better bottle carboy, trouble fermenting??

[kegtoe]

I bought a better bottle carboy last week. It seemed like a good buy and considearbly lighter (and cheaper) than the glass carboy. So i put my last batch in it to ferment. That was sunday night. Today on wed, i have yet to see any "burping" at the air lock. There is, however a good deal of frothy head. Is that a sign of fermetnation? The bung for this carboy doesn't seat exactly tight but does cover the entire mouth, not allowing any air. I since taped this bung down in hopes that it would seel tighter and get some burping but none has been observed yet. It is at 67 degrees the first 2 days, then i put a brew belt on it and it is maintaing 72 degrees now. Both shoudl be adequate for fermenting.

 

[ArcaneXor]

To use your airlock as an indicator for CO2 escaping, you need a better seal than just a #10 rubber bung - they are notorious for leaking. I have had by far the best results with a Drilled Universal Stopper Medium (available at Austin Homebrew and many local homebrew stores). They seal very tight and you don't have any problems with them slipping out (or into) the opening of the Better Bottle.

 

[MultumInParvo]

I never had any issues with a seal on my glass carboys...

Wait, never mind, I didn't say that. They're evil...

I agree though. An airlock isn't any real indication. Get a gravity to see if the yeast is doing the work.

 

[Revvy]

You are seeing a krausen....That's more important then whether or not your airlock blips or not.

THAT is your sign of fermentation...krauzen on the beer means the yeast is doing it's job.

Get out of the habit of thinking the airlock is anything other than a vent to release excess co2 and you will be much happier. Your beer will ferment whether or not the airlock bubbles. If it's not bubbling it either doesn't need to release any EXCESS co2, or it's getting out from the bung...either way is fine....If co2 is getting out, then nothing is getting in.

airlock bubbling, lack of airlock bubbling, stopped airlock bubbling, fast airlock bubbling, slow airlcok bubbling, heavy metal airlcok bubbling, or disco airlock bubbling really is not an indicator of what is happening to your beer, really isn't important, and it is NOT an accurate gauge of fermentation.

If your airlock was bubbling and stopped---It doesn't mean fermentation has stopped.

If you airlock isn't bubbling, it doesn't mean your fermentation hasn't started....

If your airlock starts bubbling, it really doesn't matter.

If your airlock NEVER bubbles, it doesn't mean anything is wrong or right.

Your airlock is not a fermentation gauge, it is a VALVE to release excess co2.

So get out of the habit of thinking that an airlock bubble it telling you anything.

Fermentation is not always "dynamic," just because you don't SEE anything happening, doesn't mean that anything's wrong, and also doesn't mean that the yeast are still not working dilligantly away, doing what they've been doing for over 4,000 years....

Besides seeing the krauzenm, the only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in....

Your beer is fine....relax....Just don't connect airlock with what your yeast is or isn't doing...it's doing fine, it just doesn't NEED to make your airlock blip right now.

Relax, everything is fine.

 

[maida7]

I bet it's leaking. An easy test is to squeeze the better bottle. They are flexible and the squeezing will make the air lock go nutz. That is if you have a good seal.

I love the better bottles. I've broken several glass carboys. The better bottles are lighter and MUCH more durable. However they are a bit small and almost always require a blow off tube. I always make a starter and I get the crazy strong ferments

 

[kegtoe]

the medium drilled is the bung im using

 

[kegtoe]

Revvy, how do you know when its a good time to transfer to a secondary or to bottle. I always used the airlock as my stopping point and then transferred to teh secondary.

 

[maida7]

Revvy, how do you know when its a good time to transfer to a secondary or to bottle. I always used the airlock as my stopping point and then transferred to teh secondary.

I like to see that the yeast is fully floculated and the beer is clear before moving to the keg. I don't use a hydrometer and I don't secondary.

 

[Revvy]

Revvy, how do you know when its a good time to transfer to a secondary or to bottle. I always used the airlock as my stopping point and then transferred to teh secondary.

It's called a hydrometer.....no change over 3 consequetive days means the beer is done. Usually taken around the 7th and 10th days or 10th and 12th....

If you go by lack of bubbles you could still not be done, even if your airlock isn't bubbling...like I said that's like looking at a patients eyes and declaring he needs a heart transplant...Bubbling is a superficial sign...I have 9 fermenters, have been breweing for years and my fermenters only bubble 50% of the time...and I've never problem fermentation.

That's why I stress this so much...it is NOT a reliable way to understanding your beer...and people have tossed out batches just because their airlock didn't bubble. It's not a calibrate instrument, it's cheap ass plastic in a rubber grommet or stopper.

And many brewers don't even use them anymore...just a piece of plexiglass on a bucket or tinfoil on the carboy, to let the excess co2 out and keep stuff in...So if that's the case, that people brew without them OR they often don't bubble, then how can that be a reliable tool to tell you what's going on?

But also if you look around you will see many many many of us don't transfer to secondary unless we are dry hopping or adding fruit or something. We leave our beer in primary for 3-4 weeks and let the yeast finish up fermenting and then cleaning up all the byproducts of fermentation that often lead to off flavors. It also allows the yeast cake to compress and leads to extremely clear beer. If you look around you will see hundreds of threads discussion this.

So if anything, don't be so quick to rush your beer out of primary...give it some time.

Your beer will thank you.

 

[kegtoe]

wow, lots of good info. I always used hte hydrameter to judge before bottling with the 3 day method. I thought the secondary fermenter was more common. one of my current beers has been in a primary for 3 weeks. I put it in a secondary today to hope it clears a bit more and finishes settleing. Do you see this as bad o unnecessary practice?

 

[michael.berta]

So get out of the habit of thinking that an airlock bubble it telling you anything.

+1 Preach on brother

 

[maida7]

I think the dangers of oxidation and contamination during the transfer outweight the benefits of moving the beer to a secondary fermenter.

 

[pdbreen]

If you're using the medium drilled bung with the angled walls, you really (really) have to push it down into the neck of the better bottle if you want it to seal and stay sealed. There should only be about a 1/4 inch or so between the neck of the bottle and the lip on the bung.

Otherwise, what I find happens is that the bung just "rides up" on its angled walls, helped along by the StarSan acting as a lubricant. When this happens, the Co2 will escape between the bung and the neck of the bottle. Not a huge deal though since you've still got a layer of Co2 covering the beer once fermentation starts.

 

[mattjmac]

Are the caps better for the better bottles, then?

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=1130

 

[Revvy]

Are the caps better for the better bottles, then?

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=1130

That's what I use, but again, it doesn't really matter what you use, just as it doesn't matter if the airlock bubbles or not. Your beer is going to ferment whether you have tinfoil on it, a stopper or one of those caps. And again, if there's not a need to void off excess co2, it won't bubble.

 

[maida7]

The hoods work OK. I use them to attach a blow off tube. 1/2" tube fits tight on the larger of the 2 openings. They aren't always a tight fit and some times leak but you can seal them with some masking tape.

I also use the regular gum stoppers with air locks and I have no peoblems getting them to seal.

I recently got a an odd looking stopper that is not as tappered and works great. It looks like the stoppers in the pic on this page http://www.austinhomebrew.com/index.php?cPath=178_53_58

Lastly you can get the better bottle designed tops. They are pricy but they look very well made and can be used with air locks , blow off , etc... http://www.better-bottle.com/products_master.html