Newbie question

[MGMorden]

Ok guys, I've come here looking for a few pointers.

I recently (Sunday night) setup my first batch of beer. I did a Honey Kolsch extract recipe with a dry yeast.

The ONLY other alchoholic beverage I've ever done at home before is a few batches of mead which I did with clear water jugs with ballons (hole poked in them) instead of airlocks - all of those bubbled pretty furiously for nearly two weeks.

My beer's fermentation hasn't been nearly as impressive, which leads me to worry if something is wrong. Everything seemed to be ok - I let it cool to 80 degrees before adding the yeast and took an initial hydrometer reading of 1.052 (if I did it right). The only screwup I made (to my knowledge) was that I accidentally dropped the rubber grommet from the lid into the batch when I was putting on the airlock (3 piece). I had an extra handy so I just left the other one in there and figured I'd retrieve it after I transferred to the bottling bucket eventually.

Anyways, the day after I set the brew up the airlock was bubbling, but just a little. Seemed to be a bubble every 10 seconds or so. Day 2 it had gotten a bit faster - bubble every 6 seconds (though that still doesn't seem very aggressive), but by day 3 the bubbles had REALLY slowed - a bubble about every 30 seconds or so. This evening (day 4), I don't even see the airlock bubbling at all. If I push on the lid of the bucket some air will bubble out, but that's about it. It doesn't do anything on it's own.

Does this sound normal?

Thanks for any advice offered.

 

[Dunerunner]

What yeast? What fermentation temperature? Just because the airlock isn't showing any activity doesn't mean the yeast have quit. Honey is a slow fermenter.

 

[jafo28]

I've had airlocks stop bubbling in four days. It doesn't mean it's done or stuck. The only real way to tell is by taking gravity readings. You took one at the start which is good. What I would do is wait a couple of days and take a reading then wait a couple more days and take another. If it's still dropping it's still fermenting. Either way I would leave it in the primary for at least three more weeks, this will give the yeast time to clean up after themselves and make great beer.

 

[BillyRaygun]

What I would do is wait a couple of days and take a reading then wait a couple more days and take another.

How do check the gravity during the fermentation process using a glass carboy for the primary and secondary?

 

[MGMorden]

What yeast? What fermentation temperature? Just because the airlock isn't showing any activity doesn't mean the yeast have quit. Honey is a slow fermenter.

Safale US-05. I'm keeping it in the house - should be 72-78 degrees.

 

[jafo28]

Use one of these,http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=1227 then put the sample in the container your hydrometer came in. Do not put the sample back in your fermenting beer. Also make sure you sanitize prior to putting the thief in your beer.

 

[BillyRaygun]

Use one of these,http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=1227 then put the sample in the container your hydrometer came in. Do not put the sample back in your fermenting beer. Also make sure you sanitize prior to putting the thief in your beer.

Sweet! Thank you.

 

[JuanKenobi]

US-05 is a notorious fast fermenter. You may simply have missed the peak of activity when then airlock would have been going insane (airlock activity is not an acurate indicator of fermentation, but usually at the peak it's going crazy). And at 72 degrees your on the high end of your yeasts temperature range which will cause the yeasts to be more active (and ferment faster) than if you were fermenting at the low end of the range (58-64ish in this case). I'd say most likely the bulk of your fermentation is complete. Take your gravity readings as others have suggested and then give the beer a couple more weeks to finish doing its thing and you'll be good.

 

[ThePearsonFam]

Sounds like you had a fairly good fermentation. I routinely have my airlock slow significantly after 3 or 4 days...

Now, you are bound to read this over and over on here, so be prepared...

---> Airlock activity is not necessarily a reliable indicator of fermentation activity. The only reliable means to determine if your fermentation is 'complete' is by measuring the gravity. Even after you have a stable FG, the yeast are still working on complex compounds and will help improve the final taste of your beer.

I leave the beer in my fermenter for 3-4 weeks, longer for stronger brews.

 

[MGMorden]

Yep, looks like I was being overly paranoid . Took me till today to make it into town to pickup a turkey baster so that I could pull out a sample. Current specific gravity is 1.004. Both were taken at room temperature (around 70 degrees) so after applying the corrections it looks like I'm around 6.4% ABV, which sounds about right.

Just gonna let it sit now. I'm hoping to have this batch ready for drinking on Memorial Day weekend, so my plan is to let it sit 4 more weeks and then bottle and let it sit in the bottles till then. Now I just gotta plan on what to do next. Already thinking I might upgrade from the "Ale Pail" to a real carboy for the next run.

Thanks for the help guys!