Should i shake it up?

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EatWell

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I Am in the process of brewing a double IPA. the directions say to put in fermentation for three days until the 'head' falls. I did this, then it said to rack into another carboy and leave sediment behind and finish fermentation. The concern is that the airlock was bubbling very good when it was in the first carboy, but since I transferred it into the second carboy there hasn't been any activity. Should I shake it up or add more yeast or just let it be for a few more day and check gravity and move to the next step.
 
What kind of hellish instructions did those come from. I would not do any of that. Leave in the carboy and don't touch it for 3 weeks. Seems you left all the yeast behind in the 1st carboy . This is a double IPA (certainly not an easy beer to make) and you need all the yeast you can get.

I would pitch more yeast and never buy a kit with those instructions again
 
DOn't shake the beer, you run the risk of oxydizing it. It's an organic process, yeast can't read instructions, or calendars. If it has krausen it means it still has fermentation going, which means it's too soon to rack it....
 
Grinder12000 said:
What kind of hellish instructions did those come from. I would not do any of that. Leave in the carboy and don't touch it for 3 weeks. Seems you left all the yeast behind in the 1st carboy . This is a double IPA (certainly not an easy beer to make) and you need all the yeast you can get.

I would pitch more yeast and never buy a kit with those instructions again

I thought it was crazy too! But I am still a rookie! And trying to just follow the directions. I repitch more yeast, I'll keep my fingers crossed. Thanks for the help.
 
I thought it was crazy too! But I am still a rookie! And trying to just follow the directions. I repitch more yeast, I'll keep my fingers crossed. Thanks for the help.

No, you don't need to add fresh yeast! It's fine.

Just let it sit for a week or two, and then check the SG. Wait another three days and check it again. If it's the same, it's finished. Don't worry!
 
I thought it was crazy too! But I am still a rookie! And trying to just follow the directions. I repitch more yeast, I'll keep my fingers crossed. Thanks for the help.

You don't need more yeast, everything is fine.

Your airlock is NOT a fermentation gauge, despite what instructions or other people may have said. It is a VENT, and VALVE to release EXCESS co2 as needed. The amount of bubbles have no correlation to some concrete rate of fermentation. Initially there may be lots of bubbles, because lots of co2 is being generated in the first few days of fermentation. But eventually there's going to be less EXCESS co2 being produced, that doesn't mean fermentation is done, it just means that since most of the sugars have been consumed, the yeast are farting co2 less. SO the rate may change, or it may stop completely because there's no EXCESS being produced.

That's why you need to seperate the idea of bubbling = fermentation from your mindset.

Don't stress about what an airlock does or doesn't do. The rate or lack of or whether or not it bubbles at all, or if it starts and stops has more relation to the environment the fermenter is in, rather than fermentation itself. All it is is a vent, a valve to let our excess gas, especially co2, nothing else. It's not a fermentation gauge whatsoever.

Fermentation is not always dynamic...just because you don't SEE anything happening doesn't mean that the yeast aren't happily chewing away at whatever fermentables are in there....the only way to know comes from gravity readings, and nothing else.

"action" is not a good indicator of anything...What do the numbers read? The only way to know what a beer is doing is with a hydro reading....

Activity, action, bubbles, even krausen can be affected by the envoironment just as much as it being caused by the yeast...so going by that is NOT reliable.

New brewers think the answer is always to futz with their beer, to shake it, or add more yeast. When most of the time the answer is LEAVE THE BEER ALONE. The yeast don't need your help....or you hovering over it.

This is the correct answer to your no problem "problem"

Stepaway_copy.jpg
 
No, you don't need to add fresh yeast! It's fine.

Just let it sit for a week or two, and then check the SG. Wait another three days and check it again. If it's the same, it's finished. Don't worry!


We have several new members in our Club and I'm "Coaching" a few new brewers as well. The First Thing I tell them all; "Throw away the directions" And then we create a new workplan on the process. Those Directions screw up all the new brewers...!
 
Revvy said:
You don't need more yeast, everything is fine.

Your airlock is NOT a fermentation gauge, despite what instructions or other people may have said. It is a VENT, and VALVE to release EXCESS co2 as needed. The amount of bubbles have no correlation to some concrete rate of fermentation. Initially there may be lots of bubbles, because lots of co2 is being generated in the first few days of fermentation. But eventually there's going to be less EXCESS co2 being produced, that doesn't mean fermentation is done, it just means that since most of the sugars have been consumed, the yeast are farting co2 less. SO the rate may change, or it may stop completely because there's no EXCESS being produced.

That's why you need to seperate the idea of bubbling = fermentation from your mindset.

Don't stress about what an airlock does or doesn't do. The rate or lack of or whether or not it bubbles at all, or if it starts and stops has more relation to the environment the fermenter is in, rather than fermentation itself. All it is is a vent, a valve to let our excess gas, especially co2, nothing else. It's not a fermentation gauge whatsoever.

Fermentation is not always dynamic...just because you don't SEE anything happening doesn't mean that the yeast aren't happily chewing away at whatever fermentables are in there....the only way to know comes from gravity readings, and nothing else.

"action" is not a good indicator of anything...What do the numbers read? The only way to know what a beer is doing is with a hydro reading....

Activity, action, bubbles, even krausen can be affected by the envoironment just as much as it being caused by the yeast...so going by that is NOT reliable.

New brewers think the answer is always to futz with their beer, to shake it, or add more yeast. When most of the time the answer is LEAVE THE BEER ALONE. The yeast don't need your help....or you hovering over it.

This is the correct answer to your no problem "problem"

Thanks for the advise, but I took grinder12000 advise before I saw your and added more yeast. Hopefully it will still be OK. I WILL LEAVE IT ALONE for a week or so and take a gravity reading and see were I'm at that point.
 
Thanks for the advise, but I took grinder12000 advise before I saw your and added more yeast. Hopefully it will still be OK. I WILL LEAVE IT ALONE for a week or so and take a gravity reading and see were I'm at that point.

It'll probably be ok- the excess yeast should fall to the bottom and not give you a yeasty flavor in the end. Next time, when debating what to do, often the best answer is "nothing" until told otherwise!
 

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