3 Days, 0 activity, possible leak?

[tigatok]

Hey all,

Picked up Northern Brewers Block Party starter kit.

Been about 3 days since brew day. As far as I can tell I followed all of the steps pretty damn well. Sanitization especially.

After 3 days of no activity, I took a peek at what was happening. There was no krausen on top of the beer, it just looked like the wart with a bit of debris on the sides of the pale.

I had my airlock a little over filled, so I emptied some water and then put it back in.

After I lightly hammered the lid back on, I noticed that if I pushed into the lid, the water in airlock would rise, and then fall immediately once I let go.

Just trying to figure out if I messed something up or not.

 

[flars]

The lid of your bucket is most likely not sealed well letting the CO2 escape by an easier route than going through the air lock. Not a problem. Most buckets don't have a good seal. Some buckets don't even utilize an air lock.

The ring of debris just above the level of the beer is the remnants of the krausen. You had a quick fermentation. Fermentations can be very fast if the wort begins fermenting at the top of the yeasts range. The fermentation may be just finishing. Take a hydrometer reading in another 7 days. Check again a few days after that for final gravity.

When the beer clears you can be ready to bottle. Don't rush it though. Clear beer in the primary means clear beer going into the bottle.

 

[tigatok]

Interesting. So am I probably just good to follow the instructions and wait until the week or whenever it says?

I don't have a hydrometer with me, it wasn't in the kit, however I will look into getting one.

Thanks for taking the time to reply!

 

[flars]

Interesting. So am I probably just good to follow the instructions and wait until the week or whenever it says?

I don't have a hydrometer with me, it wasn't in the kit, however I will look into getting one.

Thanks for taking the time to reply!

You're welcome. You have a little time to get a hydrometer. The beer can stay in the primary for a few weeks. Subscribe to Northern Brewers emails for discount offers. Might be able to get the hydrometer cheaper.

I also spend some time on their forum.

 

[RM-MN]

Interesting. So am I probably just good to follow the instructions and wait until the week or whenever it says?

I don't have a hydrometer with me, it wasn't in the kit, however I will look into getting one.

Thanks for taking the time to reply!

If the instructions say a week, ignore the instructions. I've followed those instructions and while I got beer I also got a lot of trub in the bottles. Waiting another week beyond what the instructions call for reduced that trub in my bottles to less than half.

Ales do ferment quickly, especially if the temperature is warmer than optimal but that also causes the yeast to make esters that give the beer an off flavor and can cause the yeast to make fusel alcohol which will be a "hot alcohol" flavor that promotes hangovers. I've learned to control the fermentation temperature near the lower end of the range suggested and get cleaner tasting beers for that.

 

[myndflyte]

A good rule of thumb that I follow is wait at least 2 weeks, but most of the time I wait 3 weeks before I package it. You want to make sure it's really done fermenting and it's good for it to bulk age a little while. In the meantime, get that hydrometer so you can be absolutely sure that it is done fermenting.

 

[tigatok]

A good rule of thumb that I follow is wait at least 2 weeks, but most of the time I wait 3 weeks before I package it. You want to make sure it's really done fermenting and it's good for it to bulk age a little while. In the meantime, get that hydrometer so you can be absolutely sure that it is done fermenting.

So I got my hydrometer in. What's the best way to take a reading if beer is still in the fermenter? Do I just sanitize the gadget and toss er in?

 

[flars]

Never toss a hydrometer (humor) they are very fragile. Also never pick it up by the thin top and hold it horizontally. They are very fragile. Check the accuracy of the hydrometer with distilled water at 60°F. 60° is usually the calibration temperature of hydrometers now-a-days. It should read 1.000. Tap water will work also. SG may read a small bit above or below 1.000 with tap water.

Too soon to take the first SG reading. Wait at least another week. Is this a 5 gallon or 1 gallon batch?? You can place the hydrometer in the beer for a 1 gallon batch if there is no remnants of the krausen floating on the surface. Any krausen remaining will not allow reading the hydrometer. If this is a 1 gallon jug fermentor you probably will not be able to retrieve the hydrometer so not a good idea. Almost always with small volume brews the fermentation will be complete and the beer will have cleared in three weeks. It can be safe to take one SG reading to check for an abnormally high FG indicating a problem just before bottling. This saves volume if it is only 1 gallon.

You can take a couple SG readings for five gallon brews since you will only be checking/tasting a small percentage of the total volume. Take the samples 3 to 5 days apart with the first at about day 10.

Have you read up on using hydrometers. This is a link from John Palmer's online book.
http://howtobrew.com/book/appendices/appendix-a/using-hydrometers

Hope some of this helps.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

So I got my hydrometer in. What's the best way to take a reading if beer is still in the fermenter? Do I just sanitize the gadget and toss er in?

You could do that just be carful. Hydrometers are ridiculously fragile. If it cracks there goes your beer. A cheap Turkey baster and the tube the hydrometer comes in works real good. (fill the tube with beer and test)

 

[tigatok]

Cool, so here is what I did:

at 1:12pm today, I sanitized the following:
- Measuring cup
- Hydrometer tube/casing
- hydrometer

I took a sample with measuring cup, poured it into the casing. Dropped the hydrometer in.

Reading looked like attached pic. https://imgur.com/nkjNk2x

The reading is roughly at the 2 mark on PA/BV scale. So roughly:

at 70degF
- PA/BV: 2%
- SP.GR 15?

Sound good so far? My brew day was Nov 5

Worth noting:
- Some little black fellas floating around. Looked a bit like seeds. Took a good ol sipperoo and she tastes somewhat like beer, but pretty malty.

 

[seilenos]

Your gravity reading is 1.015 (the "15" is 15/1000, which gets added to 1.000).

With a supposed OG of 1.043 and FG 1.014, you are looking at an ABV of 3.7%.

The description says "toasty bread crust, caramel, and an inkling of floral and herbal hop character" so your "malty" assessment sounds like it is in the ballpark.

EDIT: That's what I get for not looking at the numbers before hitting "Save" ... something didn't sound right. I updated the ABV to the correct value of 3.7% .... fine for an easy drinker!

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

The SP. GR (Specific gravity) is what most go by. Depending on the recipe your done or close. The kit should have the Finished gravity. It might say FG ( final gravity) and read for example 1.015. That would be your reading of 15. any lower than 15 like 1.012 or 1.010 and so on and your not done

 

[JimRausch]

You're looking at the wrong(?) scale. Look at the scale that marked from 1.000 to probably 1.100.
I'm at work for another couple hours, so it will be a while before I can look at one of my hydrometers to interpret what your reading means. Maybe someone with one handy will chime in before that.
But, whichever scale you use, if you take 2 readings that are separated by 2-3 days, and the readings are the same, then she is finished fermenting. Still, let her sit another week or two to finish working on the unmentionable poop products that were produced during that first very active fermentation, and also to let things settle to the bottom. Then, and only then, you can think about packaging.
Brewers make wort, Yeast make beer, and they do so on their own schedule. Don't rush it.

 

[JimRausch]

Darn double post.....

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Still, let her sit another week or two to finish working on the unmentionable poop products that were produced during that first very active fermentation, and also to let things settle to the bottom. Then, and only then, you can think about packaging.
Brewers make wort, Yeast make beer, and they do so on their own schedule. Don't rush it.

This is debatable, Many say when the yeast is done its done and "cleaning up after themselves" is a fallacy. The beer may get better with time but might have nothing to do with the yeast "finishing up". It just conditioning.

Personally I cold crash as soon as its done usually around seven day then keg. I brew double batches and the fist one almost always tastes better/fresher than the one that's been sitting