Did I ruin my beer. Need help asap.

[TyrellWilli]

I'll just get straight to it. I made 5 gals of hefe and sealed it in my glass car boy. I put a three piece airlock on it and 30hrs later now krausen or bubbling whatsoever. Temps are close for yeast, but i think the airlock may not have been to far in because the one piece airlock I replaced it with tries to fall through. So I pulled bung and let it reform and placed the one piece in securely. Now it is air tight because I saw the water mover from one chamber to the other on the one piece airlock. If it wasn't sealed, it was a tiny hole, but my question is, is this batch ruined because the yeast hasn't has a sealed enviroment?

 

[flars]

Your beer will be okay. The fermentor would need to be in a very dirty environment for a small air leak to have any negative effect.

 

[theck]

No... I wouldn't worry about it. I've have batches blow the lids off the buckets and left them off for a day and nothing happened. I did have an infection in a few batches but that might have been an issue with me. Even on the slight chance you get an infection it will most likely be drinkable, mine where and are. No worries. BTW, I only use those one piece locks now, the 3 piece ones IMO suck, add a little bit of Campden crushed up in the water before you put it in the airlock too, in case you get suck or it drops in there.

 

[Pappers_]

What @flars said ^^^^^ No harm done.

As for the delay in krausen, its probably fine. While we like to see fermentation take off more quickly than 30 hours, its not uncommon for it take this long. There are phases in yeast activity, and your yeast are probably reproducing and gathering their strength at this point. In the end, they'll get down to it and make you delicious beer

 

[Krid]

Breweries used to (and some still do) ferment in huge vats open to the air. Unless you keep your carboy next to a litter box or something, you should be fine.

 

[Pappers_]

Unless you keep your carboy next to a litter box . . .

That's my method for approximating simcoe hops when I can't get them . . .

 

[TyrellWilli]

Thanks to y'all brewers I can rest easy. Ya three piece to me now just seems like flash haha. First time I've had this happen. Cheers to all.

 

[BadWolfBrewing]

That's my method for approximating simcoe hops when I can't get them . . .

Yuck, I agree. Simcoe is horrible to me most of the time.

I really wouldn't worry about the non-sealed carboy. Watch this (with the volume on HIGH)

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U5DWLFQYTM[/ame]

30 hours is a little long. Did you use dry yeast without rehydrating? That can slow things down. Also if you are on the low end of the temperature range. Either way, I wouldn't worry too much. If it still doesn't take off soon, maybe give the vessel a light swirl to get the yeast back in the action. If in another 48 hours there is no krausen or visible swirling in the wort, maybe repitch another packet of yeast. Don't just go by the airlock, as a tiny leak can bypass the bubbling.

In the future, things to speed the yeast up are:

Make a starter (liquid yeast)
Rehydrate (dry yeast, but this is still debated)
oxygenate the wort after it cools (shake vessel, get aeration stone, use pure 02, etc)

I've had beers take nearly 2 days to show signs of activity, and beers that were underway in 4 hours, so there is a ton of variability.

 

[theck]

Anchor Steam has been doing open ferm for a long time as well:
http://www.anchorbrewing.com/blog/brewing-insights-open-fermentation/

 

[TyrellWilli]

@badwolfbrewing: rehydrated dry yeast but I am on the low end of the temp. And another noob question. Is krausen always a sign of fermentation?

 

[Pappers_]

Is krausen always a sign of fermentation?

I think of krausen as a visible sign of fermentation - eventually, all beer will develop krausen. The lack of krausen does not mean that the yeast aren't working, though, both before and after krausen appears. Before krausen, they are reproducing and gathering strength for the task ahead of them. Afterwards, they are continuing to eat up any fermentable sugars around, just more slowly, and they are also cleaning up after themselves before they fall asleep in a drunken stupor.

 

[TyrellWilli]

@Pappers_ that is the best description I have ever heard. Props.

 

[TyrellWilli]

Just an update to y'all that helped me. After replacing the airlock with an OG 1 piece airlock, confirming a tight seal, and wrapping the bastard in a blanket, those yeastiez decided it was time to go to battle. Krausen is beginning to form, airlock is bubbling, and this brewer can sleep easy.