No head after one week?

[michigander]

I'm currently fermenting some brown ale in my primary. I started this batch on November 15, a little over a week ago (original post here, FYI).

I kept my room thermostat set to 68 deg F, but it fluctuated as high as 71 deg F. I have a thermometer sitting on top of the bucket, and when I would check it occasionally, it was never higher than 71 and never lower than 66.

There was very little sunlight in this room, and no fluorescent light whatsoever. There is incandescent light in the room, but I understand this is not an issue.

The airlock started bubbling at 23 hours. Five days later, the bubbling had noticeably slowed, and six days later, it had stopped pretty much altogether.

On the seventh day, I decided to take a gravity reading to see if it had reached the 1.010-1.012 range (OG was 1.050).

When I popped the top off and looked inside, there was no foamy head. Just a few random bubbly spots on the top. In other words, there was not a consistent layer of yeast or head across the whole top. Is this normal? If not, what may be the cause? It smelled fine as far, as I could tell.

The hydrometer gave a reading of 1.020.

 

[emgesp1]

I'm currently fermenting some brown ale in my primary. I started this batch on November 15, a little over a week ago (original post here, FYI).

I kept my room thermostat set to 68 deg F, but it fluctuated as high as 71 deg F. I have a thermometer sitting on top of the bucket, and when I would check it occasionally, it was never higher than 71 and never lower than 66.

There was very little sunlight in this room, and no fluorescent light whatsoever. There is incandescent light in the room, but I understand this is not an issue.

The airlock started bubbling at 23 hours. Five days later, the bubbling had noticeably slowed, and six days later, it had stopped pretty much altogether.

On the seventh day, I decided to take a gravity reading to see if it had reached the 1.010-1.012 range (OG was 1.050).

When I popped the top off and looked inside, there was no foamy head. Just a few random bubbly spots on the top. In other words, there was not a consistent layer of yeast or head across the whole top. Is this normal? If not, what may be the cause? It smelled fine as far, as I could tell.

The hydrometer gave a reading of 1.020.

I'm exactly where you are right now bud.

No layer of foam, and a reading of 1.020. This is after 7 days of Fermentation as well.

 

[Grinder12000]

I see no real problem here - move along! Nothing to see here. Normal? perhaps not, Abnormal - naa!! I've learned that anything can happen and if the Gravity is dropping all is well. It's not like the sugar is evaporating right?

Every brew is different. I've had some that I'm sure I'll need a blow off tube and they are quite - others that go POW!!! !!

If the gravity seems close to correct - it's all you can do.

 

[Nurmey]

It has a way to go but it did ferment. Every fermentation is different and you may have gotten one that just didn't have a big krausen. I've had a few that didn't look like they did much but ended up beer just the same. You may have just of had some wimpy yeast that is taking it's time.

Leave it for another week or two and give it another test. Hopefully the gravity will get down a few more points in that time.

 

[Ballistic]

This is how my first batch went - it just took an extra week in primary and 2 extra weeks in secondary.

On my next batch I decided to wake the yeast first by hydrating it in warm water, and I got a heater pad to stand the primary on and POW! massive head appeared over night from the exact same beer brand.

 

[Revvy]

Grinder & Nurmey pretty much hit the nail on the head.....

Read this...http://blogs.homebrewtalk.com/Revvy/Think_evaluation_before_action/

 

[michigander]

Thanks for all the replies.

Due to recent weather changes in my area, the temperature of my house has dropped to 55 deg F, except for the room where the fermenter is, which I'm keeping at 68 deg F using a space heater. (don't ask me why I have enough money for brewing but not for heating my house.) So the fermenter is fine for now.

But anyway, because the change in temperature was so sudden, the space heater had a hard time keeping up last night as temperatures dropped rapidly, and the room temperature dropped to 64 deg F or so (thermometer on top of the bucket). At that point, I activated the house furnace, and the temperature steadily rose back to 68 deg F.

Is it bad if a fermenting brew is occasionally exposed to lower temperatures? As long as I bring it back to 68, the yeast will keep working, right? I know that it's best to avoid major fluctuations, so that the process is affected as little as possible, but I just want to be sure that everything's still on track, and that I don't need to make corrective actions.

 

[Revvy]

Thanks for all the replies.

Due to recent weather changes in my area, the temperature of my house has dropped to 55 deg F, except for the room where the fermenter is, which I'm keeping at 68 deg F using a space heater. (don't ask me why I have enough money for brewing but not for heating my house.) So the fermenter is fine for now.

But anyway, because the change in temperature was so sudden, the space heater had a hard time keeping up last night as temperatures dropped rapidly, and the room temperature dropped to 64 deg F or so (thermometer on top of the bucket). At that point, I activated the house furnace, and the temperature steadily rose back to 68 deg F.

Is it bad if a fermenting brew is occasionally exposed to lower temperatures? As long as I bring it back to 68, the yeast will keep working, right? I know that it's best to avoid major fluctuations, so that the process is affected as little as possible, but I just want to be sure that everything's still on track, and that I don't need to make corrective actions.

That's the info we needed to actually help....But yeah, temp shifts make the yeast go dormant, you'll need to wake them up by making sure the fermenter is in a warm enough place...I have the same issues in my loft.

 

[michigander]

That's the info we needed to actually help....But yeah, temp shifts make the yeast go dormant, you'll need to wake them up by making sure the fermenter is in a warm enough place

Just to be clear, this temperature drop happened a day or two after the hydrometer reading was taken.

 

[heyvail]

RDWHAHB - Relax, don't worry and have a homebrew. It'll be fine, trust your hydrometer. In my honest opinion it is better to have a temperature swing on the low side than to the high side. The more you brew, the more you will relax, because you will have more brew to drink, it's a vicious cirlce, well vicious to some, but not to me!!