question about the bubbling

kiwiguy · Mar 1, 2011

Hi There

This is my 3rd brew I have ever put down. The first 2 bubbled away quite strong in the first couple of days then for the next 15 days just bubbled gently ..

However the brew that I put down over the weeend bubbled like mad for the first 24 36 hrs and now seems to have grinded to a complete stop. The occasional bubble every couple of hours, is everything ok ???

Arneba28 · Mar 1, 2011

Yeah its fine. Just wait till the end of the week or 2 weeks and take a hydrometer reading. you should be done fermenting or very close to it.

petey_c · Mar 1, 2011

Most of my brews have bubbled briskly for the first 12 hrs. - 5 days (dependent on brew/yeast type/ambient temps (C or F), etc.), then appeared to have stopped. Bubbling, or air lock activity is not an indication of fermentation activity. I'd wait 2-3 weeks then take hydro readings and when everything settles down (three similar readings in a row), bottle, or keg.
BTW, hope you fared well with all the recent flooding/earth quake activity lately. Cheers, Pete

JonK331 · Mar 1, 2011

Yup you're fine. Different yeasts behave differently.

ChshreCat · Mar 1, 2011

If you're worried, go ahead and take a hydrometer reading right now. No way to know what's really happening in there without doing that.

A lot of folks have a paranoia about taking hydrometer samples, worrying that they're going to screw up their beer doing it. Just make sure you sanitize everything properly and you'll be fine. Take a sample if you need to know.

kiwiguy · Mar 1, 2011

petey_c said:
Most of my brews have bubbled briskly for the first 12 hrs. - 5 days (dependent on brew/yeast type/ambient temps (C or F), etc.), then appeared to have stopped. Bubbling, or air lock activity is not an indication of fermentation activity. I'd wait 2-3 weeks then take hydro readings and when everything settles down (three similar readings in a row), bottle, or keg.
BTW, hope you fared well with all the recent flooding/earth quake activity lately. Cheers, Pete

Hi pete thank you so much, I'm in Wellington abot a 45 minute aeroplane ride away from the earthquake zone so very very lucky.. it has totally devastated our beauitful nation and the death toll is just horrific, we havent seen such devastation in our country for 80 years. thank you its very sad