Hey y'all! I brewed a double pale 5 days ago. The fermentation was going great the first couple of days but around day 3 the air lock stopped moving completely . I've only brewed a few batches. All of my other batches stayed somewhat active throughout the full primary stage. Is this common? Thanx!
Non active airlock?
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Did you remember to change your air lock batteries?
Just kidding... Do you have a hydrometer so you can check the gravity? Airlock activity can be very deceiving and without a way to quantitatively prove if fermentation is finished it is not possible for us to give you advice on the situation.
Just kidding... Do you have a hydrometer so you can check the gravity? Airlock activity can be very deceiving and without a way to quantitatively prove if fermentation is finished it is not possible for us to give you advice on the situation.
And at temp did you ferment? Is it in a carboy where you can see if it is starting to clear/flocculate?
Don't worry about the airlock. Just because it did not bubble the few minutes you are staring at it does not mean it is done. Give it it's two weeks minimum in primary then take gravities. My advice would be forget about it until then.
1) Too cold for the yeast: Make sure it is warm enough for the yeast. Active ferment will warm beer up sustaining the ferment, but as it starts ti slow down, it produces less heat.
2) Leak in bucket lid. The seals between the buckets and lids can have leaks, and are the preferential path for CO2 to escape. When fermentation is at it's height, the airlock may show activity, but as it slows down, there may not be enough CO2 to satisfy the leak and the airlock.
3) It's done. Sometimes it happens quickly. I've had a Belgian finish in 2 days before now. Would still recommend leaving it for at least 2 weeks.
2) Leak in bucket lid. The seals between the buckets and lids can have leaks, and are the preferential path for CO2 to escape. When fermentation is at it's height, the airlock may show activity, but as it slows down, there may not be enough CO2 to satisfy the leak and the airlock.
3) It's done. Sometimes it happens quickly. I've had a Belgian finish in 2 days before now. Would still recommend leaving it for at least 2 weeks.
That's a wide range. Where do you have it? What is the floor temperature. The beer will take on the floor temperature, and not the air temperature. What is the yeast? Some don't like to be below 65F.
Half a cup of honey is about 4 ozs (I know it's 4 fl ozs, but it should also be about that weight too). That's about .0015 impact on gravity in 5 gallons. Will not be noticeable.
Apparently not.
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