No airlock action after 48 hours? Was yeast DOA?

[Looper]

Pitched US-05 on Saturday evening around 5pm.

OG was 1.070. Temp was 70* F

1 packet dry yeast.

Still no action in the airlock. Any ideas? Lid on bucket is sealed, bunghole is sealed and intact around airlock stem. Thanks for any and all comments!

 

[NewWestBrewer]

Relative newbie here but no airlock doesn't necessarily mean no activity. Look for krausen forming. What was date on yeast packet? I have also heard that activity can sometimes take up to 72 hours so leave it for another day or so.

 

[Rockn_M]

Correct. Airlock activity is not an indication of fermentation. If you look inside your bucket and you can see foam on top, it's fermenting.

 

[Looper]

Thanks for your response.

I actually leave my beers at my parents house in the basement (where I occasionally brew), so I don't have daily access to check on the beer.

I'm probably just going to get another packet of yeast after work today.

Anybody have an idea how long unfermented beer can last without the introduction of viable yeast? My guess is probably all dependent on how clean and sanitized the environment is, but curious to hear other thoughts.

Thanks!

 

[boortzie]

I've had beers that fermented without touching the airlock, and a gravity check is the only way to know for sure whether its doing its thing or not. To check gravity you should get a hydrometer (if you don't already have one). Check the beer three or four days in a row, and if the gravity hasn't changed then you may have a stalled fermentation and repitching is probably called for. But there could be other factors in play as well. For example, how cold is the basement? Is there a hole or lack of seal in the fermenting vessel through which CO2 could be escaping? Also, an OG on 1.070 is pretty high for one package, so your yeast might be working hard in one of the early stages of fermentation.

But really, it's about checking the gravity.

 

[flars]

Thanks for your response.

I actually leave my beers at my parents house in the basement (where I occasionally brew), so I don't have daily access to check on the beer.

I'm probably just going to get another packet of yeast after work today.

Anybody have an idea how long unfermented beer can last without the introduction of viable yeast? My guess is probably all dependent on how clean and sanitized the environment is, but curious to hear other thoughts.

Thanks!

An option for remote brewing is to use better bottles or glass carboys. Your caretakers can take a quick look and tell you if a krausen is forming.

 

[austinb]

It won't hurt to pop the lid off slightly to peek inside when you can. If you see krausen then there is no need to pitch another pack of yeast.

If you are using the two piece style of airlocks it could be an issue with the airlock also. I've also had airlocks with a crack at the top of the little floater piece inside which causes it not to bubble but instead the co2 just gasses right out. If this is the case I wouldn't worry about it a it is highly unlikely this will cause an infection but you may want to replace it before your next brew.

 

[k_mcarthur]

How did you prepare the yeast? If you just sprinkled it on top it could take 3-4 days to get going. You really should rehydrate while brewing to ensure a viable pitch.

 

[Joe P]

The only time I ever had a whistling bubbler was when I experimented with a conical. I believe the bubbles were so plentiful because the lid had a 1/2 " rubber sealing gasket & the lid was also held in place by four locking clamps. The C02 had no other place to leak out other then the bubbler. Since i no longer use my conical ( except for bottling) there's been a few brews that haven't been as active but ALWAYS fermentation still occurs. Just lay back for a couple of days. The brew should be fine. Hydrometer readings are the telltale sign. Just saying....good luck

 

[alex510]

Pitched US-05 on Saturday evening around 5pm.

OG was 1.070. Temp was 70* F

1 packet dry yeast.

Still no action in the airlock. Any ideas? Lid on bucket is sealed, bunghole is sealed and intact around airlock stem. Thanks for any and all comments!

i have the same thing going on. no action in the airlock:<

 

[alex510]

How did you prepare the yeast? If you just sprinkled it on top it could take 3-4 days to get going. You really should rehydrate while brewing to ensure a viable pitch.

I did just that sprinkled on top. what does rehydrate do?

 

[RM-MN]

i have the same thing going on. no action in the airlock:<

While it is fun to see the airlock bubble, it's real purpose is to keep fruit flies out of the beer and entertain the brewer. There is really little volume of CO2 being produced and even the tiniest leak around the lid of a bucket or even the stopper of a carboy will allow the CO2 to leak out.

The real way to determine if fermentation is going on is to look for the formation of krausen on the surface early in the fermentation process or later, a hydrometer reading. You can shine a strong light at a bucket fermenter to see the krausen or krausen ring left when the krausen falls.

 

[alex510]

While it is fun to see the airlock bubble, it's real purpose is to keep fruit flies out of the beer and entertain the brewer. There is really little volume of CO2 being produced and even the tiniest leak around the lid of a bucket or even the stopper of a carboy will allow the CO2 to leak out.

The real way to determine if fermentation is going on is to look for the formation of krausen on the surface early in the fermentation process or later, a hydrometer reading. You can shine a strong light at a bucket fermenter to see the krausen or krausen ring left when the krausen falls.

Hey R
So I am really getting worried here. I added a pouch liquid yest yesterday and very little is happing still. I can see a very little krausen but not enough to get the air lock moving at all. ps, it is pretty cold at nignt in my kitchen where the fast ferment conical is at.,If that matters. advise please thank you

 

[marc1]

Hey R
So I am really getting worried here. I added a pouch liquid yest yesterday and very little is happing still. I can see a very little krausen but not enough to get the air lock moving at all. ps, it is pretty cold at nignt in my kitchen where the fast ferment conical is at.,If that matters. advise please thank you

How cold is pretty cold?

What was the volume and starting gravity of the beer?

If you can see a little krausen then it's going.
If you're worried then you can take a gravity reading and see where you're at now.

 

[alex510]

the kitchen probably gets below 60 degrees. I do not have a gravity thing/ I have never had this happen before
But I feel a little better know knowing i got a little krausen going

 

[marc1]

the kitchen probably gets below 60 degrees. I do not have a gravity thing/ I have never had this happen before
But I feel a little better know knowing i got a little krausen going

Do you know about what the starting gravity was supposed to be? If you were trying to ferment a very high gravity beer with one packet of yeast, it could explain why it was slow to start. The cold temperatures probably don't help either.
It's good to restrain the fermentation temp some, but starting it out that cold for an ale yeast could be slowing it down.

 

[alex510]

hi marc
will it start fermenting by itself?

 

[marc1]

hi marc
will it start fermenting by itself?

It sounds like it's already fermenting

 

[alex510]

Welp...we have lift off

 

[VikeMan]

Just lay back for a couple of days.

I suspect the OP's August 2013 beer is finished by now.

There is really little volume of CO2 being produced and even the tiniest leak around the lid of a bucket or even the stopper of a carboy will allow the CO2 to leak out.

I'm not sure what you mean by little volume of CO2, but about 1/2 of the weight of the fermented sugars ends up as CO2.

Back of the envelope, just for fun... let's say we have 5 gallons of 1.050 wort made with 44 PPG DME. This would have taken ~5.68 pounds of DME to make, of which ~ 95% (44/46.21) is carbs*. So, ~ 5.4 pounds of carbs.

And let's say we get a final gravity of 1.013, so 74% apparent attenuation. 74% apparent attenuation translates to about 61% real attention (74%/1.22). So the actual sugars fermented would have been about 61% of 5.4 pounds = ~3.3 lbs. Since about half of the fermented sugar becomes CO2, that's about 0.5 x 3.3 lbs = ~1.65 pounds of CO2 produced.

To me, that's significant. In this example, it's equivalent to about a third of a 5lb CO2 tank. Of course, the yeast don't burp that out all at once, which is why we still have "Why is there no airlock activity" threads where the answer turns out to be crappy fermenter seals.

(*I'm ignoring other minor gravity contributors, like proteins.)