no air lock activity

[Manorhall]

I know this has been asked millions of times on here but I need to reassure myself that my brew is okay without any assistance.

Brew- Irish red brewed 48 hours ago
Original Gravity- 1.072
Yeast Used- Safale US-05
Pitch temp- 55 degrees. I screwed up here and waited too long!
Fermentor bucket- in closet at approximately 65 degrees

I have had zero activity in the air lock. Everything is tight (airlock and bucket lid). I couldnt wait any longer and just opened the lid to see what the top looked like and it has a very thick cake like crust on top (krausen??) I know I pitched yeast too low a temp ( i added wort to cold water).

My question is, do I just let it sit and not worry about it because of the visual krausen i saw when i opened it up or do I take a hydrometer reading? pitch more yeast to be safe? Any help is appreciated!!

 

[mikeymjr23]

I'll tell you what I have been told every time I ask this question (I've asked it a lot)...the airlock is not a surefire test as to if fermentation is happening.

The fact that you have the Krausen on top is proof that the fermentation is happening...just might not be showing in the "bubble form".

 

[Sailingeric]

Krausen good. You are fine.

 

[McKnuckle]

Buckets often don't seal enough to allow the airlock to work. Sniff the beer. I'll bet the CO2 tingles your nose a bit. It's fine - leave it alone!

 

[aprichman]

I know this has been asked millions of times on here but I need to reassure myself that my brew is okay without any assistance.

Brew- Irish red brewed 48 hours ago
Original Gravity- 1.072
Yeast Used- Safale US-05
Pitch temp- 55 degrees. I screwed up here and waited too long!
Fermentor bucket- in closet at approximately 65 degrees

I have had zero activity in the air lock. Everything is tight (airlock and bucket lid). I couldnt wait any longer and just opened the lid to see what the top looked like and it has a very thick cake like crust on top (krausen??) I know I pitched yeast too low a temp ( i added wort to cold water).

My question is, do I just let it sit and not worry about it because of the visual krausen i saw when i opened it up or do I take a hydrometer reading? pitch more yeast to be safe? Any help is appreciated!!

Buckets aren't airtight which is why you're not seeing any airlock activity. Don't worry too much about not having an airtight seal. Tons of people ferment in buckets and I use a plastic big mouth bubbler that doesn't have an airtight seal. The seal should be good enough to keep nearly anything but gasses out.

The thing you want to avoid is opening the bucket up. It's not the end of the world but in general it's a big NO. Every time you open the bucket you are increasing your chance of getting an infection. Don't bother taking a hydrometer reading before day 10 in my opinion. A sensible and quick check would be at day 10, 12, and 14. If you don't see a change from day 12 to day 14 you should be fine to bottle/rack.

I usually just let my beers go for 3 weeks and take a hydrometer sample. If the beer is at expected attenuation then I go ahead and bottle.

 

[Manorhall]

Okay thanks guys. I will let it be and not worry. McKnuckle- yeah it definitely hit the nose hard when i cracked the seal on the bucket. It smelled amazing! I was concerned because my first batch that I brewed about 3 weeks ago with the same yeast (different brew), the airlock was going ape **** the next morning so I assumed this brew would yield similar results in the fermentor.

 

[Chrisrapp0122]

You could always take a hydrometer reading after 7-10 days and see where it's at. If it's above 1.020, then you may want to consider pitching another yeast. If it's around 1.020, I would leave it alone for another week or so and then you should be good.

 

[Manorhall]

aprichman- thanks for the input. I hope I havent caused any harm by opening the lid. I guess time will tell. Since I am a noob, I wont be transferring to a secondary, just to conditioning. How much of a change should I see in the hydro reading after 10 days or so?

 

[McKnuckle]

Don't worry too much about opening it. During active fermentation, it out-gasses a lot and it's relatively hard for junk to get in there unless you're careless. I know this goes against the infection-paranoid among us (and they are the majority), but I am a pretty casual bucket peeker and have not been slapped yet!

If the bucket is in a 65F ambient space, then the liquid is probably around 68F. It should ferment reasonably aggressively at that temp. After 7-10 days or whenever the krausen falls, you can move it to a warmer (70ish) spot to prod the yeast and allow it to clean up the byproducts of its work. Then in 14 days total, or whenever the gravity stops dropping, you're ready for cold crashing and/or packaging. Some do 3 weeks. I know it's next to impossible for a newbie to wait that long, though!

 

[aprichman]

aprichman- thanks for the input. I hope I havent caused any harm by opening the lid. I guess time will tell. Since I am a noob, I wont be transferring to a secondary, just to conditioning. How much of a change should I see in the hydro reading after 10 days or so?

You will probably be fine - you are not the first person to open the lid

After 10 days there's a good chance you might see your beer fully attenuated. The FG will mainly depend on the yeast used and starting gravity of your wort. For instance my Phobos Clone is using US-05 yeast which attenuates at ~81%. With a starting gravity of 1.052 I would expect my final gravity to be around 1.010.

Here's what the gravity readings might look like:

10 days - 1.014
12 days - 1.011
14 days - 1.011

At 14 days you can see there's no change in gravity from the previous reading. Since it's so close to it's expected attenuation AND there has been no change over 2 readings that means your beer has more or less finished fermenting. At this point you should bottle, leave it for another couple of weeks until you are ready to bottle, or transfer it to secondary if you are planning on letting the beer age.

It sounds like you are eager to make beer so I'd bottle as soon as I saw 2 stable readings after 10 days.

HOWEVER to play the devil's advocate the yeast "clean up" the beer even after ethanol production is over. That's why I try to give my beers 3 weeks in primary.

 

[HB_in_Subic]

I agree with aprichman. I also give my beers a minimum of 3 weeks in the primary (sometimes as long as 8 weeks). I have noticed a significant upswing in the quality of the beer by waiting that one extra week.

Also, on higher gravity beers (above 1.050ish), you would fare better pitching 2 sachets of yeast.

I use a rubber mallet on my bucket lids and have had zero issues with the gas leakage from my fermenters. You need the opener tool if you do this.

 

[Manorhall]

thanks again everyone. just so I am understanding correctly, it IS okay to leave the primary beyond the normal 2-3 fermenting stage? I have read in forums that leaving it in the primary too long can lead to off flavors and an unpleasant finished product. Im okay with leaving it longer if it will make better beer in the end.

 

[Manorhall]

2-3 week fermenting that is

 

[EJay]

2-3 week fermenting that is

Yes, you can go much longer.

 

[HB_in_Subic]

Yes 3 weeks minimum for all of my beers now. I have one that is at 7+ weeks that I will be bottling probably tomorrow. The results are; clearer, less off flavors (yeasties cleanup after themselves), less chance of bottle bombs and the taste is much better.

For the heavier beers (Trippel, Barleywines, Dubbels, etc.) it would really benefit them. These take a bit longer to condition than the Ales.

Patience always pays off when it comes to beer.

 

[aprichman]

Yup like HB_in_Subic said you can leave your beer in primary for quite a while and be fine. A lot of it depends on the style. Hop forward beers you want to preserve the hop flavors/aromas which means bottling as soon as fermentation has cleaned up. Other styles like imperial stouts and belgians might not really be "ready" until 2-3 months.

I wouldn't leave any style on the yeast cake for less than 2 weeks or more than 3 months but that's just me.

 

[2005STi]

If you straight pitched 1 packet of us-05 into a 1.072 wort, it was way under-pitched. If that's the case the yeast are going to go through a long adaptation phase (reproduction) until they have enough buddies to eat all of the sugar you provided them with. You shouldn't get any largely noticeable off flavors from under pitching but the beer won't be as good as it could have been.