Stuck fermentation?
- Thread starter hcho
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at some point during that week you should have seen signs of fermentation. so either it happened and you didn't see it, or there was no fermentation.
happened and didn't see it: what is your secondary - is it a bucket (where air can leak so you might not get airlock activity - lack airlock activity is not always an indicator of lack of fermentation), or is it a carboy where you can see activity?
no fermentation: how long between primary and secondary? what temp is you secondary at? as peterj wrote, you want to smash the whole berries first so the yeast can get in to the fruit's sugars.
happened and didn't see it: what is your secondary - is it a bucket (where air can leak so you might not get airlock activity - lack airlock activity is not always an indicator of lack of fermentation), or is it a carboy where you can see activity?
no fermentation: how long between primary and secondary? what temp is you secondary at? as peterj wrote, you want to smash the whole berries first so the yeast can get in to the fruit's sugars.
After your primary was done, virtually all the fermentable sugars were gone. Your berries didn't really add that much, so don't expect to see a lot of activity. Just relax, don't worry, let them sit for a few weeks while the beer gathers flavor.
Cheers,
Cheers,
big mouth bubbler = you can see inside the vessel, so even if the airlock wasn't bubbling you would have seen signs of fermentation (CO2 pushing up through the floating berries). so let's assume that fermentation hasn't happened.
did you add the berries frozen to the beer? one possibility is that the berries chilled the beer, made the yeast go dormant, and since the beer now has alcohol and a low pH that's a rough enviro to reactivate yeast in. or, if you waited enough time between primary and secondary, the yeast could have flocc'ed out on its own (depending on the yeast).
i would do one of the following (maybe even both)
1) get a plastic or rubber glove (dish washing gloves, something from a first aid kit, etc), sanitize the outside of them, open up the big bubbler and crush the berries by hand. grab handfuls and squish them. do this as quickly as possible.
2) boil a half or 3/4 cups of sugar in a little water, let cool, then add to the beer. use a sanitized large metal spoon to mix the sugar down past the fruit so it gets into the liquid underneath. this should reactivate the yeast, and create CO2 which will put the yeast back in suspension and in contact with the floating fruit.
putting the secondary into a slightly warmer part of the house wouldn't hurt either.
did you add the berries frozen to the beer? one possibility is that the berries chilled the beer, made the yeast go dormant, and since the beer now has alcohol and a low pH that's a rough enviro to reactivate yeast in. or, if you waited enough time between primary and secondary, the yeast could have flocc'ed out on its own (depending on the yeast).
i would do one of the following (maybe even both)
1) get a plastic or rubber glove (dish washing gloves, something from a first aid kit, etc), sanitize the outside of them, open up the big bubbler and crush the berries by hand. grab handfuls and squish them. do this as quickly as possible.
2) boil a half or 3/4 cups of sugar in a little water, let cool, then add to the beer. use a sanitized large metal spoon to mix the sugar down past the fruit so it gets into the liquid underneath. this should reactivate the yeast, and create CO2 which will put the yeast back in suspension and in contact with the floating fruit.
putting the secondary into a slightly warmer part of the house wouldn't hurt either.
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