I have a problem

[BikerGuy]

I've been brewing extract for a few years, and never really had any trouble. About a month ago though, I went out and purchased a new conical fermenter. Since then I have ruined one batch of beer, and I'm VERY concerned about my second.

I felt pretty dumb after the first batch died, a O-Ring fell off of the oval trap door (for checking SG I guess), so when aggressive fermentation stopped, who knows what got into there, but it was ugly!

Anyways, I'm 24 hrs into my second batch being in the fermenter, and my Air Lock is not bubbling....I know the liquid yeast I used said 5-15 hours, but it's normally pretty quick.

I decided to take a peek into the fermenter to see if the process had started, and it looks foamy on top, so I'm assuming it's fermented some. But I don't know if it's stopped, or even if it ever started for sure. I'm going to have to check the current SG against the OG, but i'm thinking that my fermenter is leaking somewhere. After i decided it was a leak, checked the main seal, that around the pressure releif valve, and the big one around the ovil trapdoor, and the seals look good.

Ideas? I'm using the Blichmann 14.5 gal conical fermenter if you were wondering. I'm just perplexed.

Thanks in advance for the help

 

[munche]

If there's foam where there was once none that sounds like it's fermenting to me. I wouldn't muck around checking the gravity for at least a week, probably more like 2.

 

[thethirsty1]

24 hours isnt that long in the primary to be worried about active fermentation (assuming air lock activity) and it is early for you to start worrying about gravity readings your fermenter may have a leak (may not) I have had no air lock activity for a few days after I pitched this is normal give it a little time also while your beer is fermenting you are producing carbon dioxide which is pushing out of your fermentor its pretty hard to get something in your beer such as a infection as long as you were clean and sanitized everything that came in contact with your beer you should be just fine

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

How big is the batch, and how much yeast did you pitch?

 

[bullinachinashop]

^ +1
If this is a 11 or 12 gal batch, you should have made a big starter and then ramped it up again to get close to the proper pitching rate.

More info please.

 

[BikerGuy]

Actually I'm doing 5Gal batches until I make sure i can get this AG right. It was also my first try with liquid yeast. I pitched one vial that the home brew shop told me (as said on the label) was appropriate for 5gal batches.

In the past when I used dry yeast, I always added it to some water, and warmed it up prior to pitching, but the vial said to just stir it in, and that's what I did.

For those that were curious, I haven't checked the OG against the SG yet, because I wasn't sure if after a day it would show a noticeable difference (especially with no bubbles in the airlock), but I was thinking that would probably be the only way to tell if the batch is stuck. I did peek in though, and there appears to be foam on the top (that wasn't present before)

I was curious if maybe the gas is just escaping through the blow off valve, but it is suppose to take 3lbs of pressure before it lifts, and I figured the gasses would escape through the airlock first. Last (REAL BAD) batch bubbled...

Thanks for the input, keep it coming

 

[Duffer]

Yeah, I'd let it ride for a while more. You could have some minor leaks but once the yeasties get into high gear, you might see airlock movement.... but you may not still if the leak is big enough. THAT'S not necessarily a prob tho!

Remember that some breweries ferment 'open'! No seal of cover at all. The more you fiddle with it tho the more likely a contaminant could get in so as long as it's covered and the temp is not crazy cold.....

Relax. Have a brew.

 

[BikerGuy]

Okay, so this morning I feel much better. The air lock is bubbling like crazy, maybe 2 times per second!

I'm still a little concerned that it took this long to start (around 30 hours). I have never had that issue before, any ideas as to what may have caused it? I aerated as best as possible (Cold) by running the wort pretty violently through a strainer and splashing it into the fermenter. It has never given me trouble in the past. Do i need to do something different with the liquid yeast?

 

[bullinachinashop]

A vial of yeast should be made into a starter. Your lag time was your yeast reproducing and getting to the proper amount. There are many theads on making a starter.

Sounds like everything is going fine now, but keep an eye on your temp. You want to keep it below 70 if you can. Closer to 65 would be optimal.

Good luck,

Bull

 

[Homercidal]

If the conical was big enough for 10 gallons, and you are only doing 5 now (am I reading this right?) Then the reason the airlock wasn't going right away was because it took longer to pressurize the headspace of the fermenter.

Foam on top is usually a good sign of fermentation. So is sniffing the fermenter and getting a CO2 burn up the nose.

How did the first batch taste? A missing O-ring *might* not have introduced anything that would cause a bad batch.