion is your hydrometer (or refractometer) . Those are precision calibrated instruments...

More than likely your fermentation is going nicely at it's own pace but for a dozen possible reasons your airlock isn't bubbling...simple as that. Get out of the habit of thinking it is a precision instrument and you will find you are less worried...The only precise methid of gauging fermentation is taking gravity readings.

Back in the bad old days, the predominant airlock was an s type...and often they were made of glass and sat relatively heavy in the grommet, and that's where people like papazain and those who influenced him got into the habit of counting bubbles...but now adays with 3 piecers being the norm, and most things being made crappy these days...it's just not a reliable means anymore.


The trouble is, that even the authors for the most part have been brewing so long that they don't pay attention to the airlock, yet the perpetuate the myth from the old days of bubbles meaning anything....though I figure, as a writer myself, they have long moved past the basic methodology that they wrote about...it's easy to do...to "preach" something very basic, while doing a process somewhat more complex...or like most of us who have been brewing awhile, taking shortcuts.

Co2 is heavier than air...there can be plenty of co2 going on, plenty of active fermentation happenning but there is not enough excess co2 rising or venting out to actually lift the plastic bubbler

The 3 piece airlock is the most fallable of them all, often there is simply not a strong enough escape of co2 to lift the bubbler. Or they can be weighted down with co2 bubbles, ir hteir is a leak in the grommet or the bucket seal, anynumber of factors.

If you push down on your bucket lid often you will suddenly get a huge amount of bubbling as you off gass the co2 that is there present but no needing to vent on it's own.

I find that the older S type airlocks, even plastic are much more reliable...in face I have started to use those old school ones exclusively. Not to use them as a gauge of fermentation...but because I like to watch the bubbles..

But even those don't always bubble..BUT you can tell theres CO2 pushing out because the liquid will be on the farthest side away from the grommet or bung hole.


Even not bubbling. you can see that something has pushed the water to the other side...


There's quite a few people on here who do not use an airlock at all, they simply loosely place their lids on the bucket, or cover with saran wrap, or tinfoil or pieces of plexigalss, these just sit on the top and if the CO2 needs to void out it doess...Because as I said before if the co2 is pushing out, then NOTHING is getting in.

If you look around on here at all the supposed "stuck" fermentation panic thread are not true Stuck fermentations, or deads yeasts, but are simply people like you using treating the vent like some precision instrument...And they, just like you use the words "Signs of fermentation." And that is our clue that you are going by arilocks.

And 90% or more come back and say they took a hydro reading...and everything was fine...

Rarely do yeasts these days get stuck...this isn't like the 70's when there was one or two strains of yeast, and they came from Europe in dried out cakes, and nowadays with our hobby so popular, even most tinned kits with the yeast under the lid trun over so fast that they are relatvely fresh most of the time.

So nowadays the only way our yeast "dies" or poops out is 1)If we pitch it into boiling wort 2) There is a big temp drop and the yeasts go dormant and flocculate out, or 3) if there is a high grav wort and the yeast maxes out in it's ability to eat all the sugar...and even then the yeast may poop out at either 1.030 or 1.020...But other than that most fermentations take....

AND this is regardless of any airlock bubbling...

Seriously, many of us pitch our yeast, walk away for a month and then bottle, and our beers have turned out great...The yeasts have been doing this for 5,000 years...they know what they're doing,

Hope this helps! You will find you are much more relaxed and able to RDWHAHB...if you ignore the airlock...

and read this as well...http://blogs.homebrewtalk.com/Revvy/Think_evaluation_before_action/

Thanks to everyone posting! After getting home from work i noticed my cheap plastic airlock is bubbling again... every thirty seconds or so, not like the first day when it was every second.

That being said, You are right Revvy, I am brand new to this and was trusting a source that has little to do with what is going on. Thanks for all the info! Every bit of knowledge helps!

So yeah... my Fermentation is rolling along, and I am still on schedule to hopefully have a nice red ale down the line!

Revvy,
You are our HERO!!! First of all, the patience to keep telling us that an airlock is no indication of fermentation activity.

And second, and most of all, 9 (NINE) FERMENTERS!!!! Wow, have you ever had them all going at the same time?

Wait, this is Revvy, I imagine he almost always has them all going!

We collectively bow to your brewing majesty. :rockin:

You da man, Revvy. I dig the new avatar, even if everybody knows Jesus is a Rockies fan. He has to be, because I sure hear a lot of people shouting his name when the Rox blow an 8-3 lead in the 7th.

Revvy's above post should be required reading IMO. He must have that response saved for a quick cut and paste. Great info.

all the new people should just go read all the blogs and info revvy has posted. there is a good chance all your questions are answered there. i know i found his info quite useful.

i just finished a red ale, it slowed quickly and fermented around 64 degrees for 3 weeks. i just tried my first bottle over the weekend. it was a bit green since it had only been in the bottle for 2 weeks, but it was very good. dont worry, just give it a little time and it will be ok!