did I screw up my batch?

[chuckster66]

Brewed my first batch, an IPA, had help from a seasoned brewer. Everything was fine, did a total of 10 gallons, came out to just over 8. Two seperate fermentation buckets. Started bubbling away after about 24 hours but noticed one bucket had a bad seal at the lid. I asked my cousin who helped me brew and he said it would be okay, probably. Said if it was a big enough leak, it could oxygenate the beer and make it taste funny. Well, I decided to change buckets to one that had a matched lid that sealed. I sanitized, stirred the beer up to make sure I got all the yeast with it, and dumped to the new bucket. Sealed it up, popped the air lock on and left it. 3 days now, it's not doing anything. No bubbles, no layer on the top like the other bucket has, I took a peek through the airlock hole and it just looks like flat beer. What do I do. Did I kill the yeast? My OG was 1.055, now both buckets are 1.010. Soooo... is it okay? Has only been fermenting one week. Any advise I appreciate.

 

[2thGuy]

If your gravity is at 1.010, then it might be done fermenting already. I would expect too many bubbles (krausen) anymore. I doubt that there was too much oxygen exposure from the bad lid (some European breweries have open fermenters since the CO2 being produced acts as a blanket and protects the beer). I am more worried that the transfer to the new bucket could have exposed the beer to too much oxygen. If you did dump it it might have some oxidized flavors from that (or hopefully the yeast were able to ferment a little after that and use the oxygen up). But overall I think your beer will be fine, will few off flavors if any. If nothing else it's a great experiment to see if the batch you moved tastes different than the one you didn't.

 

[chuckster66]

I thought it might be done too, just seemed too soon. I dunno though, this is my first batch. The other bucket is still bubbling away. It was an all grain with liquid yeast. Well, thanks for the input. Yeah, definitally a good experiment. lol. My buddy said it's a little crazy going all grain right away, now experimenting too. Hah!! Gonna let it go for another week, then add sugar and bottle. Do you think I'll run into problems with carbonation since the bucket isn't bubbling anymore?

 

[DocScott]

You won't have any problems carbonating. One of the most common mistakes people new to brewing make is relying on the airlock as a gauge if fermentation. It is not. All it does as serve as a vent for co2 to leave, and keep o2 out. Sounds like your second bucket didn't have as good of a seal as you thought, and the co2 leaked out a different path rather than the airlock. No big deal though! In any case, with a gravity of 1.010 I can assure you, your beer fermented just fine! Now it's just a matter of if your unnecessary transfer oxidized or not. Congrats on your first brew!

 

[ChshreCat]

One of my fermenters' lids doesn't seal. I don't get a single bubble from the airlock when I use it. The beer comes out just fine and I have no issues with infection or O2 exposure and I've used it for years. Don't sweat it. CO2 pressure will take care of it.

 

[CallsignMigs]

This thread makes me happy. I just made the switch to buckets, and have one of two fresh batches that I was worried about.

Thanks!

 

[chuckster66]

been a week since bottling, both batches carbing just fine. Sampled a couple taste a little weird, cloudy beer. Needs more time to let the yeast drop. Will give ya'll another update in a week.

 

[chuckster66]

all went well with it and surprisingly the batch I was concerned about tastes a little better than the other. Ended up with a final gravity of about 1.005. Pretty good attenuation and about 6.9 abv.

 

[doby]

How about that, the batch you thought could have a problem tastes better, I guess you just never know and its pretty hard to mess beer up.

Anyhow thanks for letting us know

 

[mike_in_ak]

This should be an interesting experiment in RDWHAHB and patience vs not doing those things.

 

[chuckster66]

yep, lessons learned..lol. since I am new to this, someone tell me what RDWHAHB means. I keep seeing it in threads.

 

[kh54s10]

yep, lessons learned..lol. since I am new to this, someone tell me what RDWHAHB means. I keep seeing it in threads.

Relax, don't worry have a homebrew.

I think the worst mistake made here was dumping the beer into a new bucket. I would drink this one very fast as that definitely oxidized the beer.

At 1.010 it was done. The initial leak was less of an issue than the steps taken to fix it.