Air lock question
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Schnitzengiggle
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I'll give you the default answer: Monitoring airlock activity isn't the best practice for ensuring fermentation.
Make sure your carboy cap, stopper is tight, make sure your airlock isn't cracked or damage, and check for any other possible air leaks that would be allowing CO2 to escape.
Also, check your temps, if you are using ale yeast, and your temps are in the low 60's, then your fermentation is going to be sluggish. The majority of ale yeasts prefer the 64-72 range, so if you are accustomed to brewing lagers, and usually keep temps low, this could be a source of your less active fermentation.
Some yeast perform different than others too, so while one may have a really huge kreausen and blow off, some may bubble slowly and form very little kreausen.
What yeast are you using? What are your temps? Do you make starters? Etc...?
squirrelly
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Which yeast strain did you use? For my pales, IPAs and IIPAs I use wyeast 1056 with a big starter. Did you oxygenate the wort? If a lack of O2 is present in the wort the yeast will be sluggish, and usually will have a hard time attenuating past 1.020.
The temp should be fine, but could certainly result in a less active VISIBLE fermentation. Remember just because you don't see a whole lot of activity does not mean fermentation is not taking place. I ferment all of my ales using 1056 at 59*. Keep in mind this requires a primary fermentation of about 4-6 weeks. I personally have ver good results with this practice. It's pretty much like making a lager just with top fermenting yeast.
The temp should be fine, but could certainly result in a less active VISIBLE fermentation. Remember just because you don't see a whole lot of activity does not mean fermentation is not taking place. I ferment all of my ales using 1056 at 59*. Keep in mind this requires a primary fermentation of about 4-6 weeks. I personally have ver good results with this practice. It's pretty much like making a lager just with top fermenting yeast.
2280Brew
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If my krausen has gone down quite a bit since I brewed around seven days, would this be considered normal?
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Gingerdad
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Used the Wyeast 1056 yeast. Wort was oxygenated, and temps are about 66 degrees. Any thoughts on when to bottle w/o active visable fermentation? It has been 7 days, I just don't want to wait too long to move it along. Thanks gang, this site is a big help for newcomers!
It depends more on what your OG was.
And temperature. In my brew log, every time that I take a gravity reading I note the temperature as well. Specific gravity of a solution depends upon temperature, so make sure you account for that. The brew calculator that I use has a space for temperature and makes the correction for me.
If it has only been 7 days, then you are just getting the newbie excitement. I can pretty much tell you that it isn't done without even looking. Give it at least another week in the fermenter before you even take a hydrometer sample.
Since you need something to take your mind off this beer, blow $15 or so and get a second fermenting bucket and start your next brew. If you have the spare cash and want to keep brewing, buy 2 or more. I now have 3 and sometimes I have all three full and wish I had more.
Since you need something to take your mind off this beer, blow $15 or so and get a second fermenting bucket and start your next brew. If you have the spare cash and want to keep brewing, buy 2 or more. I now have 3 and sometimes I have all three full and wish I had more.
Schnitzengiggle
Well-Known Member
I'll give you another default answer:
Check your gravity over the course of a 3 days if there is no change from the first SG to the SG on day 3 you should be safe to bottle.
Bearing in mind that your temperatures didn't drop considerably, and cause a stalled fermentation.
There really isn't any such thing as waiting too long. The anxiousness of wanting to sample your homebrew makes it feel longer than it really is.
FWIW, you could leave your beer in the primary for 3 weeks, then prime and bottle, and wait 3 more weeks for proper carbonation.
That was my schedule as a beginner/extract brewer.
This is pretty much what I'm doing as well - I think it might have actually been your advice to do it too. Someone recommended that I read up on "long primary" and it really helped change my mind.
