Newbie's first brew

[greg073185]

This past Saturday I attempted my first brew... The beer is sitting in the fermenter in my dining room but the airlock has stopped bubbling (at least for the 5 min intervals I've been staring at it). What gives? It was bubbling like crazy the day after so I know SOMETHING was working right haha. Do I need to repitch more yeast?

Potential problems I can think of are:
1. I did not have a proper thermometer so I'm sure the wort was cooled before I transferred from the brew pot to the fermenter bucket, but I'm not 100% what temp it was..
2. We just turned the heat on in my house the other day. Before that the average room temp was about 62-64 F.. Is that too cold to ferment? Thanks guys

 

[flars]

Your concern should be is it to warm for a quality fermentation. Best fermentation temperature is about 64° wort temperature. If your room temperature is 68° the wort temperature is probably 73° to 74°. Working yeast produce heat.

The wort in the fermentor should be at the ideal fermentation temperature before you pitch the yeast. A good investment would be a $2 thermo strip to attach to the outside of the fermenting vessel.

 

[BigFloyd]

This past Saturday I attempted my first brew... The beer is sitting in the fermenter in my dining room but the airlock has stopped bubbling (at least for the 5 min intervals I've been staring at it). What gives? It was bubbling like crazy the day after so I know SOMETHING was working right haha. Do I need to repitch more yeast?

Potential problems I can think of are:
1. I did not have a proper thermometer so I'm sure the wort was cooled before I transferred from the brew pot to the fermenter bucket, but I'm not 100% what temp it was..
2. We just turned the heat on in my house the other day. Before that the average room temp was about 62-64 F.. Is that too cold to ferment? Thanks guys

Hopefully, the heat didn't get turned on until the most active phase of fermentation was done. A 62*F room is a decent place to ferment an ale. A 72*F room is not.

Get a thermometer to measure wort temp (ideally low 60's) before pitching. This one is decent and cheap - http://www.amazon.com/Taylor-9842-Commercial-Waterproof-Thermometer/dp/B00009WE45/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1382576240&sr=8-4&keywords=digital+thermometer

 

[greg073185]

Update:


My kit came with a stick on thermometer for the bucket. It's reading at 62*

How often should the airlock be bubbling? Also I've notice there is some condensation on the inside of the airlock on the part that leads into the grommet. Is this normal?

 

[Cider123]

Active bubbling won't last forever. Eventually, it's gonna slow down and stop. The bubbling is not the only sign of fermentation, and as fermentation starts slowing down, you may not have bubbling going on.
I would leave it sit for 1-2 weeks before checking on it. Then take a hydrometer reading. If you are brewing a kit, the instructions should give you a final gravity expectation for your beer. I bet you'll be pretty close to that number because it sounds like you have a normal fermentation taking place. Don't move on to bottling until you final gravity has not changed over a 3 day period.

There is no magic number for airlock bubbling. Don't worry about condensation in the airlock. As long as you have water filled to the "fill line" to keep air from getting in.

62F is a good temp to ferment your ale at.

Relax, it will happen.

 

[biggmatt]

For first time your doing fine. it fermented fairly fast but its not uncommon.

It should stop doing everything and let it set a week

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

Old days brewers used the rule of thumb to determine proper pitching temp so dont worry to much about it. (They literally dipped their thumb in the wort).

Btw. I dont have a temp controlled area other than the avg temp in the basement suite which sits between 68 to 70F and my ales taste great. Depends on the yeast strain. Any warmer and I hit frutopia unless im using mauri ale.

A hydromter an arguably a refractomter are the only real way to tell whats going on with fermentation.

RDWHAHB

 

[RM-MN]

Airlock bubbling means there is an exchanges of gasses. That's all it means. You can't judge fermentation by airlock bubbling, you use other indicators like krausen or best, use a hydrometer. If your beer has krausen or evidence of krausen, you have fermentation. Your yeast have 3 phases that they go through on the way to making beer for you. Here's an article that describes them:http://www.brewgeeks.com/the-life-cycle-of-yeast.html

I find that the times listed in the article is shorter than what I get but the concept is there. If the question is "Should I pitch more yeast?" the answer is usually no.

 

[hellawaits77]

I'm a noob myself, but I'll say what other's have already said, that bubbling in the airlock isn't the be-all end-all of fermentation. It actually doesn't mean a whole lot after a few days. You may not hear/see it bubble at all, but it could (and I'm almost positive it is) still be fermenting. Gravity readings with a hydrometer are the best way to check. Wait until Saturday, then take a reading. Once you get identical readings 3 days apart (some say 2 days, I would rather do 3 just do be sure - don't want bottle bombs!), it's probably done fermenting.

 

[jrgtr42]

Relax, don't worry and step away from the fermenter.
You're fine. This is what happens.
YOu get fairly vigorous fermentation and thus airlock bubbling for a few days to a week at the very outside, then it slows down and then basically stops. This is when, to use the "traditional" techniques, you would transfer to secondary for finishing and clearing. I recommend to not bother with a secondary. Leave the beer alone for at least another week. The yeast are still working in there and are cleaning up after themselves - reabsorbing off flavors and aromas that are put out in primary fermentation.
BTW, you say it's in your dining room? Make sure that it's pretty dark in there, maybe cover the bucket / carboy you're using - light, even indirect light can affect your beer negatively.