No bubbles?

[spbrhs07]

I'm still fairly new to brewing but with have 3 very successful brews under my belt I feel fairly confident about things. This past Sunday I began a 5 gallon batch of Brewers Best American Pale Wheat.

http://www.brewersbestkits.com/pdf/1012 2013 American Pale Wheat.pdf

I was a bit surprised to see that the recipe called for a bit of mashing.. I find all grain rather intimidating, but that's another discussion for another time.

I'm not noticing any bubbles in my airlock! My first thought was that somehow I'd killed the yeast. After a bit of research (Googling), I found that it could just be a poor seal on the lid and should just crack open the bucket and look for foam. I've always used buckets for both primary and secondary fermentation as I don't really see the point in spending so much extra on a glass carboy. This was kind of exciting since I've never seen my fermentation in action. There was actually foam in the bucket! So I am sure that my yeast are alive and well. It has now been 3 full days since I pitched the yeast so this is normal right? I also noticed what looks like dry yeast on the top of the foam. Is this also normal? The dry yeast makes me think that maybe some of it is dead and slowing the process...

 

[F_R_O_G]

you have very normal krausen on top of your beer. sounds like your beer will turn out fine.

btw google is not your friend when it comes to making beer. (get ready for google defenders to pop in) For every time someone gives good advice there's 10 more with bad advice. I would pick up a book called "how to brew" by John Palmer. best investment i have made in making beer

 

[RM-MN]

I'm still fairly new to brewing but with have 3 very successful brews under my belt I feel fairly confident about things. This past Sunday I began a 5 gallon batch of Brewers Best American Pale Wheat.

http://www.brewersbestkits.com/pdf/1012 2013 American Pale Wheat.pdf

I was a bit surprised to see that the recipe called for a bit of mashing.. I find all grain rather intimidating, but that's another discussion for another time.

I'm not noticing any bubbles in my airlock! My first thought was that somehow I'd killed the yeast. After a bit of research (Googling), I found that it could just be a poor seal on the lid and should just crack open the bucket and look for foam. I've always used buckets for both primary and secondary fermentation as I don't really see the point in spending so much extra on a glass carboy. This was kind of exciting since I've never seen my fermentation in action. There was actually foam in the bucket! So I am sure that my yeast are alive and well. It has now been 3 full days since I pitched the yeast so this is normal right? I also noticed what looks like dry yeast on the top of the foam. Is this also normal? The dry yeast makes me think that maybe some of it is dead and slowing the process...

Buckets are wonderful for primary fermentation since they have a wide mouth to pour the wort into and if they leak a bit around the lid it's only CO2 escaping. They are not so wonderful for secondary because there is no longer any CO2 being produced and you would lose most of what you had when you transferred. Beer that is covered in CO2 is pretty safe from infection because of the alcohol, the acidity, and the cover of CO2. When you lose that cover, there are several bacteria that love beer but need oxygen to survive and they will infect your beer. This can be a great way to make malt vinegar, but who needs 5 gallons of that?

Many of us have just quit using secondary except for a few instances. We've found that the secondary doesn't improve the average beer and the chance of yeast autolysis is minimal for homebrewers.

 

[fartinmartin]

I've brewed for donkey years, I still think that my best tip was to do at least one brew in glass, any size brew, even if you only take a sample from a bigger brew, once the yeast has got going that is. Then watch it, you will watch it for hours, the energy in the brew is unbelievable !
After thirty years it's still amazing!
For every new brewer, by hook or by crook get something going in glass, even if you don't end up bottling it . You don't need any equipment, put a sample in a glass (something long and thin, hydrometer test jar would do) even a half pint glass, plastic film the top , put a small hole in the film and watch it. I am rambling , but that's the excitement I felt as a new brewer watching this all happening thirty plus years ago.

 

[spbrhs07]

you have very normal krausen on top of your beer. sounds like your beer will turn out fine.

btw google is not your friend when it comes to making beer. (get ready for google defenders to pop in) For every time someone gives good advice there's 10 more with bad advice. I would pick up a book called "how to brew" by John Palmer. best investment i have made in making beer

Agreed. Google can reveal a bit of BS, however the information I found actually came from a free online version of How to Brew by John Palmer! I have read most of the book and found that it is a great beginners book on brewing.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-1.html

 

[sweetcell]

you want secondary to have as little headspace above the beer as possible. the ideal size is a 5 gallon glass or plastic carboy: fill it up to the next and there's hardly any air in there. using a bucket for secondary is likely to cause more problems than it solves. if buckets are all you have, i would suggest skipping secondary entirely. it's generally not needed.

Agreed. Google can reveal a bit of BS, however the information I found actually came from a free online version of How to Brew by John Palmer! I have read most of the book and found that it is a great beginners book on brewing.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-1.html

the online version of H2B is the first edition. the current (print) edition is the third, and supposedly Palmer is working on the 4th. so be aware that some of the info in the online edition is pretty dated.

 

[spbrhs07]

I've brewed for donkey years, I still think that my best tip was to do at least one brew in glass, any size brew, even if you only take a sample from a bigger brew, once the yeast has got going that is. Then watch it, you will watch it for hours, the energy in the brew is unbelievable !
After thirty years it's still amazing!
For every new brewer, by hook or by crook get something going in glass, even if you don't end up bottling it . You don't need any equipment, put a sample in a glass (something long and thin, hydrometer test jar would do) even a half pint glass, plastic film the top , put a small hole in the film and watch it. I am rambling , but that's the excitement I felt as a new brewer watching this all happening thirty plus years ago.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1421706205.215401.jpg

Mini batch of experimental Weizenbock

 

[fartinmartin]

That's perfect, are you amazed at the action and energy in there ?
Enjoy it !

Looking again , you may need a little more headspace.
My guess is that the picture is day two ?

 

[spbrhs07]

That's perfect, are you amazed at the action and energy in there ?
Enjoy it !

Looking again , you may need a little more headspace.
My guess is that the picture is day two ?

Amazing action, that's for sure.... This is actually only 8hrs after pitching...

Headspace... I woke up this morning to krausen on the ceiling! So I thought I could just take the cap/airlock off and put another on. It just kept foaming over like a volcano... Nonstop. Had to get to work. Probably still flowing over... Thankfully I left it in a bucket overnight. Probably going to get infected...

 

[kombat]

Probably fermenting too hot. Do you have it any kind of temperature control, or is it literally just sitting on the counter as in the photo?

EDIT: What yeast did you use? If it's a true Weizenbock, then it's a lager, and unless that counter is in a walk-in refrigerator, then it's definitely fermenting waaaaay too hot for a lager. Lagers should be in the 45-55° F range.

 

[spbrhs07]

Probably fermenting too hot. Do you have it any kind of temperature control, or is it literally just sitting on the counter as in the photo?

EDIT: What yeast did you use? If it's a true Weizenbock, then it's a lager, and unless that counter is in a walk-in refrigerator, then it's definitely fermenting waaaaay too hot for a lager. Lagers should be in the 45-55° F range.

Pretty sure Weizenbock is an ale... Anyways... I'm using ale yeast, Safbrew WB-06. I have the jug on the floor, room temp is about 70

 

[kombat]

Pretty sure Weizenbock is an ale.

Bock = lager

Bock, Doppelbock, Eisbock, Weizenbock... all lagers.

Weizen, Krystalweizen, Hefeweizen... all ales.

It sounds like you've brewed a malty wheat ale - I'm not sure what style category that would belong to, it's like a hybrid between a Hefeweizen and a Weizenbock.

Anyways... I'm using ale yeast, Safbrew WB-06.

OK good, so it's just a misnaming, rather than a wildly inappropriate fermentation temperature. The data sheet for WB-06 confirms that it's an ale yeast, and advises an ideal fermentation temperature of 64-75° F, noting that 72-73 will produce the banana/clove character associated with certain styles.

Again, note that this is beer temperature, not ambient temperature. If your room temperature is 70, as you say, then the beer could be considerably warmer than that, which would explain the violent fermentation. I'll be interested to hear how this one turns out.

 

[fartinmartin]

Don't worry about infection yet, all that gas and foam makes it hard for anything to get in, just keep it going. May be pour an inch out?

 

[spbrhs07]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1421774520.125491.jpg

Came home over lunch and the action has died down a bit... Put a clean airlock on. Still a bit of foam on top so hoping it should be alright.

 

[fartinmartin]

Lol lots !
You are learning so much !
It's a great hobby, hang in there.