Missed fermentation?????

[Landfill]

Hey Guys, Just recently brewed my first batch from a Brewers Best kit, a Imperial Stout. I hydrated and pitched my yeast as per the instruction. Watched it pretty closely for two days and didn't notice any action in the airlock. I read as many posts as I could about fermenting so I wouldn't have to ask for advice. I read that sometimes fermentation could have happened without seing bubbles in the airlock. So I went ahead and took a hydrometer reading and it was at the FG for the recipe. Can I transfer to a seccondary now or should I follow the 1,2,3. Its only been three days in the primary. Sorry to bother you guys but I really want the first batch to be a winner. Thanks alot

 

[kaplanfx]

Hey Guys, Just recently brewed my first batch from a Brewers Best kit, a Imperial Stout. I hydrated and pitched my yeast as per the instruction. Watched it pretty closely for two days and didn't notice any action in the airlock. I read as many posts as I could about fermenting so I wouldn't have to ask for advice. I read that sometimes fermentation could have happened without seing bubbles in the airlock. So I went ahead and took a hydrometer reading and it was at the FG for the recipe. Can I transfer to a seccondary now or should I follow the 1,2,3. Its only been three days in the primary. Sorry to bother you guys but I really want the first batch to be a winner. Thanks alot

If the FG is correct, the fermentation has taken place. I recommend holding off on transferring to secondary just yet. It doesn't hurt to leave the beer in primary on the yeast cake. In fact the yeast, after fermentation, will spend some time cleaning up other things in your beer that can lead to off flavors. Time and patience are key in brewing.

-kap

 

[carnevoodoo]

I would leave it another 8-10 days MINIMUM in the primary. I'd bet 5 bucks you're fermenting in a bucket, and your seal wasn't as tight as you might have imagined and everything escaped that way.

As for the 1-2-3 method, I don't think anyone more advanced follows that anymore. With a beer like a RIS, you want to give it more time. I'd go a couple of weeks in primary. If you want to secondary, you can, but it isn't necessary. And then, I'd say 3-4 weeks in bottles before you try the first one.

What were your temperatures like and what yeast did you use? I'm also thinking you fermented pretty warm to get to that gravity in a few days on a RIS.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

You could......

Wait another two days and check gravity again. If nothing has changed then it should be safe to go to bottle.

or

Exercise yourself in patience and follow the 1-2-3 rule. Yeast may look done and read done but they are still working through their phases and cleaning house.

Two very simple things took my beer from subpar to expected. Patience and temp control.

 

[Landfill]

Do I have to worry about contamination now that the fermentation apperars to have stopped? I will leave it in there as long as I have to. I have plenty of patience and plenty of store bought micro's to pass the time. Thanks for the help

 

[kaplanfx]

Do I have to worry about contamination now that the fermentation apperars to have stopped? I will leave it in there as long as I have to. I have plenty of patience and plenty of store bought micro's to pass the time. Thanks for the help

CO2 is heavier than air. The yeast will have produced CO2 as a result of fermentation. The CO2 will sit in the fermenter above the beer in the empty space and act as a barrier to anything outside (plus you have an lid and an airlock on there right?). Just make sure you don't disturb the beer or you could lose that useful CO2 layer.

-kap

 

[Landfill]

Sounds good. Thanks alot for the quick advice, it's greatly appreciated.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Do I have to worry about contamination now that the fermentation apperars to have stopped? I will leave it in there as long as I have to. I have plenty of patience and plenty of store bought micro's to pass the time. Thanks for the help

I won't blur the truth. It is possible but not likely. Post fermentation you'd have to be pretty blatent to infect the batch. As in, leave the lid off, sneeze on it, whatever.

I generally let my beer stay in primary for a month and then skip secondary.

If nothing else, and if you can, maybe find a high (chest level)spot for it to live for the next couple weeks (out of light) and move it. That way anything that kicked up can settle out before racking. Your beer will be clearer and you will still have plenty of yeast in suspension to carb with.

 

[Pivzavod]

My batch #2 and #3 show 0 airlock activity. Trust your hydrometer over anything else.