Curious....no bubbling in a week? but gravity readings changed...

[rich1852]

I am doing a Coopers IPA in the Cooper kit bucket (6 gallon). One week and I have not noticed anything coming through the airlock. This is the 4th batch I have brewed (different style each time) and the first time I haven't seen anything through the airlock.

I started with an SG or 1.046. I took a reading today and it is at 1.010. When I drew it to test, there was a nice head to it actually although it was a little cloudy.

Since the airlock hasn't shown anything....is something wrong..? It still looks like it is fermenting. I had a small crack appear when I tightened the rim to the bucket (around the rim), but the gasket was still in place and taped well over it with clear packing tape.

Any thoughts would be appreciated....I guess my main concern is with no bubbling out of the air lock, but with the gravity reading going down...still a chance this will be an ok batch??

 

[reim0027]

Airlock activity is not an indicator of fermentation. Lack of bubbling =/= lack of fermentation (and vice versa). Your hydrometer readings are the key. From my puny experience, if you have hit for target FG and your beer tastes good, then things are going well.

Let's see if the experts have any better advice for you.

 

[ifishsum]

The hydrometer doesn't lie...chances are your fermenter was probably leaking CO2 somewhere other than out the airlock. I'm sure it's fine, as reim said the airlock only makes sure the excess CO2 can vent - it cannot be trusted for anything other than that. If the gravity has dropped there's nothing wrong with the beer and it's progressing as normal so yes it's an OK batch.

 

[Revvy]

You should never rely on the bubbling or lack of on a cheap chinese plastic airlock as a "fermentation Gauge," it's not...It's an airlock, nothing more, a VALVE to release excess CO2, to keep from blowing the lid off the fermentor...If it's not bubbling that just means that there's not enough CO2 to climb out of the airlock, or the CO2 is just forming a nice cushion on top of the beer like it's supposed to, or the airlock is askew, or it is leaking out the cheap rubber grommet, or you have a leak in the bucket seal...all those are fine...if CO2 is getting out then nothing's getting in....

Over half of my beers have had no airlock activity...

The only gauge of fermentaion is your hydrometer.

More than likely your fermentation is going nicely at it's own pace but for a dozen possible reasons your airlock isn't bubbling...simple as that. Get out of the habit of thinking it is a precision instrument and you will find you are less worried...The only precise methid of gauging fermentation is taking gravity readings.

Read this,
http://blogs.homebrewtalk.com/Revvy/Think_evaluation_before_action/

 

[ifishsum]

Somehow I knew Revvy would chime in on this one

 

[Revvy]

Somehow I knew Revvy would chime in on this one

Hey...at least he used his hydrometer...that was a pleasant surprise for once....

 

[BrewinJack]

Somehow I knew Revvy would chime in on this one

Same here i knew he would set the record stright, I was about to jump in here and give a tyraid about how there are a billion reasons your airlock wouldn't bubble and your gravity still would go down. but As always Revvy has the pacients and diplomacy that even after years of brewing i do not. Is there some where we can post on this site were every new member can see. I dont know something like "Listen to Revvy, and let me sleep" or "Here is a link to the Revvy Brewing Bible, let us all sleep"... that last one is so that Rev can sleep too.

Good luck with that Cooper's mate and i hope you enjoy it.

cheers

 

[rich1852]

Thanks guys, very helpful.

 

[BugleBrew]

You should never rely on the bubbling or lack of on a cheap chinese plastic airlock as a "fermentation Gauge," it's not...It's an airlock, nothing more, a VALVE to release excess CO2, to keep from blowing the lid off the fermentor...If it's not bubbling that just means that there's not enough CO2 to climb out of the airlock, or the CO2 is just forming a nice cushion on top of the beer like it's supposed to, or the airlock is askew, or it is leaking out the cheap rubber grommet, or you have a leak in the bucket seal...all those are fine...if CO2 is getting out then nothing's getting in....

Over half of my beers have had no airlock activity...

The only gauge of fermentaion is your hydrometer.

More than likely your fermentation is going nicely at it's own pace but for a dozen possible reasons your airlock isn't bubbling...simple as that. Get out of the habit of thinking it is a precision instrument and you will find you are less worried...The only precise methid of gauging fermentation is taking gravity readings.

Read this,
http://blogs.homebrewtalk.com/Revvy/Think_evaluation_before_action/

I came here to see Revy's lecture about not using an airlock as a fermentation guage. I was not dissapointed.

 

[CiscoKid]

Hey...at least he used his hydrometer...that was a pleasant surprise for once....

It wouldn't be such a surprise if more people weren't selling kits and telling the purchaser, "It's ok, you just wait until this stops bubbling for a couple of days, then you rack it..."

I had thought about homebrewing for a while before I did it and read The Complete Joy of Homebrewing and How to Brew before I started. I also had the luxury of friends who have brewed for some time. Not everyone gets that, so it is hardly a surprise when they show up here with questions after getting bad advise. Because, hey, if I was flying blind the first time around, I'd expect that the guy running the LHBS or packaging the kit would be giving me good information. We already know that isn't always the case.

I get why it's that way (to sell more kits), I just think it's short-sighted. After all, if someone keeps brewing crappy batches of beer because they're following bad directions, they're likely to just give up. Then again, once they're doing it for a while they're probably not buying kits anyways. I guess it is lose-lose for the kit manufacturers.

 

[Revvy]

I get why it's that way (to sell more kits), I just think it's short-sighted. After all, if someone keeps brewing crappy batches of beer because they're following bad directions, they're likely to just give up. Then again, once they're doing it for a while they're probably not buying kits anyways. I guess it is lose-lose for the kit manufacturers.

Yep, I've posted my theory on that very things as well...The average homebrewer brews about 3 or 4 kits before s/he tries a recipe in a book or on a forum like this...which means they start buying ingredients ala cart...so much for buying kits...so they wanna get as many kits sold as possible before the brewer jumps to the next level.

There was a big discussion about kit instruction before the weekend...it's a good read, if you search for the word "kits" you'll prolly find it...it's not that the kits are bad, nor are the instructions "wrong" they still make beer...but following the info found on places like this, which often is pretty state of the art, makes BETTER beer.

 

[CiscoKid]

There was a big discussion about kit instruction before the weekend...it's a good read, if you search for the word "kits" you'll prolly find it...it's not that the kits are bad, nor are the instructions "wrong" they still make beer...but following the info found on places like this, which often is pretty state of the art, makes BETTER beer.

Thanks for gently nudging me that I'm off topic in the thread.

On topic: I've got a beer that hasn't bubbled now since day 4 as far as I can tell (currently on day 9 in primary)... Meanwhile the one next to it has been going crazy since about 48 hours after pitching. I'm not worried about either one of them and will check on them in a couple of weeks.