Yeast issue?

[xfevv]

Hey all,

New to the thread and pretty new to home brewing, third brew is in the primary as we speak.

This past Saturday I brewed up a Honey Steam Ale. About eight hours after placing it in the primary I noticed quite a bit of bubbling in the airlock which continued through Sunday (24 - 36 hours total). Monday morning I checked on things and all of the bubbling has completely stopped. I'm wondering if the yeast is bad, or if I somehow got some spoilers in the wort (I work in a pretty sanitized environment and clean and sanitize everything while I'm brewing). Any thoughts? should I add more yeast? More sugars? Check the FG (I cant see that it would be done in 48 hours)?

any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[edmanster]

Everyone will say the same thing... Just because your airlock stopped doesn't mean it's done.. Give it a couple days and check gravity and make your judgment... Assuming you used lager yeast because it's a steam beer means it might have just slowed a little..

 

[incog]

Everyone will say the same thing... Just because your airlock stopped doesn't mean it's done.. Give it a couple days and check gravity and make your judgment... Assuming you used lager yeast because it's a steam beer means it might have just slowed a little..

Here Here. I am a new Brewer too. Had the same deal with my first brew. Basically was all but scolded by friends doing it longer. I RDWHAHB (my friends), checked it after 7 days, and it was fine.

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

Leave it alone. Don't touch for at least 10 days. Then take a gravity reading with a hydrometer. Bubbling air lock means nothing! What kind of yeast did you use and what temp are you femernting at?

 

[edmanster]

Oh ya... I forgot the RDWAHAH.. and welcome to the fourms.. Theres alot of good info on here and be sure to look at the stickies..

 

[xfevv]

Thanks for the input. I used the yeast that came with the kit, I believe it is Windsor Brewing yeast if that makes sense??? It's fermenting in the mid 70's right now.

 

[JonK331]

Mid 70's is high, I wouldn't be at all suprised if the OG is where you want it. HOWEVER, that does not mean the beer is finished. Let it go AT LEAST three weeks, then check the gravity. For future brews you will be better off fermenting your ales in the mid 60's. You can do this with a swamp cooler (tub or cooler filled with water, set fermneter in the water and add frozen water bottles as needed to keep the temp down). Safale 05 is also a bit more tolerant to the higher temps.

 

[xfevv]

The temp is just a guess right now since I'm not right there to check it. I'll double check when I get back home. I have it in a cooler filled with water and a small pump running water over the top of the bucket to keep the temps down. It's also in the bathtub because the bathroom tends to stay quite a bit cooler than the rest of the house. It may be closer to the low 70's high/mid 60's. Thanks again

 

[edmanster]

Where did you buy the kit? Was it dry or liquid yeast... I think you have a great brew that you will be very pleased to drink coming along how it should be...

 

[xfevv]

Purchased at a local brew shop called Brew Your Own Brew. It's a dry yeast

 

[ellicit]

The only way to tell is to take a hydro reading, but anywho just for ****s and giggles you can give the carboy a swirl (just a gentle
swirl, don't shake the hell out of it) and see if that rouses the yeast back to life, it may have just gotten stuck.

 

[Ravenshead]

If you brewed on Sat. then 90% of your fermentation is probably done already. You can check your SG today. It should be pretty close to where your FG is going to be. If it isn't, go ahead and wait the ten days before worrying about it being stuck.

Seventy degrees is a little warm but that shouldn't have any impact on the yeast performance, in fact it probably made them work faster. It will cause a mild change in the overall flavor of the beer. Don't worry about it though, I've done many an ale at that temp that came out great and none that didn't.

 

[Petho]

I think this might be an actual syndrome, I would call it "New Brewer Anxiety". I recall my first few brews, I was very nervous and unsure about every step. The whole RDWHAHB thing didn't really take hold. I came home from work during lunchtime to check the temperature and sniff the airlock!
It is much like having your first child. You worry, call the doctor when it sneezes and check it all night long, but by the time the third kid comes along you are lucky if you remember to feed it!
I guess you just have to shrug your shoulders and keep repeating RDWHAHB.

 

[Ravenshead]

All I can say is---yeeeewwwwwp.

Checking the Hydro today doesn't really do anything other than give an amount of peace of mind. It's not like you're going to do anything regardless of what it tells you.

 

[goaler29]

Whats "RDWHAHB"? And, 3wks in the primary? Dang! ales should be done with primary in a week, 10 days max. This of course depends on gravity and temperature. But as long as it stays between 65-75 there shouldn't be any problems, especially with an all extract brew.

 

[xfevv]

Thanks again for all the help. I will admit to a bit of new brewers anxiety, but I'd rather ask a dumb question than screw something up On a positive note I did notice a bit of action in the airlock this morning. I'll let it sit in primary until this weekend and then rack to secondary for another week or so before bottling.

 

[unionrdr]

Whats "RDWHAHB"? And, 3wks in the primary? Dang! ales should be done with primary in a week, 10 days max. This of course depends on gravity and temperature. But as long as it stays between 65-75 there shouldn't be any problems, especially with an all extract brew.

Not necessarily. I just bottled a pale ale last Sunday that took 3 weeks to go from an OG of 1.044 to an FG of 1.012. Then a 4th week to dry hop,& it looks/tastes like it's gunna be great 4-5 weeks from that point. Yeast knows no time scale,& won't be rushed too much. I've had high pitch temps,& still took 12 days to finish & clean up. & I've been brewing with Cooper's ale yeast (in a starter) at 20C (about 69F).
& wort is wort,as far as the yeast is concerned. No matter weather it's AG or extract,no matter weather it's LME or DME. It's all yummy sugar to them. And when that's gone,they'll start in on their own poop. Oh,almost forgot-Relax,Don't Worry,Have A Home Brew!

 

[starrfish]

I commonly run 3 weeks just let the yeast do it's cleanup. no Ill effects, I have even gone longer on High Gravity/ High Alcohol beers.

 

[BelgianKing]

Im new to brewing as well. (35gals so far) and have found that my Belgians have quit bubbling within 4 days. Doing research on here has shown me not to believe fermentation is done just by the bubbler, use your hydrometer. That will tell you when its done. I also have established a very good rule, even if my gravity hasnt changed for 3 days I still keep it in the fermenter for at least 3 weeks. The yeast needs time to clean up a bit. My beers have been improving everytime since this adjustment. My first beer I bottled in 7 days and it was good but nothing like the 2nd time I brewed it. Have patience and drink a homebrew. Good luck and enjoy this awesome hobby!

 

[mhenry41h]

Whats "RDWHAHB"? And, 3wks in the primary? Dang! ales should be done with primary in a week, 10 days max. This of course depends on gravity and temperature. But as long as it stays between 65-75 there shouldn't be any problems, especially with an all extract brew.

I refuse to take a hydro sample for a minimum of 10 days. Then, I refuse to take it to secondary before a minimum of 21 days. In my mind, the longer that batch stays together before bottling, the better your beer is.

coming soon...to a fridge near you!

 

[rycov]

Whats "RDWHAHB"? And, 3wks in the primary? Dang! ales should be done with primary in a week, 10 days max. This of course depends on gravity and temperature. But as long as it stays between 65-75 there shouldn't be any problems, especially with an all extract brew.

a lot of people here are doing long primary's and no secondarys. just pointing that out. maybe thats why it sounds weird

 

[starrfish]

I refuse to take a hydro sample for a minimum of 10 days. Then, I refuse to take it to secondary before a minimum of 21 days. In my mind, the longer that batch stays together before bottling, the better your beer is.

coming soon...to a fridge near you!

oops maybe double submit too much 8.6%

yeah 3 weeks for a mild does fine lets it clean up. racking to a keg tonight force carbing at 2 weeks low pressure should be TASTY. any thing I've forced to a week has tasted green, until two weeks in anyway. just learned it's better to wait.

 

[goaler29]

well ive never left it on the settlings for more than a 10 days. If you leave it on all the dead yeast for too long (like every living organism after it dies it will start to decompose) then you can get a nice dose of sulfur. Now this doesnt happen very often but it can. you leave it in your primary for forever and then let it clear and bottle and now you pour it in your glass and it smells like someones farted in your face. Yea i dont want that. I rack it off my settlings as soon as the bubbling stops. There are enough yest cells in suspension to finish fermentation off during the secondary without compromising (letting the dead stuff decompose) the beer. Anyone who has done a secondary knows that as soon as the bubbling pretty much stops in the primary and you move it to the secondary, that the bubbling blows up one more time. Thats because you have gotten it off all those dead yeast cells. The live yeast begin to eat again and kaboom your beer is now finished fermenting without smelling like a sulfur fart. The reason fermentation slows so much in the primary is because of all the dead yeast settling out in your beer. There will come a point of no return (stuck fermentation) because of the amount of dead yeast to live yeast ratio. Usually as soon as you rack it will start back up.

 

[mhenry41h]

well ive never left it on the settlings for more than a 10 days. If you leave it on all the dead yeast for too long (like every living organism after it dies it will start to decompose) then you can get a nice dose of sulfur. Now this doesnt happen very often but it can. you leave it in your primary for forever and then let it clear and bottle and now you pour it in your glass and it smells like someones farted in your face. Yea i dont want that. I rack it off my settlings as soon as the bubbling stops. There are enough yest cells in suspension to finish fermentation off during the secondary without compromising (letting the dead stuff decompose) the beer. Anyone who has done a secondary knows that as soon as the bubbling pretty much stops in the primary and you move it to the secondary, that the bubbling blows up one more time. Thats because you have gotten it off all those dead yeast cells. The live yeast begin to eat again and kaboom your beer is now finished fermenting without smelling like a sulfur fart. The reason fermentation slows so much in the primary is because of all the dead yeast settling out in your beer. There will come a point of no return (stuck fermentation) because of the amount of dead yeast to live yeast ratio. Usually as soon as you rack it will start back up.

Yeast autolysis on the homebrew scale has been all but debunked. On the commercial level with the gigantic amounts of yeast and fermenting wort, it is much more of an issue. The best Ive read on the topic was a colloboration effort between basic brewing radio and byo magazine. There have been details of people leaving 5 gallons of beer on the yeast cake for several months with no ill effects. I personally had a batch on the yeast cake that I couldnt get to for 2 months and there was no detectable trace of an off flavor from autolysis. However, I still wouldn't want to leave my beer on the cake for more than a month just out of paranoia.

 

[starrfish]

I got backed up with work a few months ago and left a batch in primary for 3 months... i was very nice when it hit the keg. When I rack too soon that is when I've gotten sulfur (farts) from DMS. I did have a mead years ago that I would say had a "yeast bite" from sitting on trub too long... may have actually been from too long on the kiwi.

 

[goaler29]

Yeast autolysis on the homebrew scale has been all but debunked. On the commercial level with the gigantic amounts of yeast and fermenting wort, it is much more of an issue. The best Ive read on the topic was a colloboration effort between basic brewing radio and byo magazine. There have been details of people leaving 5 gallons of beer on the yeast cake for several months with no ill effects. I personally had a batch on the yeast cake that I couldnt get to for 2 months and there was no detectable trace of an off flavor from autolysis. However, I still wouldn't want to leave my beer on the cake for more than a month just out of paranoia.

And thats fine but did they say weather it was the primary or secondary? The reason I ask is because you will have significantly less yeast cake in your secondary than in the primary. Leaving it in the secondary on what little yeast cake there is, seems to be fine. Ive left beers in the secondary for a couple months with no ill effect. However; leaving it on the primary for more than 10 days or so just makes me nervous. Getting it off the thick yeast cake of the primary will encourage a quicker finishing fermentation during the secondary. Ive seen it! After xfer to the secondary it will bubble up for a day or two max and leave you with significantly less settlings that in turn wont harm the beer and leave your beer clearer in the end, while still leaving enough yeast in suspension to bottle condition.

 

[rycov]

your supposed to leave it in primary untill fermentation is complete anyway. hit your final gravity first, then transfer to secondary. the secondary i just to clear the beer up

 

[unionrdr]

your supposed to leave it in primary untill fermentation is complete anyway. hit your final gravity first, then transfer to secondary. the secondary i just to clear the beer up

I agree! I think it's been solidly prooven on here that about the only time you really need to secondary is when adding fruit,zest...that sort of thing. Even dry hopping in primary is fine if the Beer has hit FG & settling well. Been there,done that,it works.
My beers have been down to a slight haze when primed & bottled right out of primary. When ready to pour,crystal clear. No gelatin. no whirl flock. No secondary. Just patience & research.

 

[mhenry41h]

And thats fine but did they say weather it was the primary or secondary? The reason I ask is because you will have significantly less yeast cake in your secondary than in the primary. Leaving it in the secondary on what little yeast cake there is, seems to be fine. Ive left beers in the secondary for a couple months with no ill effect. However; leaving it on the primary for more than 10 days or so just makes me nervous. Getting it off the thick yeast cake of the primary will encourage a quicker finishing fermentation during the secondary. Ive seen it! After xfer to the secondary it will bubble up for a day or two max and leave you with significantly less settlings that in turn wont harm the beer and leave your beer clearer in the end, while still leaving enough yeast in suspension to bottle condition.

Primary. I think that we should all be aware of the potential for autolysis but not fear it. If I was making something uber delicate and clean I would be more cautious. I have a triple that's been fermenting for 4 days and I don't plan on pulling that sucker off the primary for at least 21 days, I may even go a full month. Then I'm planning to let it age in secondary

coming soon...to a fridge near you!