Am I Crazy -

[CorneliusRox]

Did a higher alcohol brew on Sunday. It was -20 F before windchill which made it tough (I do it out doors). I used a doubled up starter and the recipe called for 12lbs of LME. I expected way more krausen by day 1.5 (pitched at ~7pm), but I'm getting about three bubbles per second out of my 1/2" tube. (Temp 62-63 deg, a little cold I know)

Thoughts? Is this what a stalled fermentation is, or am I just being crazy?
I'm going to give it until it basically stops bubbling before racking into the secondary and tasting, unless there's something that should be done immediately to save this or fix it. Or, like I said, I'm just crazy.

 

[HomebrewSupply]

Did a higher alcohol brew on Sunday. It was -20 F before windchill which made it tough (I do it out doors). I used a doubled up starter and the recipe called for 12lbs of LME. I expected way more krausen by day 1.5 (pitched at ~7pm), but I'm getting about three bubbles per second out of my 1/2" tube. (Temp 62-63 deg, a little cold I know)

Thoughts? Is this what a stalled fermentation is, or am I just being crazy?
I'm going to give it until it basically stops bubbling before racking into the secondary and tasting, unless there's something that should be done immediately to save this or fix it. Or, like I said, I'm just crazy.

RDWHAHB. Doesn't sound like anything to worry about to me. Just give it time and let the yeast do its thing. The bubbling means it's working, even if it seems slow.

 

[CorneliusRox]

Did a higher alcohol brew on Sunday. It was -20 F before windchill which made it tough (I do it out doors). I used a doubled up starter and the recipe called for 12lbs of LME. I expected way more krausen by day 1.5 (pitched at ~7pm), but I'm getting about three bubbles per second out of my 1/2" tube. (Temp is 62-63F, I know that's cold)

Thoughts? Is this what a stalled fermentation is, or am I just being crazy?
I'm planning on waiting (1-2 weeks) until fermentation is just about done before racking and tasting and testing Sec Grav.

-Mod's please delete my last thread. I hit 'tab' then 'enter' on accident and submitted the thread incomplete. Thanks!

 

[CorneliusRox]

Mods, can you please delete this thread and redirect to this one:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=569649

RDWHAHB. Doesn't sound like anything to worry about to me. Just give it time and let the yeast do its thing. The bubbling means it's working, even if it seems slow.

Thanks! This is my first heavier beer, and the fact that it was so cold (still is) made me think maybe something went wrong.

 

[Hello]

RDWHAHB. Doesn't sound like anything to worry about to me. Just give it time and let the yeast do its thing. The bubbling means it's working, even if it seems slow.

^^ This and since the other post has a pic, here's a link.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=569649

But really, measuring airlock activity to me is like waiting to see if paint on a wall will form into a drip. It's worse than watching paint dry. I also don't think you should worry if the krausen is not at the level you anticipated. As long as it is there, I conclude the beer is fermenting. In some cases, I've had very low krausen and the beer fermented well past the anticipated FG. Either way, your picture (posted in the other thread you created) is showing me beer with beautiful krausen. I bet it is going to be awesome.

 

[HomebrewSupply]

RDWHAHB. Doesn't sound like anything to worry about to me. Just give it time and let the yeast do its thing. The bubbling means it's working, even if it seems slow.

Thanks! This is my first heavier beer, and the fact that it was so cold (still is) made me think maybe something went wrong.

Totally understandable. Give it time, then take a gravity reading and see where you're at. You should be just fine!

Just to add on, with that picture, I really wouldn't be worrying. It looks great!

 

[m00ps]

I dont see what the problem is. Krausen + Active airlock activity *not*= stalled fermentation

also, a blowoff is always a good idea. but with that much headspace, i'd bet a lot of money that you wont need one

 

[CorneliusRox]

^^ This and since the other post has a pic, here's a link.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=569649

But really, measuring airlock activity to me is like waiting to see if paint on a wall will form into a drip. It's worse than watching paint dry. I also don't think you should worry if the krausen is not at the level you anticipated. As long as it is there, I conclude the beer is fermenting. In some cases, I've had very low krausen and the beer fermented well past the anticipated FG. Either way, your picture (posted in the other thread you created) is showing me beer with beautiful krausen. I bet it is going to be awesome.

Thanks man! You're giving me confidence. I think I just read all these air lock explosion stories and assumed there'd be just gobs and gobs of krausen.

 

[CorneliusRox]

Thanks for the advice guys. Unless this kicks into high gear in the next day or two, I think you're right about not needing the blowoff. Live and learn I suppose!

 

[m00ps]

Thanks girl!

fixed that for you

 

[Hello]

Thanks man! You're giving me confidence. I think I just read all these air lock explosion stories and assumed there'd be just gobs and gobs of krausen.

You have pretty appropriate headspace in that carboy. While some fermentations have been known to exceed even that much headspace, yours did not. You should almost be grateful. I'd wait for the krausen to drop and take a hydrometer reading.

 

[CorneliusRox]

fixed that for you

Thanks girl! ;-)

 

[rmyurick]

Thanks man! You're giving me confidence. I think I just read all these air lock explosion stories and assumed there'd be just gobs and gobs of krausen.

If it's relatively cold, and depending on yeast strain, it will ferment slower & the krausen has time to settle back in. I use a 6.5 gallon fermenter & usu. don't need a blowoff, but a batch I made with 3787 did--had huge krausen with some very large bubbles in there.