a few questions with my first extract batch

[bagpiperjosh]

I just brewed my first extract batch on saturday of Brewers best Scottish ale..

i noticed as of last night, the air lock was no longer bubbling. is this normal for it to be done in just under 2 days?

The other thing is. When boiling my wort. i got virtually no foam. After i added my first hop addition, there was no foam at all.

Are those things normal?

everything else seemed fine. my OG was exactly where it was supposed to be... i used a yeast starter.. etc. i'm not too worried about it. i was just wondering what was typical.

 

[Daybis]

Don't use the air lock as an indicator if your beer is done or not. Give it a few weeks and use your hydrometer to measure the gravity. When your gravity readings haven't changed for a few days you're done.

I usually always have foam when my wort reaches the hot break stage. Your boil might have been gentle enough you didn't notice you reached that stage.

To me, it sounds like you've done everything right. I would just give your brew a few weeks in the primary.

 

[unionrdr]

Extracts usually don't give much hot break at all. That was taken care of by the maltster. But add even 1lb of plain wheat DME,& you'll get a masive hot break. And the fact that the bubbling stopped in 2 days generally signifies that initial fermentation is done. It'll the slowly ferment down to FG rather uneventfully.

 

[Camride]

My first extract didn't foam much either, but I was also stirring constantly to avoid a spillover. I also stopped getting bubbling in the airlock after about 2 days as well. I checked the gravity after 5 days and it was down to 1.016 from 1.050 so it's definitely going along nicely. Now I'm trying to decide if I should be impatient and bottle after 2 weeks in primary or be good and leave it in for 3-4 weeks to get a clearer beer. Since this is my first batch I'm leaning towards impatience.

 

[unionrdr]

I leave it in primary till FG is reached. Then another 3-7 days to settle out clear or nearly so. Then bottle,less dregs in the bottom of the bottles that way.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

My first extract didn't foam much either, but I was also stirring constantly to avoid a spillover. I also stopped getting bubbling in the airlock after about 2 days as well. I checked the gravity after 5 days and it was down to 1.016 from 1.050 so it's definitely going along nicely. Now I'm trying to decide if I should be impatient and bottle after 2 weeks in primary or be good and leave it in for 3-4 weeks to get a clearer beer. Since this is my first batch I'm leaning towards impatience.

I leave it in primary till FG is reached. Then another 3-7 days to settle out clear or nearly so. Then bottle,less dregs in the bottom of the bottles that way.

if after two weeks you have a stable FG, then you're good to go. a little more time wouldn't hurt, but two weeks in primary is plenty of time to reach FG and have the yeast clean up. most of my ales will have dropped quite clear at the two week mark, i usually keep them in primary for three weeks, but have bottled or kegged plenty after two and had no problems. the main thing is to make sure your gravity readings are stable over 3 or more days before packaging or moving the beer to another vessel.

 

[unionrdr]

I say that because mine usually take that long to get down near FG. Those last couple of points can take another week ime. So I always express it as when FG is reached then...