Newbie fermentation woes

[TurboYeast]

I am now on my fourth day of my pale ale in the primary fermenter and have not had a single bubble come from the airlock. I used california liquid yeast. The bucket is being stored in a very dark closet with temps right at 70 F. Should i be getting worried>?? TIA

 

[BendBrewer]

Make sure your lid and everything is sealed tight. You could crack open the lid and look for visible signs. That might set your mind at ease.

My last 10 gallon batch was showing no activity after 3 days. Then I realized I was looking at a 10 gallon batch that had been fermenting for 3 weeks. (Got them switched around in my head.) Then I noticed one of the other 2 fermenters was bubbling. WTF?

Made sure everything was tight and sealed. This morning, still no bubbles in the one. That's when I noticed I forgot the internal piece of my air lock...........It's bubbling now.

 

[TurboYeast]

Yeah, i mean i cracked open the lid and from the looks of it, it seems to be ferementing but still no bubbles. I will double check again for cracks in the lid. Thanks!

 

[Yambor44]

I am now on my fourth day of my pale ale in the primary fermenter and have not had a single bubble come from the airlock. I used california liquid yeast. The bucket is being stored in a very dark closet with temps right at 70 F. Should i be getting worried>?? TIA

Can you smell any CO2 in the closet when you open the door? You can also remove the airlock for a quick peak as well to check on activity.

 

[Kaz]

Ya, I just pitched into a 5 gallon APA on Saturday. It was in a clear better bottle, so I could see it was fermenting like crazy but my airlock never really bubbled, the CO2 was getting out somewhere else. I agree...pop the lid and take a peak, if you see krausen then all is good.

 

[JLW]

Lack of bubbles doesn"t necessarily mean that fermentation is not happening. The only way you will know is to open up the fermentor and take a hydrometer reading. I have a friend that that has a slight leak and almost never gets bubbling and his equipment is only a couple of months old.

 

[TurboYeast]

Pardon my ignorance but what exactly is krausen??

 

[Revvy]

Pardon my ignorance but what exactly is krausen??

Krausen is the ugly pile of yeast at the top of the beer.

Something to realize- Airlock bubbling ALWAYS slows down...I don't know why new brewers always worry about it. But don't do anything. The beer's fine...

Airlock activity is irrevelent. Just gravity points on a hydrometer.

Airlock bubbling (or lack) and fermentation are not the same thing. Neither is the rate of bubbling corresponding to rate of fermentation.

You have to separate that from your mindset. Airlock bubbling can be a sign of fermentation, but not a good one, because the airlock will often blip or not blip for various other reasons...so it is a tenuous connection at best.

Fermentation is not always "dynamic," just because you don't SEE anything happening, doesn't mean that any-thing's wrong,, and also doesn't mean that the yeast are still not working diligently away, doing what they've been doing for over 4,000 years.

That's why you need to take a gravity reading to know how your fermentation is going, NOT go by airlocks, or size of krausen, or a calendar, the horoscope or the phases of the moon (those things in my mind are equally accurate).

The most important tool you can use is a hydrometer. It's the only way you will truly know when your beer is ready...airlock bubbles and other things are faulty.

The only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in....

Don't think ever about doing anything like adding more yeast without taking a gravity reading.

 

[TurboYeast]

I think it should be fermenting fine because from what you described, there is amble krausen on the top...

 

[beerkrump]

I think it should be fermenting fine because from what you described, there is amble krausen on the top...

It's mutated and it's coming to get you!!!

 

[TurboYeast]

hahaha yeah i meant ample....serious typo!!!