"Burping" Primary Fermenter

[JimmyT555]

I brewed a clone of Elysian's Space Dust IPA this past Sunday. I pitched the yeast around 2 pm on Sunday. I came home from work yesterday, around 5 pm, and I could see that there was pressure in the blow of tube but no bubbling. I cracked the lid open to take a peak inside and saw that a layer of krausen was starting to form on top. I closed the fementer back up.

I went back an hour later and it was bubbling every 15 seconds or so. I have had this happen several times before. I think it is because when I open the fermenting bucket to look, the yeast get a burst of fresh oxygen and then the fermentation really takes off.

So I was wondering if it is good to crack the lid every now and then for the first couple days of fermentation to allow some fresh oxygen. In a sense, "burping" the fermentor.

Does anyone else do this?

 

[BuckSwope]

There could be a possibility that you didn't aerate sufficiently before pitching the yeast hence why you're seeing action when you do open the lid. Another possibility is that your yeast may have been experiencing a long lag phase prior to fermentation (which can take up to 72 hours) to get going if you didn't grow a starter/under pitched.

Now if you're interested in "open" fermentation (something I'm planning here as an experiment), I saw a great vid on YouTube via Brewing TV which I believe is part of Northern Brewer. Search open fermenting on YouTube and it should pop up. According to the vid if done correctly, open fermentation can lead to more fruitier/potent yeast flavors

 

[JimmyT555]

I aerated prior to pitching, I usually do it by pouring the chilled wort back and forth between two fermenting buckets until it gets really foamy. I usually chill the wort to 55-60 F.

As for the open fermenting, I have heard of doing that by putting cheese cloth over the fermenter instead of the lid to keep dust and bugs out.

 

[BuckSwope]

Hmm, wort might be too cold for the yeast given your pitching temp. Try shooting for something in the 60s.

 

[RmikeVT]

I don't think "burping" the fermenter is something you should be doing. Plus, you aren't really introducing any oxygen into the mix as the yeast are probably putting out enough CO2 at this point it would scrub the oxygen right out.

I think you are just agitating the fermenter causing the dissolved co2 to come out of solution and bubble through the airlock.

 

[TexanRudeboy]

OT- I had Space Dust last time I was in Seattle and loved it. Can you post the recipe for me? Or if it was a kit tell me who sells it?

 

[JimmyT555]

I suppose it could also be a coincidence in the timing. The ambient temp in the closet that I keep the fermenter in is about 65 degrees F. I suppose the lag time could be due to my chilling the wort to a colder temp and the fermentation just doesn't take off until the wort warms back up. But I have had great results chilling it down to that temp and letting it come back up. It seems like chilling the wort to colder temps causes more proteins to drop out.

As for the recipe, here it is (5 gallon batch):

Grains:
18 lbs American Two Row (90%)
1.5 lbs Crystal 20L (7.5%)
0.5 lbs carapils (2.5%)

Hops:

2 oz Chinook @ 60 min
1 oz Chinook and 1 oz Citra @ 20 min
1 oz Amarillo and 1 oz Citra @ 10 min
Dry hop with 1 oz Amarillo and 1 oz Citra

I also added one whirfloc tablet at 5 min and used US05 yeast (Chico strain).

You may need to adjust your grain amounts based on your brewhouse efficiency, just maintain the correct percentages. I have made this recipe twice now and these grain amounts have yielded an OG of 1.070. I think last time I had a FG of 1.012.

Also, for the mash, I heat 5 gallons of water up to 180 F, pour in the grains, give it a good stir, put the lid on the kettle, and let it site for about an hour and a half. I then sparge the grains with 3 gallons of water heated to 170 degrees F which yields a little over 6 gallons of wort. After the boil you should have about 5 gallons of wort left to ferment.

I am obsessed with this IPA, very good, the late additions of citra hops give it really good flavor and aroma.

 

[JPrather]

I had the same thing happen to me with my first batch. I figured that I didn't have the lid on tight originally and air was escaping without bubbling until I re-sealed it.

 

[TexanRudeboy]

Thanks!

 

[BigFloyd]

I don't think "burping" the fermenter is something you should be doing. Plus, you aren't really introducing any oxygen into the mix as the yeast are probably putting out enough CO2 at this point it would scrub the oxygen right out.

I think you are just agitating the fermenter causing the dissolved co2 to come out of solution and bubble through the airlock.

This^^^^^^^^.

Once the yeast transition from aerobic reproduction to anaerobic fermentation, the introduction of O2 into the process is not helpful.

 

[JimmyT555]

But isn't the primary supposed to be aerobic fermentation in the beginning? That is why oxygenation is necessary right?

 

[JimmyT555]

and it just seems odd that within a few hours of cracking the lid to take a look, the blow off tube started bubbling one every 10 to 15 seconds or so.

The next morning the blow off was bubbling about once every second or so, full blast.

I guess it could be coincidence, but I have had the same thing happen multiple times, and every time with dry yeast btw, no starter, pitched dry.

I have never had it happen with liquid yeast.

 

[JPrather]

I don't know if you saw my post, but what's wrong with the explanation that your lid wasn't on tight before you took a look?

 

[BigFloyd]

I don't know if you saw my post, but what's wrong with the explanation that your lid wasn't on tight before you took a look?

That's a real possibility since the OP saw krausen when he opened the lid. Also, the mere opening and closing of the lid doesn't introduce enough O2 to make a dime's bit of difference.

O2 is needed during the initial phases of fermentation when the yeast cells are engaged in aerobic respiration while sprouting "daughter cells" during reproduction. After that, they run out of dissolved O2 and switch over to anaerobic fermentation (converting the sugars to alcohol). Once they go anaerobic, you don't want to aerate the beer.

 

[JimmyT555]

Like I said though, there was pressure in the blow off tube, bc the water level in the tube was lower than the water level in the jug of sanitizer.

the lid was on for sure, it is one of those gasketed plastic lids, and the middle of lid bulges when there is pressure, which there was.

maybe it is the release of pressure that helps?

 

[JimmyT555]

or it is just a coincidence of timing.

 

[JPrather]

FWIW, I just had this happen to me an hour ago with my current batch. 24 hours after pitching, there was noticeable pressure change on my airlock, but not enough to bubble.

I took the lid off, saw a nice creamy layer of krausen forming, sealed it back up, within 10 minutes it was bubbling like crazy.

There's no reason you can't have pressure on your airlock/blowoff, while also having air leaking somewhere else.

 

[JimmyT555]

I see your point. Mb that is what happened...

 

[JimmyT555]

Thanks all for your input!