Noob question

[GeorgiaBrewer]

Ok guys i am brewing my first batch of beer. It is a kit beer "American Light" with a OG of 1.38 which is within the specified limits of what it should be. My question is i brewed it last tuesday. That next morning, wednesday, the air lock had plenty of activity all though the day. Well the following day, thursday, about noon no activity whatsoever. I sat for like 10 minutes and no bubbles and still none as of today. Is this normal/ok or did something go wrong? I know the activity slows down, but i figured i would see an occasional bubble or two. Im sure im going to be told to just relax and not worry, but i just want to make sure. Thanks for your help in advance.

 

[Parker36]

Im sure im going to be told to just relax and not worry, but i just want to make sure.

That, plus airlocks are not measurers - that is the hydrometers' job - of fermentation, only a release of air.

 

[ifishsum]

Wait at least 10 days and then check the gravity with a hydrometer. Are you planning to use a secondary fermenter?

 

[FxdGrMind]

Ok. Noobie here too.
My first did similar in fermentation. I read here that some encourage just leaving it in Primary 2-3 weeks... well I didn't. But I want to say one thing.

Your fermentation/conversion of sugars to alcohol doesn't start with the bubbles nor does it end when the bubbles end. I took several SG readings. OG 1.050 at the start... down to 1.023 within 72 hrs bubbles stopped... after 144 hrs SG was down to 1.015.
So even without any bubbles the SG indicates that the yeasties are still working and cleaning up the beer.
I transfered to secondary on day 6 and there was enough yeast still in suspension that even in the secondary now 2 weeks there is a nice 3/4" cake on the bottom of the secondary.

So even thought there aren't any bubbles, it's still working, just trust it. Yea that's like telling a kid in a candy store to NOT TO TOUCH ANYTHING!
But if you must.. start thinking of your next brew.. get the kit/or supplies.. get another primary or after 7-10 days rack to secondary to free up your primary and start batch 2.. =) Cant have enough in the supply chain! Got to give them time to condition and develop ... the larger the supply chain.. the easier it is to keep out of the Brew!

Cheers and happy brewing.

 

[GeorgiaBrewer]

Ok so i just took a SG reading and its at 1.17 So now i will just give it more time to reach the suggested FG of 1.07-1.10 Yes i have a secondary carboy and was planning on transferring to it sometime next week, but after reading on the forums more i see where people say its better to leave it in the primary to let the yeast clean the beer better. Any suggestions on keeping it in the primary or transferring to the secondary?

 

[VTBrewer]

You'll find hundreds of posts about that in here, but the general consensus is that if not lagering or adding fruit/other flavorings, there is no reason for a secondary.

 

[Yooper]

This sounds very nitpicky, but you are missing a digit. Your OG should have been more like 1.038, and the SG now should be 1.017. SGs over 1.110 are not usual for beer, but I often go over that for wine.

Anyway, if your current SG is 1.017, you have a little ways to go to get to 1.010- 1.007. (not 1.070-1.110, which is more of a starting gravity for a beer or wine)

I think a secondary is great if you want to rack the beer and allow it to have some time to clarify and condition. The best way to do that is wait until the beer is done, and then let it sit a few days longer. Then rack to the carboy and wait 2-3 weeks before bottling.

You can also get good results in just leaving it in primary 3 weeks, though. My beers that only get a primary are still very clear and I'm happy with them. You can do whichever you prefer- if you want to get another batch going right away, sometimes it's nice to be able to rack and then get another batch in the primary right away.

 

[KDM]

Fellow n00b here. I heard of the '1-2-3 Rule', which states 1 week in primary; 2 weeks in secondary; 3 weeks in bottle before chugging. Sounded like a good rule of thumb that helps me remember general time allowances. Then I heard of 'pipelines', which generally means that ensuing batches are started post haste to ensure nobody runs out of homebrew. So I racked batch no. 1 to secondary after a week and put batch no. 2 in the fermenter. Batch no. 1 just got bottled. When I get recipe kit for batch no. 3, batch no. 2 gets evicted to guess where? Yep, you got it. I've ordered two recipe kits so I'll have one waiting in the wings. Pipeline. I'm gettin' into it.

 

[GeorgiaBrewer]

Thanks guys for the wise words. Yeah i guess i am missing a number in my SG..haha thanks. I'll try to keep the noob questions to a minimum in the future.

 

[ifishsum]

The 1-2-3 method is okay, but I still think 1 week in primary is not enough time for the yeast to clean up, and too many folks treat it as a rule and rack after a week regardless of SG.

I prefer to secondary, reason being that I can use my primary for another batch - but I always wait 10-14 days. If it has dropped to FG next week, you can certain move it to secondary if you like. Or not, both ways make good beer if done right.

 

[Yooper]

Thanks guys for the wise words. Yeah i guess i am missing a number in my SG..haha thanks. I'll try to keep the noob questions to a minimum in the future.

No reason at all to minimize questions- that's the point of the forum, to ask questions and get answers. I knew what you meant, but it's confusing to newer brewers when we aren't clear on the SG readings.

Ask any questions you want in the future- hopefully we'll be able to answer most of them.

 

[KDM]

I take the "1-2-3 Rule" to be a rule of thumb that helps me get a general handle on time allowances in my little no0bish extract-brewing life. If anyone wants to adhere to it rigorously that's their problem. Don't mean to sound like I sat on a corn cob.