Too little action

[Doobiebrewer]

I'm fermenting a munich dunkel on the yeast from my last Schwarzbier and getting no bubbles from those blow off hose. One of those orange caps running into a gallon jug of San. I see action but no gas bubbles. Using wyeast cal lager yeast. Can you pitch another packet? Should I pitch the same strain?

Yeast facts.
Fermented increasing temp over 5weeks from 62°- 68° in previous beer. 1.046 og. Went down to 1.012fg. Kegged day of brewing next batch and pitched the yeast directly into 58° wort. It's up to 68° over 5 days now.
Thanks for all the help from those who know and share.

 

[RPh_Guy]

You have a leak.

Bubbles are not a reliable indicator of fermentation progress. For that you need hydrometer readings.

Cheers!

 

[NGD]

Due to the title, I thought this was going to be a completely different topic.

I recently bought speidel partially because of my bucket lids leaking. I can say for the past few batches I dont even worry about bubbles anymore. The hydrometer tells me everything I need to know.

 

[Hopalong]

Place a hose clamp around the neck part of the cap and carboy and tighten it up, same thing with the outlet tubes.

As the other brewer said, a hydrometer is needed before deciding on the next road to take.
​

When the previous beer was fermenting did everything work with the blow off part and was fresh out of a package yeast used? For consistency it's better to use packaged yeast because yeast have a habit of becoming senile and when senile yeast is harvested it takes awhile for them to remember what they're here for. It's better to compare apples to apples.

​

Was the new batch of wort added on top of five week old sediment? Lager yeast takes a beating at 68F and it might be pretty much whipped. When high temperature is involved with fermentation (diacetyl rest) krausen is added to make up for wiped out yeast. Skip the diacetyl rest, if the wort is balanced and the yeast is good a diacetyl rest isn't needed. Ferment ale at 55F and lager 50F. Off flavors associated with homebrew happen during high fermentation temperature.

When a new batch of wort is going to be added on top of yeast left in the primary fermenter it's better to brew beer on the day when a batch of beer is transferred from the primary fermenter into a secondary fermenter.
When another batch of wort is added on top of yeast allow the wort to settle for a few hours and rack the wort off the goop before mixing it with yeast. It's a good practice to rack wort off trub before adding yeast, anyway.

Instead of waiting five weeks to brew beer.
Brew a batch of beer and after 10 days primary fermentation rack the beer into a secondary fermenter and brew a batch of beer and add the new batch of wort to the left over yeast.
Wait 10 days and transfer the beer from the secondary fermenter into a keg.
Clean the secondary fermenter and transfer the beer from the primary fermenter into the secondary fermenter.
Dump all of the yeast and goop from the primary fermenter, clean it real good and brew another batch of beer with fresh new yeast. Over and over, until you fill up a bunch of kegs. Talk about a pipeline!!!...LOLOLOzzzzap.
​

 

[Doobiebrewer]

Place a hose clamp around the neck part of the cap and carboy and tighten it up, same thing with the outlet tubes.

As the other brewer said, a hydrometer is needed before deciding on the next road to take.
​

When the previous beer was fermenting did everything work with the blow off part and was fresh out of a package yeast used? For consistency it's better to use packaged yeast because yeast have a habit of becoming senile and when senile yeast is harvested it takes awhile for them to remember what they're here for. It's better to compare apples to apples.

​

Was the new batch of wort added on top of five week old sediment? Lager yeast takes a beating at 68F and it might be pretty much whipped. When high temperature is involved with fermentation (diacetyl rest) krausen is added to make up for wiped out yeast. Skip the diacetyl rest, if the wort is balanced and the yeast is good a diacetyl rest isn't needed. Ferment ale at 55F and lager 50F. Off flavors associated with homebrew happen during high fermentation temperature.

When a new batch of wort is going to be added on top of yeast left in the primary fermenter it's better to brew beer on the day when a batch of beer is transferred from the primary fermenter into a secondary fermenter.
When another batch of wort is added on top of yeast allow the wort to settle for a few hours and rack the wort off the goop before mixing it with yeast. It's a good practice to rack wort off trub before adding yeast, anyway.

Instead of waiting five weeks to brew beer.
Brew a batch of beer and after 10 days primary fermentation rack the beer into a secondary fermenter and brew a batch of beer and add the new batch of wort to the left over yeast.
Wait 10 days and transfer the beer from the secondary fermenter into a keg.
Clean the secondary fermenter and transfer the beer from the primary fermenter into the secondary fermenter.
Dump all of the yeast and goop from the primary fermenter, clean it real good and brew another batch of beer with fresh new yeast. Over and over, until you fill up a bunch of kegs. Talk about a pipeline!!!...LOLOLOzzzzap.
​

Thanks for all that. Temperature restricted so low 60s is all I can do for now but have had good luck with cal lager yeast at those temps. I'm watching it closely and will take a hydrometer reading when I see the action stop and its cleared up a bit.