Hey All!! So I did my first brew of an English Brown Ale sat night. Is it normal for my original gravity to be slightly higher than where it now?? Also, looks like the fermentation has settles at bottom just fine but my airlock doesn’t seem “overly” active. Should I be concerned?? I’ll post pics in case that helps!!
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kinnebrewer
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Would you mind repeating this question?
If you did it last Saturday, the vigorous fermentation could be done or close to done. That's why the activity in the airlock could be mellowing out. Doesn't mean fermentation is done though! Your fermentation temperature and yeast strain can also play airlock activity as well. Since you did an English Brown Ale, I imagine you used some form of English Ale strain and are fermenting slightly on the cool side. I would expect these conditions to produce a somewhat strong, active fermentation at first, followed by a slower, steady fermentation until completion.
Congrats on your first brew day!
Original gravity: if you're using extract, it's not uncommon for gravity readings to be off because of imperfect mixing. Not a big deal.
What's settled to the bottom is trub: hop particles and grain proteins, stuff you don't want in the finished beer. Since it's at the bottom, you can rack (remove) the beer off of it easily.
The airlock is a poor indicator of fermentation. Especially with buckets, a small leak in the lid seal means the CO2 escapes there rather than through the airlock. Also not a big deal! In a day or three you'll see krausen, which is the frothy yeast mixture that forms on top of the beer during active fermentation.
Main thing now is not to touch it! Leave the fermenter closed and resist the urge to peek.
Edit: missed the "sat night" part. If it's been a few days the krausen has probably been and gone. As kinnebrewer says, you may well be nearly done. But leave it alone for at least a week, or more.
Original gravity: if you're using extract, it's not uncommon for gravity readings to be off because of imperfect mixing. Not a big deal.
What's settled to the bottom is trub: hop particles and grain proteins, stuff you don't want in the finished beer. Since it's at the bottom, you can rack (remove) the beer off of it easily.
The airlock is a poor indicator of fermentation. Especially with buckets, a small leak in the lid seal means the CO2 escapes there rather than through the airlock. Also not a big deal! In a day or three you'll see krausen, which is the frothy yeast mixture that forms on top of the beer during active fermentation.
Main thing now is not to touch it! Leave the fermenter closed and resist the urge to peek.
Edit: missed the "sat night" part. If it's been a few days the krausen has probably been and gone. As kinnebrewer says, you may well be nearly done. But leave it alone for at least a week, or more.
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It was this pst Saturday as in three days ago.
pvtpublic
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Yes, its probably due to the co2 bubbles attaching to the sides of the hydrometer and making it more buoyant. I wouldn't worry about taking a reading for a while. Let it hang out for three weeks to finish fully fermenting, and when you're bottling/kegging, take a sample then. When you do, spin your hydrometer so it shakes of any bubbles that may throw off your reading.
Nope, let it do its thing. What temperature are you letting it ferment at?
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kinnebrewer
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Right, that's what I was thinking. Still, as @pvtpublic said, I wouldn't be concerned. Yeast and their fermentation activity differ from strain to strain. Some are more active, while others are more "slow and steady wins the race."
Also, piggy-backing on @pvtpublic remarks on spinning the hydrometer to get a gravity reading, it might also be a good idea to "de-gas" your sample, which as the name suggests, releases the dissolved CO2 in the solution, which would make the hydrometer more buoyant and throw off the final reading.
The original gravity is going to be your highest reading. As your beer ferments and the yeast consume the sugar, the gravity will continue to drop until all the available sugars are consumed by the yeast. Once this happens, the yeast will go dormant and drop to the bottom of the fermenter. Typically this can happen in 3-4 days, but any remaining yeast in suspension will continue to clean up your beer. This could take 2 - 3 weeks, but it's really a matter or patience and personal preference.
I wouldn't be concerned. Leave it alone for another week or two and then start taking gravity readings. When you have consecutive days of no gravity drop, you're done and ready to package.
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I'd highly recommend putting it somewhere out of sight and out of mind. It only needs to be somewhere that is within the ideal temp range of the yeast you used and the temperature is fairly stable with no fast and/or large swings.
Then after about 2 weeks you can peek at it and get a SG sample. 3 days after that take another SG and see if they agree and also compare to the expected FG if the recipe gave one. If the SG is still falling then it's not finished. But 2 weeks is usually plenty.
Next up for your consideration is if the beer is cleared up. If not, I'd wait till it is. Might be tomorrow, might be another 3 weeks. Or you can do things like cold crash or other stuff.
Then bottle or keg. Allow to condition and drink when at it's best. Sometimes beer at just 2 weeks conditioning isn't so great. Another week or two even a month or months might make it great.
Airlocks only have entertainment value and they do allow gas to escape just in case your lid does actually seal airtight. Many don't. The only way to easily assess fermentation is by taking SG readings. I have beers that never see a bubble in the airlock. Yet they pretty much finish all but the last 2 or 3 points of SG (0.001 = point) in just 2 or 3 days from pitching.
Then after about 2 weeks you can peek at it and get a SG sample. 3 days after that take another SG and see if they agree and also compare to the expected FG if the recipe gave one. If the SG is still falling then it's not finished. But 2 weeks is usually plenty.
Next up for your consideration is if the beer is cleared up. If not, I'd wait till it is. Might be tomorrow, might be another 3 weeks. Or you can do things like cold crash or other stuff.
Then bottle or keg. Allow to condition and drink when at it's best. Sometimes beer at just 2 weeks conditioning isn't so great. Another week or two even a month or months might make it great.
Airlocks only have entertainment value and they do allow gas to escape just in case your lid does actually seal airtight. Many don't. The only way to easily assess fermentation is by taking SG readings. I have beers that never see a bubble in the airlock. Yet they pretty much finish all but the last 2 or 3 points of SG (0.001 = point) in just 2 or 3 days from pitching.
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So I’m using the
Thanks!! So I’m using the tilt floating hydrometer. Right now it’s says it’s 65 degrees!
thanks so much!!
Aha, a Tilt! Tilts can do funny things when they get yeast or other gunk on them. A Tilt is pretty good measuring the original gravity, but more often than not is a few points off after fermentation starts. I have indeed seen gravity go up with a Tilt.
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There's lots of tech out there, I think it's best to keep it simple and not use the fancy tech so early in your brew career. In other words, learn the process without using the fancy tech, because one day (i know a guy who knows from experience
) the fancy tech will fail, and you'll be scrambling trying to google for answers on how to take measurements, adjustments, etc., manually without the tech!
There's lots of tech out there, I think it's best to keep it simple and not use the fancy tech so early in your brew career. In other words, learn the process without using the fancy tech, because one day (i know a guy who knows from experience
) the fancy tech will fail, and you'll be scrambling trying to google for answers on how to take measurements, adjustments, etc., manually without the tech!
