Self carbonating in fermentor?

[zernike]

I just brewed a big stout (OG 1.093), pitched 3L starter of WPL-001. However, after 1 day, no activity in the fermenter, so I pitched wyeast Irish ale since I had it on hand. It has been 18 hours and still no activity. I swirled around the fermenter and foam went through the 1in blowout tube, but didn’t continue bubbling, making me think my wort self carbonated before fermentation. Has anyone heard of this or had it happen. I have brewed this beer several times and haven’t had this happen before.

 

[Henbrew]

Sounds like there's a leak somewhere on your fermenter, possibly around the lid.

 

[doug293cz]

Carbonation is evidence of fermentation (fermentation produces CO2 as well as ethanol), unless the carbonation is from using bottled CO2. So, you have had fermentation occurring. Lack of bubbles in an airlock or blow-off vessel, doesn't mean you don't have fermentation. If you have fermentation without bubbles, then your fermenter leaks enough to relieve the headspace pressure without bubbling - as @Henbrew noted.

Brew on

 

[hotbeer]

When I used clear FV's, I frequently had to get the light just right and give my eyes time to adjust to see any bubbles and other activity in the beer.

The FV I currently use doesn't seem to produce any bubbling at all in the airlock, though I've sealed everything where gas can escape with vinyl tape and fusible silicone tape. So I'm thinking that the big activity is over and done during the time I'm asleep and otherwise not watching.

So if you have any evidence of a Kraeusen, then it happened and you missed it. The wort wasn't self carbonated at the time prior to you pitching the yeast. It carbonated in the time since the pitch.

If you take a SG sample and know what the OG was, then that will tell you the most about whether or not something is happening. Bubbles IMO, are just for entertainment value. Some of my beers bubbled for most of the time in the FV and lately most never show me a bubble. But they are still pretty decent beers.

When using blow off tubes, I found that letting the tube go deep in the bubbler jar would stop all bubbling as the pressure in the FV would have to be greater to push a bubble out. Putting the end of the blow off tube a few millimeters below the surface would let a lot of bubbles escape easily.

Also note that just because beer finishes fermenting doesn't mean it's ready for the next steps. Yeast are still working even though they aren't producing CO2 and alcohol.

 

[impact.walter]

Bubbles IMO, are just for entertainment value. Some of my beers bubbled for most of the time in the FV and lately most never show me a bubble.

I’ve also experienced this.

When using blow off tubes, I found that letting the tube go deep in the bubbler jar would stop all bubbling as the pressure in the FV would have to be greater to push a bubble out. Putting the end of the blow off tube a few millimeters below the surface would let a lot of bubbles escape easily.

I’m trying to reconcile this statement with a pressure-ferment being capable of purging a keg of sanitiser which I haven’t done, but am impressed by.

 

[zernike]

To clarify: I use a glass carboy with a 1” blowoff tube. Same setup as the last 10 years of brewing. Using a tilt to monitor the SG, hasn’t moved since I dropped it in. No krausen. Bubbling is evidence of carbonation (yes, obviously fermentation would have happened to get the carbonation) which I would not expect in the fermentation vessel. Blowoff tube is about 3” under the surface of sanitizer in the blowoff bucket. Maybe there isn’t enough headspace in the carboy? It’s pretty full.

 

[hotbeer]

No evidences of a changing SG with the Tilt and no Krausen. Something else seems amiss if you had foaming beer when you swirled the beer in the FV to mix in the other yeast. But maybe it was getting CO2 dissolved in it by the beginning of the fermentation process and nothing was increasing the pressure in the head space yet. Just swirling the beer would agitate some of the dissolved CO2 to come out of solution. But I can't explain no change in SG other than the typical issues that sometime the initial readings of the Tilt and other similar hydrometers aren't quite right during that time.

Still, I wouldn't have added more yeast at just one day. I probably would have waited 3 days. Perhaps your impatience to open up the FV and do something may not be giving it enough time to build the pressure.

I used 1" external diameter blow off tubes too. While my earlier brews with a unknown yeast supplied with the kits I bought did provide lots of entertainment in the way of bubbles and gas that would have my blow off tube bubbling when stuck 3 inches down below the surface level in the bubbler jar, when I went to beer yeast that I knew what they were, US-05, S-4, T-33 etc. I had to move the end of the tube to about 3/8 - 1/2" below the surface to let it bubble regularly. But I didn't think to experiment and see if subsequent batches had no issue with more tube below the surface.

 

[doug293cz]

Maybe there isn’t enough headspace in the carboy?

Yeast doesn't need any headspace to do its job. Headspace is just to give the krausen someplace to go, other than plug up the airlock or blow-off tube.

Brew on

 

[zernike]

Update: after I swirled the carboy until no other carbonated wort remained, I stirred the bottom of the carboy about 6 hours ago, now vigorous fermentation, blowing foam into bucket. Could have been impatience, but I would like to think it was my heroic action. I’ll write up my award. Thanks for everyone’s input.

 

[hotbeer]

It might be good to look at what your initial pitch rate was for the Wyeast Irish Ale and what you did with that yeast prior to pitching it.

If anything was going differently for you than it had before, then that might be the place to start investigating. However different things might delay you seeing the activity you want to see. At only a day in, patience was the only thing missing here. IMO.