Hey all, first time doing anything whatsoever for home brewing. Bought a festa brew red ale kit. Did instructions to the letter and curious if attached looks right? The airlok has looked like this the whole time, has never actually been actively bubbling. Pictures are taken roughly 60 hours after started.
Festa Brew Red Ale Question
- Thread starter Jmacd16
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It looks fine from what I can see. It appears that the fermentation is just starting with a little bit of krausen on top the beer. That is a little slower of a start than most of my beers but I may have pitched more and fresher yeast that you got in your kit. You also might be trying to ferment in slightly cooler than optimal temperatures. If the fermentation takes off like mine would, the airlock would start bubbling but even if it doesn't, so long as you added yeast and have the fermenter in a reasonable temperature you will make beer.
VikeMan
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Blowing up your picture... you've already had a significant krausen, which has fallen. Attenuation may already be finished, or close to finished. If you never had any bubbling through the airlock, your fermenter lid or stopper had a less than perfect seal, allowing CO2 to escape that way, bypassing the airlock.
VikeMan
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It looks fine. Stable gravity and no off flavors should be the signal to keg, not the calendar. That said, 14 days for an ale is typically (more than) long enough.
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Looks fine to me also. The very active part of fermentation is over with in 24 to 36 hours once the yeast get to work. And that for me is usually 6 to 12 hours after pitching that they begin their job. So you may not ever notice a bubble in the airlock once that's over and done with.
And those screw on lids may not seal as well as many think they do. I've pretty much relegated air lock bubbles as only having entertainment value. And it's been a while since any have entertained me.
I don't recommend getting in a hurry to bottle the beer. Leave it in the FV for at least the full 14 days even if you did reach FG today. The longer you leave it the more stuff that will fall out of suspension and give you a cleaner clearer beer.
I have gone 6 weeks in the primary FG and had one of my best tasting beers that had that very crisp look when held up to the light.
And those screw on lids may not seal as well as many think they do. I've pretty much relegated air lock bubbles as only having entertainment value. And it's been a while since any have entertained me.
I don't recommend getting in a hurry to bottle the beer. Leave it in the FV for at least the full 14 days even if you did reach FG today. The longer you leave it the more stuff that will fall out of suspension and give you a cleaner clearer beer.
I have gone 6 weeks in the primary FG and had one of my best tasting beers that had that very crisp look when held up to the light.
