Noobs Home brew stopped bubbling...

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KageBrew

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Sorry all if this question has been asked in a different thread... BUT this is my first attempt at brewing my own beer.

I started with a Bavarian Hefeweizen kit. It had 5 lbs of DME for a 5 gal batch, a yeast packet, and a small packet of hop pellets. I followed all of the instructions to the letter. After the boil I cooled it down to about 68F in about 40 min, "violently" transferred the mash to my ferment barrel... added the re-hydrated yeast, closed it up and waited.

It started bubbling though my air lock in about 18 hours, the temp reading on the side of my barrel said it was about 62F at this time. The instructions said the fermentation process should be held around 65 - 70F. I turn on a space heater in the room to bring the mash to 66F. The mash continued to bubble for another 30 or so hours. During that time and still now my mash is being held around 65 -67F.

It has been now almost 48 hours since I saw bubble come through my airlock. What did I do wrong? What should I do next? Is my beer still going to turn out ok?

Thanks all for your help in advance!!

KaGeBrew
 
Airlock activity while is a sign of active fermentation is not the ultimate indicator. Your beer is likely done fermenting. If you are not in a rush it it sit for another 10 days then bottle or keg. If in a hurry take a hydrometer reading. Wait a day or two then take another. If gravity does not change it is done.
 
Sounds like everything is fine, do you have a hydrometer to take a sample to check the FG, lack of airlock activity doesn't mean anything is wrong.
 
It sounds to me, that you are fine. give it a few more days to a week than check the gravity. Once it where you want it, move on to the next step. You did nothing wrong. Your beer will be fine.
Good Luck. :mug:
 
Only thing I will add is, it is called mash when it is a mixture of your water and grain to extract the sugars. It is called wort when you drain the liquid from your mash, and it is called beer when you add the yeast and start fermenting. Extract brewing, there is no mash, so it is wort when you mix the extract with the water, and beer when you start fermenting it.
 
It sounds to me, that you are fine. give it a few more days to a week than check the gravity.


Awesome! Thank for the quick reply!


Only thing I will add is, it is called mash when it is a mixture of your water and grain to extract the sugars. It is called wort when you drain the liquid from your mash, and it is called beer when you add the yeast and start fermenting. Extract brewing, there is no mash, so it is wort when you mix the extract with the water, and beer when you start fermenting it.

Like I said... I'm a noob! Thanks for the clarification on what the mix is called when! I probably wouldn't have found that in a book anywhere!!
 
To minimize sediment in the bottles you can cold crash after fermentation is complete, to drop out excess yeast and hop debris, or just leave the beer in the fermentor longer. I consider it is usually bottling time after the beer has been in the fermentor for three weeks.
 
To minimize sediment in the bottles you can cold crash after fermentation is complete, to drop out excess yeast and hop debris, or just leave the beer in the fermentor longer. I consider it is usually bottling time after the beer has been in the fermentor for three weeks.

Can you break that down in noob terms? What do you mean by "Cold Crash"?
 
Soon you will just put your beer into the fermenter and not look at it for 2-3 weeks when it will be ready to bottle. Impatience is a noob growing step, we've all done it.
 
Why would I do that? Does it help the taste?

Yes, it removes a lot of the yeast. I hate the taste of yeast in beer. Don't like hefeweisens for that reason.

But the yeast will drop out on it's own, just slowly. If you can't cold-crash, don't worry about it.

[edit] haha, I just read the first post. I see you're making a hefe. Probably don't need to crash that one. I would, though, with gelatin, to make a kristallweizen - a clear german wheat beer.
 
Well all... I opened the fermenter... The OG was 1.049 it is currently 1.014. I think i am going to let it for another week and test it again. I still saw very little bubbles in my thief when I was taking the gravity reading.

Thank you all for the input! Ill let you know how it turns out!!!
 
Well all... I opened the fermenter... The OG was 1.049 it is currently 1.014. I think i am going to let it for another week and test it again. I still saw very little bubbles in my thief when I was taking the gravity reading.

Thank you all for the input! Ill let you know how it turns out!!!

That's the way to do it...bottle in a week; don't forget the priming sugar. Leave those bottles be for another three weeks and you'll be golden.

Leave the 'cold crash' and other stuff for future brew sessions.
 
Well all... I opened the fermenter... The OG was 1.049 it is currently 1.014. I think i am going to let it for another week and test it again. I still saw very little bubbles in my thief when I was taking the gravity reading.

Thank you all for the input! Ill let you know how it turns out!!!

Sounds good. I would just suggest not opening it too many more times before bottling. Every time the fermenter is opened after fermentation starts, you are exposing it to oxygen and potential infection. The infection is avoidable with good sanitation, but the oxygen is inevitable, so the best thing to do is let your beer sit sealed for 3 weeks after pitching your yeast, then checking right before bottling.
 
Sounds good. I would just suggest not opening it too many more times before bottling. Every time the fermenter is opened after fermentation starts, you are exposing it to oxygen and potential infection. The infection is avoidable with good sanitation, but the oxygen is inevitable, so the best thing to do is let your beer sit sealed for 3 weeks after pitching your yeast, then checking right before bottling.

Yeah, open it as seldom as possible. Three weeks is good but if you're brewing something that you want to drink fresh (like anything hoppy) a bit shorter is fine.
 
Well all...
After my check yesterday... I come down to check onvthe temperature and I find its bubbling again. Why the all of a sudden change in the fermentation process? Did I disturb the beer enough when I stuck my thief in to stir up some sugars for the yeast?
 
Morw than likely the additional bubbles is just some off-gassing while the yeast is cleaning up.

No worries, it's completely normal. Never trust bubbles as the only sign of fermentation, use your hydrometer then check again in 3 days. If the readings don't change fermentation is complete.
 
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