Good fermentation lesson

[BullF-16]

I am on my 3rd and 4th batches as a newb. On these, a AHS London pub ale extract kit, and a brewers best Scottish Ale extracy, i decided to try the White labs pitchable vials. Both were in the primarys on Friday evening.

It is now mon AM and i never noticed any airlock activity. I have read all 11 pages in the "fermentation can take 24 to 72 hrs to start" sticky after becoming concerned 12 hrs after pitching. I know airlock activity isnt a reliable indicator.

This morning(almost 66 hrs later) i decided to take a SG reading. I removed the airlock on one of the pails and look in the grommet hole and noticed a nice thick brown krauszen on top. I immediately inserted the airlock and will leave both alone for another 5 days or so. I seems the yeast are doing there thing?

On my first batches with dry yeast packets the bubbling started within 12 hours on both batches and went on vigorously for about 48 hrs. I did not use a starter on the white labs vials and know this can help.

Is this common when using the whte labs yeast? Does it seem like everything is progressing normally. No airlock activity on either batch during fermentation, whats the deal?

Thanks for all the great info on this forum

 

[Bopper]

Everything is as it should be. RDWHAHB!!

There are lots of variables including room temperature and viable cell count in the yeast vial (this can vary depending on how old it is or even shipping conditions).

EDIT - You can make a starter to reduce your lag time. Just be sure that the ambient temperature in the room is cold enough to allow for a few increased degrees from a intense fermentation.

 

[IrregularPulse]

Not to mention you could have just missed the airlock activity. Could have all taken place while you were sleeping or out or something and finished before you got to it again. Or you mentioned you are using an ale pail; You could have a less than perfect seal on the lid and the co2 is just venting around the pale's lip instead of the airlock. Not a big deal. Nothing getting in if co2 is venting out.

 

[Revvy]

There's way too many variables that can come into play in terms of airlock bubbling to use that as an indicator.

You could have for example and bad seal between the grommet (or stopper) and the airlock, or the lid on the bucket isn't fully tight and gas is getting out elsewhere besides the airlock, or the stopper and mouth of the carboy and that would appear slow, while fermentaion is actually occuring rapidly... Or the little bubbler in the airlock could be sitting a little crooked, or become weighted down with tiny co2 bubbles and need to build up a good head of gas before blurping again.

Even having the airlock leaning slightly askew affects it.

I've had beers in my fermentor that have had almost no airlock activity, but I saw the liguid in the airlock was saturated with tiny bubbles. But on the other hand, the brown ale I pitched on a yeastcake from a previous batch sounded like a machine gun the way the bubbler was going up and down...I ended up needing a blow off tube once it got going...

So as you can see airlock activity varies, and should not be used a a sign of speed or lack of fermentation....That's where the hydrometer comes into play.

As to types of yeasts, etc....ALL fermentations are different, even pitching the same type of yeasts in the same 2 worts, will produce different reactions...WHY? It's simple, yeasts are living creatures, this is not making coolaid...When using living micro-organisms there is ALWAYS going to be a cetain level of unpredictability.

That's why it is best to remember that yeast has been making beer, long before we have...they're the experts, not us. And we should trust them to know what they are doing.

 

[flyangler18]

Looks like you've identified a couple of things that led to your lag times in fermentation, but I'll touch on a couple here:

1) The White Labs tubes don't contain an ideal cell count for direct pitching under normal circumstances, and this number is decreased if the tube gets too warm (as can happen during summer transit). Making a starter gets the yeast into an active growth phase to hit an ideal cell count so fermentation kicks off with a minimal amount of lag time- and pitching a large healthy starter can rival dry yeast vigor . The longer the lag time, the larger the risk of infection- generally speaking. If you are underpitching (i.e direct pitching WL tubes), the yeast has to multiply first to deal with all the sugar THEN start consuming. A starter puts them right into the consumption phase.

2) Airlocks are cheap plastic- and can be tempermental i.e if the bell of a 3-piece isn't perfectly level, it won't 'burp'. Don't judge the existence/non-existence of fermentation based on airlock activity.

3) Gas is likely escaping from the seal of your buckets. The presence of krauzen is proof-positive that fermentation is occurring.

 

[BullF-16]

thanks for the quick replys. It seems the CO2 would take the path of least resistance, the airlock? Both pails and airlocks worked pefectly last 2 batches, so i dont think its a leak problem. Both the bells on the airlocks are sitting a little skewed. The temp on these batches was much better than last batches. i have kept the temps around 68-70 deg as opposed to 74-76 on my first two. I will definately be using starters from now on with the liquid yeast.

 

[brandona33]

I noticed the grommit on one of my lids split from putting the airlock in/out and that led to me having a batch where I had little to no activity. The batch turned out fine. Went to LHBS and picked up 5 grommits at a couple cents a piece just to have on hand for the future. I'm sure you will be enjoying a great beer soon enough!

 

[Revvy]

Sometimes the co2 doesn't NEED to push through the airlock, it happily sits in a nice cushion on top of your beer...An airlock is simply a pressure release valve, to bleed off excess co2, so your fermenter lid won't blow off and coat your ceiling with precious nectar...it is NOT meant to be a fermentation meter. It is quite frankly too cheaply made.

Higher fermentation temps will tend to throw off more co2, as opposed to coller more gentle fermentations.

 

[phissionkorps]

When you put the lid on your buckets, push them on, then smack all around them with your palm. It seems unnecessary, but often times you'll miss a spot, or part of the lid will be slightly raised.

 

[beerplus]

I was starting to freak out a bit 'cause my airlock wasn't active...I've brewed about 14 times, and always had activity right away...I read this thread, went over to the lid of my new conical fermenter,(ebay 250!) tightened the lid a quarter turn, and Voila! Active! Simple as that. Every time I've ever panicked, (while brewing, anyway) - I have been happily wrong.
Thanks for this forum!

 

[HOOTER]

I will definately be using starters from now on with the liquid yeast.

Since I've started using starers for liquid and re-hydrating dry yeast my lag time has been greatly reduced. I almost always brew in the evening and end up pitching around 10pm. When I get up around 6 or 7 in the morning I'll have visible signs of fermentation and very vigorous fermentation within 24 hrs, every time. Before starters this was never the case. Starters add another aspect to brewing (which is a good thing) and improve the final product.

 

[BullF-16]

I started a white labs california ale yeast starter on wed afternoon. On Thurs night, no signs of life whatsoever. So i added a packet of Safale s-04 to the flask and i took off a couple hrs later. I pitched this starter in my batch of ed worts haus pale ale mini mash last night. The airlock was active within 2 hrs. Today, i notced the airlock was filled with krauzen. Put on another airlock, and that one immediately filled with krauzen. Never used a blow off tube before but i just put one on the fermenter. it is violently bubbling away now.