No Airlock Activity -- Help?

[bobloblaw88]

I'm a bit worried about my first brew, an IPA that I pitched around 72 hours ago. At 48 hours I noticed airlock activity with bubbles coming through. But since then I have not seen any bubbles. If I push down on the bucket top I can force out some bubbles but nothing is coming out on its own. Should I be concerned? Is there something I can do to make sure that fermentation is moving forward? Thanks.

 

[pondlumber]

Barometric pressure and temperature can mess with the amount coming out the air lock, so don't go by that too much. Give it another day, but get supplies to re pitch if need be.

 

[stevem86]

Sounds like you are using a plastic bucket for fermentation.
Those plastic buckets are not air tight so the airlock is not a good sign of fermentation activity.
A lot of the co2 can escape from the lid seal etc.
The best thing to do is wait a few weeks then taking a reading with a hydrometer. Once you get 3 of the same readings in a 3 day period, you are good to go.
RDWHAHB

 

[IslandLizard]

Since buckets and lids are notoriously bad seals, don't judge fermentation here by airlock activity. If you saw some bubbles that's good. You may want to sanitize the underside of the lid rim with a spray bottle filled with Starsan and carefully lift the lid a bit to peek inside. There should be a brown foamy krausen head on your beer. Then close her up again.

 

[pondlumber]

Oh right, I wasn't thinking plastic bucket (as I never use them). As it was showing signs of fermentation, I suspect you're in good shape. A stuck fermentation is quite rare, so do nothing, there is a 95% chance everything is just fine. If you poke at it you reduce your odds.

 

[kh54s10]

Welcome, This site is full of information. I recommend going through all the sections and read all the stickies.

As stevem86 said buckets often leak the co2 so an airlock might never bubble. Also depending on the temperature of the ferment it could easily finish the active portion during the first night while you are asleep. Since you saw some bubbling you probably have no issues. The only way to be sure about your fermentation is to take gravity readings. If your instructions say to ferment for so many days, then... Discard them and use a hydrometer. Don't rush things, problems are much more common by doing steps too soon and rarely by waiting too long.

Start with this sticky:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/fermentation-can-take-24-72-hrs-show-visible-signs-43635/