Hey guys! I've read a lot of of posts on where people will have the air lock stop bubbling after a couple of days. Well, the same thing happened to me. When i was first trying to measure the OG before putting the lid on, it was difficult to read exactly because of the foam around it. I think it was in the 1.057-1.061 because the numbers were both covered up. I didn't exactly aerate it vigorously when i poured my brew to the primary fermenting stage bucket. Is there something that i need to look for at the moment or just let the brew take its course? I put the lid on it Saturday night at around 8:00pm.
Air lock stopped bubbling on the second day
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vNmd
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Welcome. You should take another reading and see where you are currently at. Depending on what you are making, yeast, temp, etc, you should be ok. The bubbles are not the end all of indicators. I have an ale going right now that only had a couple days of bubbling. I will check it at the end of the week. I would check it for your records but I would let it sit.
Thanks a lot buddy. By the way, i'm brewing some milk stout. It's perfectly fine if i take the lid off and on? I had read that you didn't want to be getting air in there after closing it. Thanks a lot for you help.
There's probably a leak on the lid so the co2 is escaping through the leak instead of the air lock. Take the lid off and see if you got fermentation going on. if you do then throw the klid back on and leave it alone. try and make sure you get a good seal when you put it back on.
Thanks for that. I opened the lid and looked inside, there are good bubbles on top along with a layer of dark bubbles around the inner diameter of the bucket up above the head of the beer. The air lock is not clogged or touching the foam at all.
HarborTownBrewing
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I second this. The airlock doesn't really mean anything - it just gives a little reassurance for those of us who worry about something having gone wrong.
I use a bucket so it's tough to see what's going on, but I usually take a flashlight and shine it down from the top of the lid (with the lid on) to light up the bucket so I can see the krausen which has formed along the sidewalls. As the days pass you'll see more and more krausen forming, which is a good sign.
If you noticed airlock activity in the first couple days though, you should be just fine. My last beer didn't have any air lock activity but it turned out great - sometimes there is just a little leak. Try to keep from taking the lid off unless necessary though.
When the rapid bubbling slows or stops, only initial fermentation is over. It'll then slowly, uneventfully creep down to a stable FG from there. At FG, I give it 3-7 days more to clean up any by-products of fermentation & settle out clear or slightly misty before bottling. 
How can you tell if your primary stage of fermentation is complete if you don't see any bubbles? The kit calls for 4-7 days but from what i'm reading, people let their primary fermenting stage go to 14 days or more.
Foosier
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Relax, Don't worry, have a homebrew (or commercial if this is your first batch.)
First thing you need to know is that kit instructions are notoriously bad. Fermentation is done when it is done. This is likely around 4-7 days, but you really can let it ride for longer with no issues and actually some benefit. Leaving it be gives the yeast time to finish its' work and drop out of suspension (flocculate). This makes better tasting, more clear beer. I have a Scotch ale which is about 3 weeks in primary as I have not had time to keg it up yet.
Take the hydrometer reading once the bubbles and krausen (the thick dark bubbles you see around the edge) have fallen back into the beer. This usually takes about week or 2. At that point, you should be good to take a reading. Take a reading a couple days apart. If they match and the reading is near the expected final gravity, the beer should be done.
From there, follow your instructions for bottling. Hope this helps.
First thing you need to know is that kit instructions are notoriously bad. Fermentation is done when it is done. This is likely around 4-7 days, but you really can let it ride for longer with no issues and actually some benefit. Leaving it be gives the yeast time to finish its' work and drop out of suspension (flocculate). This makes better tasting, more clear beer. I have a Scotch ale which is about 3 weeks in primary as I have not had time to keg it up yet.
Take the hydrometer reading once the bubbles and krausen (the thick dark bubbles you see around the edge) have fallen back into the beer. This usually takes about week or 2. At that point, you should be good to take a reading. Take a reading a couple days apart. If they match and the reading is near the expected final gravity, the beer should be done.
From there, follow your instructions for bottling. Hope this helps.
dkevinb
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I always leave my beers alone in the primary for 2-3 weeks. Primary fermentation may be done in 4-7 days, but the yeast still needs to go back and clean up the more complex sugars, as well as any byproducts they produced during primary. I only take hydro samples when I first dump it into the fermenter to get the OG, then again when I'm getting ready to bottle for the FG. I've never had a beer not hit pretty darned close to expected FG after 2 weeks. The main reasons I check gravities at all are to make sure my process is on track, as well as to figure the ABV, just because I want to know. I don't like the idea of taking lots of repeated samples, especially when you know fermentation is not done. First, it wastes beer. Second, it provides a very slight but not zero chance of contaminating your beer.
Unless I'm oaking or adding fruit, etc I don't bother with a secondary. Just leave it in primary till i's at FG & settles out clear or slightly misty. Then prime & bottle. And the yeast only clean up by-products of fermentation. They can't metabolize complex (read long chain) sugars. Those give color & flavor.
Foosier
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What the good doctor said. I really only secondary if I am going to age it in bulk for a long period of time. A regul;ar fermentation completed in 2-3 weeks does not really seem to need a secondary and is really just another step which can oxidize the beer and make it go stale faster. No need to risk it when there are no real benefits. If you are adding fruit or oaking then, yes that makes more sense.
I understand that the kits can be slightly altered but ok...my air lock has not bubbled since the second day it's been fermenting. When should i take a reading and what should i do from here?
RELAX
Forget the instructions. They mean bupkis!
Kit instructions are generally VERY simplistic. They have no idea whether your yeast will be finished eating all of the sugars in your wort or not. You have to TAKE GRAVITY READINGS with a hydrometer to know if fermentation is complete.
Forget the airlock! It lies! In a perfect world all fermentors would be leak free and an airlock would be a relatively useful guide for approximating fermentation rate. They STILL do not replace a hydrometer for knowing FOR SURE if your fermentation is done.
TAKE A GRAVITY READING. If it is at or close to your expected FG, then take another reading in 3 days and see if it changes. If so, then it's still going. If not, then your beer has fermented out and you can go to the next stage.
***You can rack to a secondary or not.
This is a personal choice. I've done both and lately I have been doing a secondary. For a while I skipped it and just let the beer clear in the primary.
If you are careful, there is nothing very dangerous to doing a secondary, especially if you bottle and want less stuff on the bottom of the bottles. If you keg, then you can just rack to the keg and let the beer clear in the keg. It will be clear after a pour or two.
There is no magical schedule. The yeast will be done when they are done and the clearing stage can vary a lot. Some people do 2-2-3 (primary-secondary-carbonation) some people do 3-3, soem people do 2-4-2... etc.
The important thing is to make sure that fermentation is done before bottling, and you can let your beer clear as long as you like, but I would probably bottle before 6 weeks if you don't rack to secondary, just to minimize any potential off-flavors.
Forget the instructions. They mean bupkis!
Kit instructions are generally VERY simplistic. They have no idea whether your yeast will be finished eating all of the sugars in your wort or not. You have to TAKE GRAVITY READINGS with a hydrometer to know if fermentation is complete.
Forget the airlock! It lies! In a perfect world all fermentors would be leak free and an airlock would be a relatively useful guide for approximating fermentation rate. They STILL do not replace a hydrometer for knowing FOR SURE if your fermentation is done.
TAKE A GRAVITY READING. If it is at or close to your expected FG, then take another reading in 3 days and see if it changes. If so, then it's still going. If not, then your beer has fermented out and you can go to the next stage.
***You can rack to a secondary or not.
This is a personal choice. I've done both and lately I have been doing a secondary. For a while I skipped it and just let the beer clear in the primary.
If you are careful, there is nothing very dangerous to doing a secondary, especially if you bottle and want less stuff on the bottom of the bottles. If you keg, then you can just rack to the keg and let the beer clear in the keg. It will be clear after a pour or two.
There is no magical schedule. The yeast will be done when they are done and the clearing stage can vary a lot. Some people do 2-2-3 (primary-secondary-carbonation) some people do 3-3, soem people do 2-4-2... etc.
The important thing is to make sure that fermentation is done before bottling, and you can let your beer clear as long as you like, but I would probably bottle before 6 weeks if you don't rack to secondary, just to minimize any potential off-flavors.
user 194292
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Thanks for posting this Cadets3! Sunday will be 2 weeks for my first batch and I have had similar questions and concerns. Thanks for all the responses! Love this forum. I learn every day.
Foosier
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Cadets3, if it has been at least a week I would recommend opening the bucket and checking to see if the yeast has fallen back into the beer. (If this has happened, there will be some small bubbles on the surface of the beer but there will be many clear patches without a layer of bubbles covering it.) If the yeast has fallen, check gravity. If not, wait another week as the yeast is still working. when you check the gavity, write down the result and close the fermenter back up. Wait 3 days and take another gravity reading. If the readings match, (and are close to what the recipe predicted the final gravity should be) the batch should be completed fermenting and you can proceed to bottle or keg.
FiddlersGreen87
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First two you new guys. Do yourself a huge favor. Go buy and read this book.
http://www.howtobrew.com/
I read it about 5 years after I started brewing out of a starter kit like you're doing, and I wish someone would of directed it to me after my first beer. Read through it with a highlighter, and don't focus on mastering the small formulas. Your initial read will give you insight, answer so many simple questions that at the moment, understandably, seem important. Once you figure your process out a little better, and get more experience, re-read it or re-read the detailed stuff that you now have more experience to make sense of it.
Secondly, as mentioned, airlocks are not the end all be all. In my opinion, Krausen (foamy head) is a much better indication of fermentation. I just made an amber that bubble for 2 days and then stopped entirely, but the krausen remained for 6 more days. My FG numbers were right on the money.
Third, this is my opinion, don't take hydrometer readings from the fermenter. Take a sample and take the reading from that.
Finally, fermentation is done when it is done. I my primaries go for as long as they're showing activity. Once they stop, I give them an additional 2-3 days to clean up as others mentioned.
Secondary is unnecessary unless you're doing something additional to the beer that you don't want mixed in with the residuals from the primary. I'm going to take a 10gal porter that's split in two fermenters and put one in a keg and one in a secondary this afternoon. The secondary will get the vanilla and coconut additions. However, it's not for the purpose of fermentation, it'll only sit in there for a few days and then go into a keg as well. Or if you're using the secondary for it's actual purpose. Read this article. Secondary Fermentation
Seriously, read the book, it'll answer a lot of your questions you haven't even thought to ask.
http://www.howtobrew.com/
I read it about 5 years after I started brewing out of a starter kit like you're doing, and I wish someone would of directed it to me after my first beer. Read through it with a highlighter, and don't focus on mastering the small formulas. Your initial read will give you insight, answer so many simple questions that at the moment, understandably, seem important. Once you figure your process out a little better, and get more experience, re-read it or re-read the detailed stuff that you now have more experience to make sense of it.
Secondly, as mentioned, airlocks are not the end all be all. In my opinion, Krausen (foamy head) is a much better indication of fermentation. I just made an amber that bubble for 2 days and then stopped entirely, but the krausen remained for 6 more days. My FG numbers were right on the money.
Third, this is my opinion, don't take hydrometer readings from the fermenter. Take a sample and take the reading from that.
Finally, fermentation is done when it is done. I my primaries go for as long as they're showing activity. Once they stop, I give them an additional 2-3 days to clean up as others mentioned.
Secondary is unnecessary unless you're doing something additional to the beer that you don't want mixed in with the residuals from the primary. I'm going to take a 10gal porter that's split in two fermenters and put one in a keg and one in a secondary this afternoon. The secondary will get the vanilla and coconut additions. However, it's not for the purpose of fermentation, it'll only sit in there for a few days and then go into a keg as well. Or if you're using the secondary for it's actual purpose. Read this article. Secondary Fermentation
Seriously, read the book, it'll answer a lot of your questions you haven't even thought to ask.
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