Not panic, just trying to understand.......

[Andyoesq]

I have lurked here a while, the tips and hints here have been beyond helpful.
I recently did my first three batches, which are at various stages of fermenting now.
Two were Brewers Best (double IPA and the munich helles), one was the true brew pilsner.
I have read enough to know not to freak out, lol.
I'm just trying to understand what is going on in the pilsner.
within 12 hours of brewing, the air lock was bubbling well. it bubbled from probably a day and change, then completely stopped.
I know not to rely on bubbling etc.
I also read the entire sticky of "did i ruin my batch".
I used the flashlight trick from someone on the board (shining it on top of the bucket in a dark room), and can see where the krasuen rose up a couple of inches (there are clearly remains on the side), then dropped back down.
just trying to understand what is going on in there? is it possible that the yeast did all their (visible) work in a day and a half? I know they are probably still fermenting away in there, but it is possible that the bulk of it could be done that quickly?
I didn't aerate it at all (wasn't in any of the kit instructions, and somehow missed it on the boards). But in know the yeast was active and at least took off in the beginning.
I guess just wait and see what happens?

 

[antony]

Do you have controlled fermentation temps? What temp are they sitting at? How long have they been fermenting? Can you check the gravity?

I've had stuff blow up and drop within days but I always leave it at least 3 weeks, regardless of activity. A gravity reading is your best bet to see what's going on...

 

[Andyoesq]

I just took a reading, it was 1.022.
Original gravity was 1.044, and brewed on Sunday morning.
It is in a pretty stable 64 degree room, no light, plastic fermenting bucket.
I guess it is just churning along doing its thing?

 

[chickypad]

Put your hands up and step away from the bucket ...

Really, it sounds fine. The bulk of fermentation is often done in a few days especially with low gravity ales, and despite the name it appears this is an ale kit. To help it finish you might just want to make sure it doesn't start cooling off too much, if it was going fast and furious it likely was a little hotter than 64. Leave it be for another week or so and then if it's clear go ahead and start checking for FG.

 

[Andyoesq]

Put your hands up and step away from the bucket ...

lol
yeah, I will leave it alone for a bit more.
I will say, this is the first batch I ever made, and taking the top off, it smelled delicious

Can I asked another dumb question - the last batch I brewed today. I made the brewers best double IPA.
I set it up with a blow off tube - basically the plastic 3 piece bubbler, top removed, and attached to some one inch tubing,leading down to a bucket of sanitized water.
should i expect to see bubbling through the tube into the water, like i do with the bubbler?

 

[russell58]

I would let it set in primary for at least two to three weeks then start taking gravity readings. Right now with your readings 1.044 - 1.022= .022. Using that number present ABV is 2.88. ( .022*131=2.88 ABV ) Give it time one thing Home brewing teaches all of us is patience. Good luck and enjoy.

Cheers

Yes you will see bubbles in the bucket.

 

[chickypad]

I set it up with a blow off tube - basically the plastic 3 piece bubbler, top removed, and attached to some one inch tubing,leading down to a bucket of sanitized water.
should i expect to see bubbling through the tube into the water, like i do with the bubbler?

Yes, if everything is sealed up tight and CO2 isn't escaping another way. Just be careful the plastic piece doesn't get gunked up - some people snip off the end to prevent that.

 

[Andyoesq]

I did snip off the "mesh" end, thanks to a recommendation of my local brew supply store.
I just realized my readings might be off. I used a refractometer to measure the current gravity, and without access to a Cray supercomputer or a slide ruler or something apparently that doesn't work.
we can send a probe to a comet moving thousands of miles an hour, a million miles away, but can't develop a simple device to measure post fermentation gravity, without wasting a 4-5 ounces?:smack:

 

[chickypad]

Actually I find Sean Terrill's refractometer corrections to be quite accurate for my refractometer with the exception of very highly attenuated beers (like saisons in the 1.001-1.004 range). I downloaded his spreadsheet from his site. Brewer's friend also uses his equation in their calculator and they explain about checking your wort correction factor. I've done about 30 batches checking his calculations against a hydrometer and about 3/4 come within 1.001, and all but the very low FG's are within 1.002 for me.

 

[Andyoesq]

so then do I just use the brix meter on the refractormeter?
there is a gravity reading too on the meter. why don't we just talk in brix then?

 

[chickypad]

Yeah use the Brix for this calculator, mine doesn't have an SG scale. I would definitely check for yourself but that calculator is by far the most accurate for me. I don't know why homebrewers primarily use SG. Professional brewers I think mostly use Plato which is pretty much equivalent to Brix.

 

[btbnl]

Its not clear to me if you corrected your refractometer reading for the alcohol content. If it actually read 1.022 and the OG was 1.044 then the true value is more like 1.012 and looking good.

 

[RM-MN]

Here's an article by a professional that will help you understand what the yeast are up to at various times in the process of fermenting.

http://www.brewgeeks.com/the-life-cycle-of-yeast.html

 

[Andyoesq]

Its not clear to me if you corrected your refractometer reading for the alcohol content. If it actually read 1.022 and the OG was 1.044 then the true value is more like 1.012 and looking good.

That actual reading on the refractomter was 1.022, I did not adjust it. So we should be looking pretty good.

chickypad - do you use the wort correction factor of 1.00 in the calculator?
Is that pretty standard?

 

[chickypad]

Sean uses a default of 1.04 on his spreadsheet,so I was using that. I do notice that changing it from 1.04 to 1.01 makes my OG readings match better (they were always reading like 1.002 low), but it only minimally changed the FG readings (like around an average of 1.0003). With either factor the majority of the FG readings remain within 1.001-1.002 from the hydrometer. I'm using my regular cheap hydrometer, not the one with the finer scale for FG.