My First Batch Might Be Stalled...

[Neomich]

I think my first batch might be stalled. I'm making AHS Belgium Wit. I only used the smack-pack liquid yeast that came with it with no starter. The activity took off real quick though. It was in the primary by around 7 or 8:00 pm Sunday and when I woke up the next morning (Monday), the airlock was bubbling every couple seconds. I checked it again yesterday morning, last night and again this morning and didn't see any activity in the airlock. I tried to swirl around the bucket a bit this morning before leaving for work so I'll see if it helped later tonight. I'll keep swirling till later this week.

Otherwise, I might re-pitch some re-hydrated yeast in a couple days, maybe Friday or Saturday. I'll check the hydrometer and see what progress has been made Friday afternoon before deciding on a course of action.

I'm not too worried right now, most people say it's hard to really ruin a batch anyways. I'll have some patience and see how it goes, it sounds like it can be re-started if it really is an issue.

 

[malkore]

what's the temperature like inside the fermenter?
what was your original gravity?

if the gravity was low (like, under 1.050) and your fermentation temperature is 70F or above, it will ferment quickly.

take a hydro reading and see if you're close to your target. the airlock isn't how you know its 'done'...the hydro reading is the way to know. 3 days in a row of consistent gravity that's close to the estimated final gravity is a winner.

also, every beer should be in primary at least one week.

 

[TexLaw]

I agree with Malkore. Measure your gravity before you go through the expense, mess, and risk of pitching dry yeast. I expect you are fine, except for a healty case of the first batch jitters.

Fermentation can go faster than you think. I brewed an extract batch, OG~1.065 on Sunday night. Monday night, I was getting about 3 bubbles per second. This morning, maybe a bubble every 5-10 seconds. I fermented at 68F with a highly flocculant yeast, and I'm not worried.


TL

 

[Neomich]

I don't think I used enough water to bring my total volume to a full 5 gallons. My OG was 1.057. Also, I had misplaced my thermometer when cooling off and pouring all the wort into the bucket so I'm not sure what my exact temperature was. I found it finally but I had already put the yeast in so I just left it alone.

I know, these are newbie mistakes that I won't make again. I'll take a gravity reading tonight and see where it's at. Maybe it is done and I just need to let it be for a while.

 

[BierMuncher]

1) Get a hydrometer reading now. I've had beers ferment out completely in as little as 36 hours.

B) If you used a wit yeast, stalled fermentations can be caused by the thick krausen along the fermenter wall holding on to a lot of yeast. I've had it happen where virtually all of my yeast ended up getting "beached" on the walls of the fermenter. Keep give the beer a gentle swirl to knock that yeast back down into the beer.

4) Don't pitch any more yeast...at least until you're absolutely positively sure you need to.

 

[Neomich]

There is some thick krausen in there so maybe it did trap all the yeast. I used Wyeast 3944 Belgian Wit. I'll go home tonight and give it a good swirl to see if that helps. And, I'll take a hydrometer reading while I'm at it.

I didn't get a very accurate OG reading but I'll have a pretty good idea where it's at considering only 3 days have gone by. Maybe it is already done!

 

[Neomich]

Hey thanks for the advice. This morning I gave the fermenter a healthy swirl to try and clear off the krausen from the sides and stir up the yeast. I just checked it and I had another nice thick layer of krausen on it when I got home just a moment ago. My hydrometer reading is down to 1.030 now and it seems like the fermentation picked up. I'll check it again Saturday evening to see how it's doing.

The color was looking good and it smells more like a beer now. I think my first batch will turn out nicely. I'm glad I came across this forum, otherwise I think I'd be very worried.

Time to crack open a Pyramid Hefe, got to get my bottles from somewhere.

Steve

 

[OblivionsGate]

Glad its working out for you.

I've had similar problems and one of the posters here had it on the money, if your temp for fermentation is around 70 (like mine is) you can "finish" fermentation in 24 to 36 hours depending on the beer.

I would suggest for safety and beer quality leaving it in the primary for at least a week or so even if the FG is reached before moving to secondary.

 

[Neomich]

My fermenting temp is probably around 70. I had just used the liquid yeast pack without a starter and I think it has just taken a little longer to build up the yeast in there to do a good job.

This morning the krausen was coming out of the airlock and I had to quickly rig up a blowoff before heading out to work. I think I'm done messing with that little plastic airlock, I'll be using a blowoff from now on.

I'm still going to leave it in primary for at least two weeks total, maybe a few days longer if the schedule gets a little busy. I'll be using my secondary for some of that Apfelwein this weekend. I might do another Hefe after this one since my glass carboy will be busy with that for a while and the Hefe's get done a little sooner than others.

 

[BierMuncher]

Not uncommon for that yeast strain to do an "encore" fermentation.