First time brewing airlock scare.

[Arunk91]

Hello everyone! I'm a first time brewer. Following this recipehttp://https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/5-day-sweet-country-cider-265986/

For the first day everything was going well. 24 hours in I had bubbles every 10 seconds. After taking a hydrometer reading I was down to 1.060 from my OG 1.070. After putting the lid back on I haven't had ANY activity in the airlock in another 24 hours. I took another gravity reading, and I'm down another 10 to 1.050 so I'd say it's making great progress. That being said I still have no airlock activity. I looked around the edges of the bucket, and lid. (I'm using a brand new BSG 5 gallon bucket.) So there is definitely fermentation going on. I'm concerned there is an air leak in the bucket. I noticed a bit of black stringy bits of plastic that appear to be left over from what I would assume is Injection molding of the bucket lid that I thought might be killing the seal. I have put the lid back on, and no activity. Is it possible that my brew just isn't off gassing? Is it certainly a leak?

Suggestions?

 

[lgilmore]

I guess after going to the link I would have to ask why would you try a risky one like this?

Most ciders, the longer the better. 5 days to bottle? lots of risks.

Keep in mind, the more you open and mess with this, the greater the potential for problems.

If the bucket is leaking out the seal, really no worry as it's pushing out. The thing is, every time you open, you let O2 in. I think you may be headed to bottle bomb land if you're not very careful.

good luck. I think next time look deeper into cider recipes and consider another choice.

 

[Arunk91]

I guess after going to the link I would have to ask why would you try a risky one like this?

Most ciders, the longer the better. 5 days to bottle? lots of risks.

Keep in mind, the more you open and mess with this, the greater the potential for problems.

If the bucket is leaking out the seal, really no worry as it's pushing out. The thing is, every time you open, you let O2 in. I think you may be headed to bottle bomb land if you're not very careful.

good luck. I think next time look deeper into cider recipes and consider another choice.

I intended on making mistakes. I have learned a lot in the short time I have been working on this. Starting anything new I welcome mistakes. For example...next time I'll check the seal on my bucket before starting lol. I didn't want to spend too much time on something I wasn't sure I could pull off. With what I have learned in this short amount of time I'm certain that my next attempt will be considerably better. I'll be keeping a close eye on my bottles during carb, and will be pasteurizing as soon as I get to a reasonable carb level. I appreciate the advice. :rockin:

 

[Pickled_Pepper]

Thats the spirit! As long as you are diligent and understand the process, then most recipes are obtainable. It sounds like you understand the "bottle bomb" issue so congrats on your first batch.

As for the lack of airlock activity, to me, it does sound like an air leak. Push down on the lid of the bucket and see if it causes the liquid in the airlock to rise. You might also hear air escaping in other areas if there's a leak in the lid.

As long as the gravity is dropping, I wouldn't worry about it too much. I know it's hard, but lgilmore is right, try having some patience and don't mess with it too much. Hey, we all handled our first batches more that we should. Anyone who says they didn't take a lot of gravity readings on their first batch is...lying!

 

[EpicCider]

It sounds like your seal might be bad, but it also sounds like you are checking it a lot. Regardless you should have some activity if you seal it back up (relatively fast).

Keep it up though.

 

[RPCidery]

The lids on my fermenters don't seal very tight at all. As such, I don't even bother with an airlock. Just a sanitized paper towel over the hole and a weight to keep the lid down.

 

[lgilmore]

As you go into pasturizing... read the sticky on this forum completely on it. Wear safety glasses and long selves and gloves as you work. You may have several pop as you pasturize the bottles. When I've done it, a couple have popped including a couple bottles that have jumped about 2 feet above the pot.

I sorta agree with you on newbie mistakes, but one real advantage of this forum is it is a wealth of information on mistakes and fixes. I read through a ton of posts on topics even before I started my first batch. Also have to say Midwest's FAQ was a great place for information. Keep reading especially about problems, because with every problem posted you'll usually find a good way to prevent it from happening to you.