Slow bubbling in airlock

[PassionBeer]

I brewed my Pumpkin Ale yesterday and had it in in the primary with the yeast pitched at around 11:30 EST. Today, I went to check it and it's a bit over 24 hours and the airlock seems to be bubbling but it's slow, maybe a bubble every 20-30 seconds. Is this normal?

The reason I'm questioning it is because when I brewed my Belgian Tripel back in August, it was doing some serious bubbling after 24 hours. Constant and vigorous bubbles every second.

I hope I'm ok... Am I?

Thanks

 

[Revvy]

Airlock bubbling, or rate of it is irrevelent. If you have it, regardless of the rapidy means you have fermentation, but if it doesn't blip, doesn't mean you don't have fermentation. All an airlock is is a vent, a valve to release excess co2, really nothing more. It's not a magic fermentaion gauge that tells you anything other than that co2 is coming out of it so you won't paint your ceiling with beer. It doesn't matter that your last one blipped faster, nor does it mean anything if your next one doesn't blip at all (half of mine never blip at all.)

Really, don't worry about it either way.

 

[manoaction]

RDWHAHB.

Most people would people would echo that longer lag times, slow starts, and low airlock activity aren't ultimate indicators of what's happening. Especially if you're only at two hours, I wouldn't be concerned.

Helpful information would be what yeast did you use, what was your OG, and what temperature has your beer been at for the first 48 hours.

 

[PassionBeer]

Thanks, Revvy! I felt relief I saw some bubbling, but didn't know if the rate was a huge factor or not.

manoaction: Well it's been there for over 24 hours now, the temperature is somewhere between 68-72 degrees, I'll have to check specifically what it is in the basement. As for the yeast, I used Windsor Dry and my OG was 1.051.

 

[manoaction]

I'm assuming you prepared a starter for it or did you just pitch it in dry?

I'm under the impression that if a yeast hasn't been prepared and activated that you can get a slow start, but as Revvy said, airlock activity isn't everything and you're moving along fine as it is.

 

[PassionBeer]

I'm assuming you prepared a starter for it or did you just pitch it in dry?

I'm under the impression that if a yeast hasn't been prepared and activated that you can get a slow start, but as Revvy said, airlock activity isn't everything and you're moving along fine as it is.

Yea, I did a starter - suspended in 4oz warm water for 15 min, then adding some wort for 5 minutes, the pitched into the fermenter.

I went down this morning and I've got no activity in the airlock now. I'm thinking I'll take a SG reading today after work to see if it's dropping. It's not too soon to take a reading, is it?

 

[Indyking]

I have also something related to the OP.

I started fermenting my first extract brew last Wed late at night and the liquid in the airlock was bubbling vigorously on Thu early morning, that is, 6 hours later.

I left Thu afternoon for the holidays and when I came back yesterday, I was surprised to see that the bubbling activity has stopped completely (only 5 days later)! So, I waited about half an hour near the fermenter and nothing! Is it already fermented? Couldn't be, since the fermentation time in the recipe is 2 weeks! I know waiting for a few days after fermentation has stopped has some benefits but this seems awfully earlier to me since today is just the 6th day of my fermentation. I suppose I should check the SG today to determine where we are but the recipe does not have a target FG. The OG was 1.045. This is just regular pale ale with Safale S-04 dry yeast pitched in after being rehydrated in water, fermentation temp is 70F. Any clues?

 

[Yooper]

I have also something related to the OP.

I started fermenting my first extract brew last Wed late at night and the liquid in the airlock was bubbling vigorously on Thu early morning, that is, 6 hours later.

I left Thu afternoon for the holidays and when I came back yesterday, I was surprised to see that the bubbling activity has stopped completely (only 5 days later)! So, I waited about half an hour near the fermenter and nothing! Is it already fermented? Couldn't be, since the fermentation time in the recipe is 2 weeks! I know waiting for a few days after fermentation has stopped has some benefits but this seems awfully earlier to me since today is just the 6th day of my fermentation. I suppose I should check the SG today to determine where we are but the recipe does not have a target FG. The OG was 1.045. This is just regular pale ale with Safale S-04 dry yeast pitched in after being rehydrated in water, fermentation temp is 70F. Any clues?

Sure, it's probably finished. I've had ales ferment out in 24 hours before, but usually it's about 3 days of active fermentation. The recipe says "two weeks", not because it is actually active that long (that would be very rare), but because good things continue to happen after active fermentation is finished. First, the yeast digest all of the available sugars. Then, they go back and 'clean up' the beer by digesting some of their own waste products, like diacetyl. The yeast will then fall out and the beer will begin to clear. Once the beer is clear(ish), and the gravity is stable, then it's safe to bottle.

One other note- a fermentation temperature of 70F is fine. But if you pitched the yeast when the wort was warmer, and then set it aside to cool, fermentation would have taken off much faster. If the airlock was bubbling furiously 6 hours after brewing, I suspect that is what happened, and that the beer was much higher than 70 degrees inside the fermenter. A "hot" fermentation will often be explosively fast.

 

[PassionBeer]

Yooper - related to my question - is it okay to take a gravity reading about 60 hours after I pitched? I want to ensure my SG has dropped from my OG....

 

[Indyking]

Sure, it's probably finished. I've had ales ferment out in 24 hours before, but usually it's about 3 days of active fermentation. The recipe says "two weeks", not because it is actually active that long (that would be very rare), but because good things continue to happen after active fermentation is finished. First, the yeast digest all of the available sugars. Then, they go back and 'clean up' the beer by digesting some of their own waste products, like diacetyl. The yeast will then fall out and the beer will begin to clear. Once the beer is clear(ish), and the gravity is stable, then it's safe to bottle.

One other note- a fermentation temperature of 70F is fine. But if you pitched the yeast when the wort was warmer, and then set it aside to cool, fermentation would have taken off much faster. If the airlock was bubbling furiously 6 hours after brewing, I suspect that is what happened, and that the beer was much higher than 70 degrees inside the fermenter. A "hot" fermentation will often be explosively fast.

Thanks a lot Yooper. I just check a forum discussion about the yeast I used and most people say it ferments very quickly, so, it looks like it is a characteristic of the Safale S-04. Yes, you’re right on... the wort temp was a few degrees above the room temp... the room temp was 70F and the adhesive thermometer in my fermenter was showing something between 22-23C when I started fermentation, which is around 72-73F. The recipe emphasizes that I should never go above 75F for this specific beer to avoid off flavors, so I suppose I should be all right.

So do you think I should wait the 2 weeks recommended before bottling? I don't do secondary fermentation. The wort is definitively very "dirt" at this point yet.

 

[Yooper]

Yooper - related to my question - is it okay to take a gravity reading about 60 hours after I pitched? I want to ensure my SG has dropped from my OG....

Sure, it's ok. If you want to be sure the SG is dropping, go right ahead! Sanitize a turkey baster or wine thief, and try to get a "clean" sample. Pumpkin is rather "thick". Put it in a hydrometer test jar, check it, and let us know! Oh, and then drink the sample. I bet it's beer by now!

 

[Yooper]

Thanks a lot Yooper. I just check a forum discussion about the yeast I used and most people say it ferments very quickly, so, it looks like it is a characteristic of the Safale S-04. Yes, you’re right on... the wort temp was a few degrees above the room temp... the room temp was 70F and the adhesive thermometer in my fermenter was showing something between 22-23C when I started fermentation, which is around 72-73F. The recipe emphasizes that I should never go above 75F for this specific beer to avoid off flavors, so I suppose I should be all right.

So do you think I should wait the 2 weeks recommended before bottling? I don't do secondary fermentation. The wort is definitively very "dirt" at this point yet.

Yes- even with S04, which clears the beer very well, you want to wait 2-3 weeks. The yeast will flocculate out, leaving a very tight compact yeast cake. The beer will be pretty clear in three weeks, and you can siphon right off of the yeast cake.

 

[PassionBeer]

Sure, it's ok. If you want to be sure the SG is dropping, go right ahead! Sanitize a turkey baster or wine thief, and try to get a "clean" sample. Pumpkin is rather "thick". Put it in a hydrometer test jar, check it, and let us know! Oh, and then drink the sample. I bet it's beer by now!

Great, thanks for the info - will do!

I just want to be sure, like Revvy said, airlock bubbling (well, the lack thereof) doesn't mean the yeasties aren't doing their job. I want to ensure that's the case.

 

[Indyking]

Yooper - related to my question - is it okay to take a gravity reading about 60 hours after I pitched? I want to ensure my SG has dropped from my OG....

Shane, there is people here with a lot more experience than I have, but I don't think there is any problem at all to check the SG earlier as long as you be careful to not introduce contamination to your wort in the process.

 

[Indyking]

Yes- even with S04, which clears the beer very well, you want to wait 2-3 weeks. The yeast will flocculate out, leaving a very tight compact yeast cake. The beer will be pretty clear in three weeks, and you can siphon right off of the yeast cake.

Thanks a lot! Will wait then. One more question. Is the yeast cake supposed to form on the top or botton of the wort?

 

[PassionBeer]

Thanks a lot! Will wait then. One more question. Is the yeast cake supposed to form on the top or botton of the wort?

You'll get the nice yeast cake on the bottom, but may also get a ring of krausen on the top.