My wort is currently in the primary (plastic) Fermenter, going on it's second day. I see no activity at all. No bubbles, nothing, I tried to do some trouble-shooting on the Web and found what might be the issue. Following the instructions I had it imply says to add the Yeast, and stir to aerate. And that is exactly what I did, but I simply just opened the yeast package and dumped it in and stirred. Not realizing I needed to mix it with warm water first to "wake it up". Was that my mistake? Is my batch ruined? Do I need to start from scratch? Is there any thing I can do to save the batch? I feel like I did everything else exactly to spec.
I haven't opened the fermenting bucket to look in yet, I am tempted but nervous I will let in unwanted air. Only reason I know it is not active is because I do not see any bubbles in the airlock. I should, correct?
It's entirely possible that your bucket lid isn't sealed tightly and you beer is fermenting away happily. If the lid isn't thight, the CO2 escapes around the rim, instead of through the airlock. You won't hurt anything by opening to the bucket to take a peek. Do that and get back to us.
Relax. Chances are good that everything will turn out well. Lack of bubbling in the air lock isn't nessesarily an indication of a lack of fermentation. The seal on your fermentor may not be complete and the gas is escaping through that route. Also check the seal at the bung of the airlock. That could be leaking. Or your airlock could be plugged. Any of these things can prevent you from seeing bubble in the airlock.
Now assuming those things are ok... what temperature was the wort when you pitched and what temperature is it now?
Okay, I opened her up. The wort is quite bubbly!! Looks a bit like soap suds, which makes me nervous, but everything does at this time. So the seal around the cap looks fine, but the airlock looked a bit loose, and it still sort of does after I tried to get a good fit. What does "your airlock could be plugged" mean?
When I pitched the yeast in the wort, it was below what I would have liked (i cooled my wort a deep sink full of water and ice), probably at
65 - 70 F. I also think the room where I was storing the wort was a bit cool, so I put in a space heater, to ensure that the stays at 70F.
If I sanitize a thermometer, is it okay to take the temp of the wort? My instructions call to siphon over the wort into my glass carboy in 3 or 4 days, or until the bubbles subside. Then keep in that for another
7 days.
Ahh, so green I am. Excited to get into this rewarding hobby! Thanks for all of your help. Any other comments/suggestion are welcome! ps. should i try a hydrometer reading?
Sounds like you might have had a little leakage at your airlock connection if it seemed to be loose. It doesn't seem like it would have gotten plugged.
If the temperature in the room is 65 to 70 F, do yourself a big favor and turn off that space heater. In general, your beer will taste better (i.e., have less fruity off-flavors, etc.) if you keep the temperature on the cooler side, less than 70 F.
You can take the temperature if you want, but I don't know what good it would do you. Your beer will probably be a couple of degrees above room temperature. Fermentation produces a little bit of heat, but I can't see much reason to take the temperature.
Primary fermentation may take longer than 3 or 4 days. Wait until the bubbles die down to a near halt before transfering.
You can hold off on the hydrometer reading until at least the primary fermentation is complete. It really comes into play at the very end, when you're trying to determine whether you've reached your goal for specific gravity. Also you can calculate your alcohol percent by subtracting your final gravity from original gravity and multiplying by 130.
With a vigorous ferment, solids in the wort could fill and plug the airlock tube. This would prevent CO2 from bubbling through. I don't think this is your problem, but I included it as a list of possibilities as to why you might not see bubbling in the airlock yet still have active fermentation. I'd suspect a loose bung first.
Um.. just a thought... I'm assuming you have water/vodka/sterile water in the airlock, right? Without said fluid, you'd not see any bubbling. Sorry if this sounds a little condecending - I don't mean it to be - but I'm just trying to cover the bases. :-)
Yes.. it would be ok but I don't think its necessary. (There's always a risk of intoducing something you don't want in there, so you should only do so when you need to.) Very cool temperatures would slow down the ferment, however given the temps you mentioned above, temperature isn't your issue. In fact, as another poster noted, you don't need the space heater. Fermentation won't be as fast as it would be at a higher temperature, but you'll get better beer. :-)
The key here is not so much the schedule on the calendar as the schedule of what the beer needs. If bubbling stops (or is very slow - like one bubble a minute), then would be the time time to rack to secondary. No rush though... my current beer was in the primary for
15 days before I racked into the secondary. It's been in the secondary for two weeks and I'll probably leave it for another 2 weeks.
I primarily use the hydrometer to confirm that fermentation is complete. A couple of days with the same reading confirms that no suger is being consumed and it's time for the secondary.
The hardest part about the first batch is the waiting. Been there, done that, drank the immature beer (but learned about aging in the process!)
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