Fermentation can take 24 to 72 hrs to show visible signs.

[bottomofthebarrel]

not sure if this has been asked but, does fermentation still take 24-72 hours to start even if you pitched a starter?

also, from what i'm reading here, the only way to know if you are fermenting is with a hyrdo reading.
but, i'm really in the camp of not poking and proding my beer constently.

all i want is for it to start so i can stop being nervous.

 

[Shoegaze99]

not sure if this has been asked but, does fermentation still take 24-72 hours to start even if you pitched a starter?

Not typically, but it's possible. It would be unusual for there to be a 72-hour delay if you pitched a good starter, however, since it can happen it still pays to be patient.

No need to check it repeatedly. If after three or four days you see no visible signs of activity, maybe five, take a reading. If you've got some movement in your gravity, even just a little, walk away from the beer. Come back in a couple of weeks. If none, then consider your next step.

 

[realjd]

So I brewed my second batch of beer last Sunday. I ordered a kit from Austin Homebrew and it came with Wyeast London ESB 1968. Following their instructions, I let the yeast warm up for 12 hours, then smacked it 3 hours before I brewed. Everything went fine; my gravity ended up being 60, right on target (not surprising for an extract brew!). I went to pitch the yeast and it didn't look very inflated. This was my first time using liquid yeast so I wasn't sure how much it would actually balloon up, but the package said it's fine even if it doesn't fully inflate, so I pitched it.

48 hours passed, no airlock activity. I opened it up to check the gravity and I see no evidence of a krausen, absolutely nothing floating on the surface (doesn't ale yeast float?), and the gravity is still exactly 60. Does the lack of floating yeast indicate that it was bad, or does it not float until it starts working?

I didn't even think to make a starter since the package and the AHS instructions didn't make it sound like I needed to. I'll remember to in the future. Their instructions said to call if there's no activity after 48 hours so I'll call today when they open.

 

[MNHopHead]

Under what conditions can fermentation take 24 to 72 hours to show visible signs?

I made a 3 gallon batch of some brown ale (Palmer's grain bill) last night in my new 10-gallon cooler system. I directly pitched 1 cup of 4th generation 1084 sludge that I had been harvesting from, well, 3 different batches. 12 hours later, no visible signs of fermentation. Could it be that the sludge needs more time to dispense and acclimate? I only aerated through a fine mesh filter thing, I'm thinking this could be contributing to the long lag.

Any other thoughts? Are my thoughts on the right track?

Cheers!

 

[Motor_City_Brewer87]

Not sure if this is a problem or not since this is my first brew.

Made my first batch monday night and pitched the yeast around 11:30pm
Woke up the next morning and had some activity in my air lock, when I cam home from work there was rapid bubbling tuesday afternoon.
Wednesday comes around and the bubbling began to slow, it is now thursday and my airlock is at almost a copmplete stand still.

Any thoughts? Is everything going ok? and could this be because I only have 4 gallons fermenting in a 5 gallon fermenter?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated since this is my first batch.

Recipe is brewers best American Pale Ale by the way.

 

[thornton33]

I've got a question on the opposite end of the spectrum; I pitched and saw normal results within twelve hours. I've got a temp controller on my fridge so I periodically peak on it when I get up in the morning and home after work. The first two days I had bubbles every five seconds or so. Day three it slowed to around ever fifteen seconds. Day four, I don't see any bubbles in the airlock (although I don't stand there and watch for several minutes at a time). My reason for concern is I'm using an Irish Ale yeast (Wyeast 1084) with ideal ferm temps ranging from 62-72 degrees. I'm trying to replicate another batch, and that one was kept around 60 degrees on average (a little low). I'm doing the same thing, but I don't want the fermentation to stall. What do you guys think? BTW, the first batch was a raging success.

 

[thornton33]

In response to "Motor City Brewer87": Dude, you sound exactly like me on my first batch: it was 4.25-4.5 gallons (I lost water in the boil and only had exactly five gallons on hand). I didn't know it at the time, but I think I was fermenting a little on the low end of the spectrum for my yeast strain. Do you happen to know the ideal ferm temp range for your yeast? My batch turned out spectacular after having the exact same airlock activity as you, so don't worry too much (tough not to worry I know). Also, I racked to secondary and witnessed a revival of airlock activity, which leads me to suspect that the yeast had a little life left for one last push. You may consider racking as well.

 

[rycov]

once fermentation starts it is not uncommon for it to finish within just a few days. or for it to keep going for a long time. it depends on the yeast the temperature the recipe and probably a bunch of other things too.

 

[Motor_City_Brewer87]

Recipe says to keep the temp around 64-72 which was close to impossible since its summer. My brew was about 74-78 the entire time. I don't have a secondary fermenter but I am going to be very patient and let my batch clear before I move to bottling even though the directions say to only let it sit 48 hours after the airlock is done bubbling. Thanks for the advice and can't wait to try my brew.

 

[Nick916]

I'm a little concerned. Brewed my first batch on Thursday night. I followed the directions exactly as the kit explained. 12 hours later the airlock was going crazy, about 30 bubbles a minute. By Saturday morning (about 36 hours after pitching) no activity at all. The fermenter is in a temp controlled fridge at 67 degrees. The beer is an Irish Red Ale. Any thoughts?????

 

[emjay]

I'm a little concerned. Brewed my first batch on Thursday night. I followed the directions exactly as the kit explained. 12 hours later the airlock was going crazy, about 30 bubbles a minute. By Saturday morning (about 36 hours after pitching) no activity at all. The fermenter is in a temp controlled fridge at 67 degrees. The beer is an Irish Red Ale. Any thoughts?????

Sounds perfectly fine to me...

 

[Rivenin]

yep! normal, i wouldn't worry too much about that one. some go for a day or 2, some go for a number of days, all are gonna be different

the last one i did took almost 36 hours to start bubbling, then it went crazy and never stopped for prolly 5-6 days

 

[Dhruv6911]

I got bubbles in ~ 4 hours and it's going about 2bubles/second. I am using the 3 piece air lock and the star san water isnt too high. The temperature is a bit lower, around 65ish. I have the fermentor with a soaked shirt on it in my kettle with water 1/3 up. What's the best way you guys can accurately measure temperature?

 

[StretchBrew]

I'm sitting @ 66 hours with no air lock activity. Now I know that is not the be all end all sign of fermentation, but still it's a pretty good indicator. I know that I have a good seal on the bucket because when I lightly press on lid the airlock moves. On to the nitty-gritty ...

I used Windsor for this brew (long story, had a smack pack and it didn't inflate properly, emergency run to the LHBS for the dry yeast) The temps are sitting around 69-71 degrees ambient air temps with the fermenter sitting in a swamp cooler. My two questions are as follows:

1) how much longer do I wait before I crack open the fermenter, take a hydro reading and repitching yeast if the SG is the same? (I know the thread is saying it could take 72 hours, but I'm just looking for opinions/reassurance)

2) I would have liked to use an Irish Ale yeast (i'm brewing an irish red) with this brew, but with the bad yeast and lack of time to wait for a liquid yeast from the LHBS to warm up properly, I grabbed the dry yeast ... Could (or should) I buy a vial of WLP004 Irish red and repitch that? What kind of weird flavors would I get if any from mixing Windsor & WLP004?

 

[cookmysock]

Have had my first all grain brew fermenting for nearly 5 days. OG = 1.051. Just took a reading and it was 1.021. I intend leaving it for 2 weeks before bottling. It is quite cold at the moment and the wort temp is 12 deg C (54 F). I have used 10 grams (0.35 oz) Saflager S-23 dry yeast. Brew volume is 13 litres (3.43) gallons and is 100% pale malt grain.

Questions - have I pitched too much yeast? Is it too cold for the yeast to be working properly?

 

[rycov]

that should be enough for a five gallon batch, but I don't think here should be a problem with you using it for less. that shouldn't be too cold for a lager yeast, but I think two weeks sounds like your not giving it enough time

 

[Kevin0778]

New brewer here, what happens if you pitch the yeast at a temperature that is too warm? I think i may have done this in my latest batch and i'm a little concerned. Just not sure.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Josh74]

Many of us have at one time or another had an airlock blow out or a blow over, this has forced us to let others know about "blow tubes". So many first time brewers learn from our mistakes and immediately do blow tubes on their first batch, this can cause no air bubbles from a brew that does not have a vigorous fermentation cycle. Typically you fill a gallon jug of water 1/2 way with sanitized water and stick your 1/2 dia blow tube in it that comes from your modified airlock and presto there is your fail proof airlock for vigorous fermenting beer right? Good but here's why you are not getting bubbles. If the tube is in a half gallon of water and it's all the way at the bottom of the jug there is to much pressure from the water for the CO2 to pass out of a 1/2 dia tube. Fix just pull the tube up till it is covered by an inch of water. I tried this last night and it did it every time, I thought my Dbl IPA was a no go because I saw no activity in 24 hours, I moved the airlock trap or jug in my case and it started bubbling like mad. Anyways just thought I'd share that with you.

 

[rycov]

New brewer here, what happens if you pitch the yeast at a temperature that is too warm? I think i may have done this in my latest batch and i'm a little concerned. Just not sure.

Thanks in advance!

depends on how warm. what was the temperature?

 

[Kevin0778]

depends on how warm. what was the temperature?

Well, honestly i'm not totally sure. The temp on my fermenter bucket goes up to 78 and it was higher than that because it was not showing a reading.

 

[rycov]

pitching warm can lead to off flavors, but hopefully your temperature got down before fermentation started and will minimize the "offness". unless it was too hot (like 110) and it killed the yeast. do you have signs of fermentation yet? have you gotten your temperatures under control? do what you can, but know that whatever you do you will probably still end up with beer. and most likely it will be drinkable, dare i say good beer!

 

[Kevin0778]

pitching warm can lead to off flavors, but hopefully your temperature got down before fermentation started and will minimize the "offness". unless it was too hot (like 110) and it killed the yeast. do you have signs of fermentation yet? have you gotten your temperatures under control? do what you can, but know that whatever you do you will probably still end up with beer. and most likely it will be drinkable, dare i say good beer!

So far, I do not have bubbling in the air lock. Should I open it up and check it out? What happens if it killed the yeast? Thanks for your help!!

 

[rycov]

how long has it been since you pitched? if you did kill your yeast then you just add more and hope you sanitized well. if you haven't given it 72 hours then i would wait. if you have then i would check you SG before acting. once you've checked your SG (and if it hasn't dropped) then i would repitch.

 

[Kevin0778]

how long has it been since you pitched? if you did kill your yeast then you just add more and hope you sanitized well. if you haven't given it 72 hours then i would wait. if you have then i would check you SG before acting. once you've checked your SG (and if it hasn't dropped) then i would repitch.

It's been since Sunday evening. So we're talking about 4 days. I'll check my SG. Thank u for the help.

 

[SwampassJ]

So far, I do not have bubbling in the air lock. Should I open it up and check it out? What happens if it killed the yeast? Thanks for your help!!

If you're in a bucket don't be surprised if you don't have a tight seal on the lid. Open the lid and take a peek inside, if you see strange fluffy **** resembling anything from beer foam, to brain coral you're good and going. If you don't use a santized wine thief or turkey bastor and pull a sample to check the gravity. I get antsy after 36 hours, after 4 days I would be on that bucket like a fat kid on the bench.

 

[Kevin0778]

If you're in a bucket don't be surprised if you don't have a tight seal on the lid. Open the lid and take a peek inside, if you see strange fluffy **** resembling anything from beer foam, to brain coral you're good and going. If you don't use a santized wine thief or turkey bastor and pull a sample to check the gravity. I get antsy after 36 hours, after 4 days I would be on that bucket like a fat kid on the bench.

Here you go, what do you think. To me? As a noob? it looks like it did something right?

 

[emjay]

Yes, because it looks exactly like when the previous night's chili does something to me. Just looking at it is making my bunghole burn.

 

[rycov]

+1
thats gunk on the side is called krausen. it means you have fermentation. enjoy your beer!

 

[edmanster]

looks like its finished too or really close.. i would check the SG and close it up for a couple weeks!!!

 

[NewTexian]

Yes, because it looks exactly like when the previous night's chili does something to me. Just looking at it is making my bunghole burn.

+1