So I'm brand new to the exciting world of home brew and I started my first brew Friday of last week I figured a nice porter would be a good start initially my airlock was bubbling but after 2days it flatlined now I've been told that the airlock simply releases excess Co2 and is not a measure of fermiintation but I've also been told my batch is ruined any ideas?
Question about fermenting
- Thread starter DPS412
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freisste
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Or kidding with you. Do you have a hydrometer? If not, get one. If so, check your gravity. You need to make sure that you are at a stable FG before bottling, but you'd probably like to leave it in the primary to clean up off flavors.
I've had a batch in primary almost 4 weeks. There hasn't been airlock activity since about day 10. My fermentation was done (hydrometer readings told me so) 2 weeks ago. It's been in primary 2 weeks since fermentation was done and its not ruined. I'm just letting the yeast clean up after itself and waiting for the haze to drop out.
More than likely your batch is fine unless you know for sure it's infected. And even if it is infected it still may be fine. Let it sit 2-3 weeks, and if your gravity is constant minimum 3 days in a row it's probably done
More than likely your batch is fine unless you know for sure it's infected. And even if it is infected it still may be fine. Let it sit 2-3 weeks, and if your gravity is constant minimum 3 days in a row it's probably done
Most home brewers efforts take more than 7 days to completely finish. when it stopped bubbling like crazy after 2 days,it just signifies that initial fermentation is done. It'll then slowly,uneventfully creep down to FG. then give it another 3-7 days after that to clean up normal fermentation by products & settle out clear or slightly misty.
+1 on checking it with your hydrometer.
A good fermentation will generally slow down after a few days. Once it slows down you can help it along by shaking/swirling it every day or two to get the yeast back in suspension. After doing that a couple of times, let it sit still for week or two before transferring/bottling.
Good luck!
A good fermentation will generally slow down after a few days. Once it slows down you can help it along by shaking/swirling it every day or two to get the yeast back in suspension. After doing that a couple of times, let it sit still for week or two before transferring/bottling.
Good luck!
Kaz
Well-Known Member
+1 to everyone else. Pay little to no attention to the airlock, some people don't even use them. The vigorous active portion of fermentation can last from 24 hours to a week or more depending on a ton of factors (yeast strain, temperature, O2 levels etc.) Taking gravity readings is the only way to know that your beer has fermented and whether or not it is still fermenting. I usually take a initial gravity reading and then let it sit a minimum of 2-3 weeks. After that, I will take another gravity measurement and if I'm at my expected terminal gravity I will probably let it sit another week and then keg and/or bottle. I generally don't find it necessary to swirl the carboy, however I will try to keep the temperature from dropping too much or even raise it as fermentation winds down to keep the yeast active and allow them to finish cleaning up anything left behind from the beginning fermentation phases.
It is worth echoing/commenting here.
if your original gravity (OG) was 1.040 and the expected final gravity(FG) is 1.010, then usually within 24 to 48 hours of fermentation starting, you will be around 1.015 or 1.014. Over the next few days it will drop the last few 1 to 4 points.
What is happening is this, at the start there is a lot of food, and thus a population explosion. After a little while, that extra food is now gone, but not all of it. So there is scrounging of food until the FG is reached.
So a graph of the gravity readings are like a sleding hill, small decrease at the start, then a steep drop off over a short distance, followed by a long tail of a gentle decline. (assuming you took 4 oz of beer every hour to sample the gravity, which frankly would be a waste unless your goal is a paper and not a beer!)
Basically,yes. The process I listed is for an average gravity brew,true. Noobs just need to realise that just because bubbling stops or slows down,the beer isn't done fermenting yet. Agree there. And the beer dosen't need to be swirled every other day just because bubbling stopped or slowed down. Keep temps in range & the yeast will finish up on their own,& in their own good time.
Stirring/shaking is done after primary fermentation slows down. I wouldn't recommend it during active fermentation.
I said "to help it along" and then let it sit for a week or two. But you are correct - you don't need to shake/swirl if you let it sit long enough.
My point previously was that shaking & swirling aren't necessary at all unless it stalled or the like. After initial fermentation is done,there's still plenty of yeast in suspension to finish fermenting. Leave it be...
Ha you hit reply right before me.
Ha you hit reply right before me.
I'm not sure what purpose stiring or shaking would generally serve in a fermenting beer. I know wine making and mead making take advantage of that, but generally, not in beer.
Exceptions would be if you have a stuck fermentation, it is often suggested to 'rouse' the yeast by a gentle swirl/stir to get the yeast back into suspension and off the bottom, but this case is the beer has finished with a much higher gravity (ie not just +.001 or .002, but like +.010) than expected.
EDIT:
Others beat me to this point. so ....
Exceptions would be if you have a stuck fermentation, it is often suggested to 'rouse' the yeast by a gentle swirl/stir to get the yeast back into suspension and off the bottom, but this case is the beer has finished with a much higher gravity (ie not just +.001 or .002, but like +.010) than expected.
EDIT:
Others beat me to this point. so ....
Brulosopher
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DPS412 said:
Secondary... not even worth it, ever really, but especially with Porter. Save the time and energy, let the beer sit on the cake for 10-21 days, rack to bottling bucket, bottle. Cheers!
I did hope our phylosophical disscusion would have some merits.
tankcrash
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Brulosopher said:
When would it be worth it.
catdaddy66
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freisste said:
Fixed it for ya!
Brulosopher
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tankcrash said:
Very rarely, IMO. If you plan to batch age a beer, glass lets in less O2... but even then. Even when I dry hop, I just throw them in the primary, easy peezy.
They can be a way to go. I am a plastic man not a glass man. But with that said, there are uses for glass. OTOH the glass v plastic is a bit over blown debate (as much of the debates on these things tend to be)...
Anyhow, yeah, just go with plastic if you are comfortable with it. Some people claim off flavors, so that would be a reason for glass, but glass breaks, a reason for plastic, but plastic is opaque, a reason for glass, but plastic is lighter to move, so plastic, but glass is more resistant to oxygen/preasure changes, so glass, But plastic isn't all the sucesptable to oxygen in through the plastic, and cheaper (and on and on it goes)...
USE what you feel good about. Experiement to see if you are missing something, but don't sweat it all. And yeah, you can dry hop right into the bucket if you want.
Brulosopher
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DPS412 said:
I agree with AC. After trying glass/plastic carboys and buckets, definitely prefer the latter
You don't have to do it on just stuck fermentations. I did some experimenting years ago and discovered that rousing the yeast - AFTER active fermentation slows down - actually helped the beer reach final gravity quicker than just letting the fermenter sit quietly. Of course, you don't HAVE to do this to get good beer. But letting the yeast do their thing for a week or two IS important. I don't do secondaries anymore and from the time I put the beer in the fermenter until the time I transfer to keg is usually 3-4 weeks. Yeast need time to do their thing, absolutely. I was just trying to help.
After I acquired a few 6-gal glass carboys I was doing multiple fermentations at a time, so I just ended up using my original plastic pail for sanitizing. Still have it, in fact, but I'm too cheap to spring for new ones so I just keep using the glass for fermenting. I just put them in old milk crates for moving to the temp controlled fridge - safer that way.
Nothing wrong with that... again, USE what you feel comforatable with. While I prefer buckets, because I do wine and mead, I rack to a Carboy and have my alcohol in carboy more than in buckets - longer sit times for wine/mead.
If what a brew has is working for him, I think he should A, keep using it, but B experiment to find better ways periodically to see if he gets results he likes more. Clearly having carboys works for you, and milk crates improve their portablity/carryablity. My point earlier is that no matter what fermentor a person uses, there are + and - and we weigh those all seperately. I'm glad you have a solution that works for you.
I guess I can see that. Although without some work on it myself, I'm not sure if it would improve my results (key word my).
I knew a married couple once that made their own fruit wines - they would have 40-50 GALLONS of different wines going at a time. I remember seeing their spare bedroom full of glass carboys just sitting there happily aging - with barely any room to walk around. Their pear wine was DELICIOUS...
Nashbrewer
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On the stirring I have no tests or anything factual, but if rousing the yeast is known to be beneficial to fermentation completion times for wine and mead it bears to reason it will be equally beneficial for beer. The only problem I see is the continued or increase off gas that is required for the wine and mead if going to be served still vs beer we expect some residual gas for the process of carbing. Now how beneficial it is and how much of a difference it will make may be miniscule overall. Generally it is accepted it will increase attenuation, fermentation time, and clean up time to constantly stir(like a stir plate) during the fermentation process(even high krausen though it may not need be needed as much to the vigorous ferment). Is it needed? No, but it might help reduce your grain to glass time by keeping the yeast active as long as possible. It could possibly reduce flocculation, but that probably will still be based more on the strain of yeast.
Either way, do whatever works for you.
Either way, do whatever works for you.
Constant stiring in a fermenter wouldn't be the same as in a erlenmyer flask. In the fermenter,you want all that stuff to settle out,not get stirred to the point where it mixes in. Trub is in there too,not just yeast. And def more of it. If a good temp is maintained,the yeast will get the job done without any help from us.
