Do all fermentations produce airlock/blow off activity?

[bboyeruga]

I am about 10 brews in and have had a lot of good luck with fermentations.

My latest brew was a Chocolate Peanut Butter Brown Ale that I designed myself and it ended with about 6 gallons at 1.073 (did not intend for it to be that high). I used the WYEAST Ringwood strain and used a blow off tube, expecting a lot of activity. I pitched at 65 degrees with proper aeration, but no starter (no equipment for it yet). The WYEAST pouch was swollen when I pitched, so I know the yeast is active.

I've shaken the bucket once or twice a day and press down on the swollen bucket every now and then to see if there is any CO2 build up. That is the only way that I see any kind of activity in the blow off container.

I'm just looking to try to pinpoint the issue here. I've recently read that this strain is finicky, so I may go get a different to add to it in secondary to help finish it up. Any suggestions along this front are also welcome.

I'm about to open it and re-aerate it (I have the drill mix bar attachment that mixes while aerating), but I'd like to avoid opening it at all costs.

Thanks for your help and suggestions.

 

[Jayhem]

BUCKET is the magic word here. None of them seal completely air tight around the lid so CO2 escapes there instead of through the air lock.

I ferment often with the same batch in a bucket right next to a better bottle carboy. The carboy air lock goes nuts but the bucket is much slower to bubble the air lock.

 

[LLBeanJ]

No, they don't. I brewed a black ale a while back that never developed any krausen, but finished completely within about a week.

Have you checked for krausen? If it is present, then fermentation is proceeding. Have you taken a hydrometer reading? If not, and it has been at least a week since pitching, do that (assuming there is no krausen on top). Do NOT aerate until you've confirmed with a hydrometer that fermentation did not start.

 

[bboyeruga]

No, they don't. I brewed a black ale a while back that never developed any krausen, but finished completely within about a week.

Have you checked for krausen? If it is present, then fermentation is proceeding. Have you taken a hydrometer reading? If not, and it has been at least a week since pitching, do that (assuming there is no krausen on top). Do NOT aerate until you've confirmed with a hydrometer that fermentation did not start.

There's not a lot of krausen, but it looks like there's a bit on top. Just curious, why do you say not to aerate?

 

[LLBeanJ]

Oxygen prior to fermentation = good
Oxygen after fermentation begins = bad (unless you like the flavor of cardboard)

If there is krausen, even a little bit, then fermentation has started and aerating now will likely ruin your beer. If it's been more than a week since pitching, take a hydro reading and see how close it is to finishing. It might be there already. There's no need to fear removing the lid.

 

[johngaltsmotor]

You say "press down on the swollen bucket lid" - if it is swollen there's a 99.9% chance that it's because the yeast are producing CO2 which is increasing the pressure inside. It doesn't take much pressure to make them bow because of the large area.
Even though they state that the liquid smack packs are ready to go after swelling they can take a while before they reproduce enough cells to change from reproduction to converting sugar to alcohol. As long as the bucket lid is swollen just give it a week and then slowly and carefully open the lid just enough to get a thief sample and measure SG to verify it is dropping.

 

[Newsman]

Oxygen prior to fermentation = good
Oxygen after fermentation begins = bad (unless you like the flavor of cardboard)

If there is krausen, even a little bit, then fermentation has started and aerating now will likely ruin your beer. If it's been more than a week since pitching, take a hydro reading and see how close it is to finishing. It might be there already. There's no need to fear removing the lid.

Actually, I was reading on the Danstar website that they recommend oxygen 24 hours after pitching.

 

[LLBeanJ]

Actually, I was reading on the Danstar website that they recommend oxygen 24 hours after pitching.

Yes, there is a small window between pitching and the completion of the growth/lag phase, during which fermentation has not actually started, in which it is safe to aerate. From the OPs description, sounds like he is well beyond that window.

 

[bboyeruga]

Actually, I was reading on the Danstar website that they recommend oxygen 24 hours after pitching.

And that is what I did. I oxygenated 24 hours after pitching (when the tool came in the mail :rockin

I just took a gravity reading and it is about 1.023. I just can't believe it fermented that fast (today is day 5) and with almost no airlock activity.

Oh well! Tastes great and is going to knock me on my ass when I drink it!

 

[Newsman]

Yeah. I have a dunkelweizen I started on Wednesday. It's got a small krausen on top that looks kinda like mini-marshmallows on top of hot chocolate -- complete with the partly melted look, but no noticeable blowoff, even though I have a blowoff tube attached. I took a chance and mixed up a little bit of yeast nutrient in some water and dumped that in the carboy this morning, to see if I can help the yeast out a bit.
Since mine will have been fermenting about 48 hours by the time I get home, I'm not going to add any more O2 and just be patient.

 

[bboyeruga]

Thanks everyone for your help. I'm still trying to overcome my fear of opening the lid before bottling/racking. Glad I got that resolved today.

 

[MindenMan]

All of my fermentation bucket have spigots, so there is no need to open the fermenter. I put vodka in my "S" shaped airlock. After I take the sample, I rinse out the spigot with water, and then with iodine solution just to be safe, and before taking a sample, I iodine wash the spigot again before I turn the handle. Overkill maybe, but I haven't had any infected batches since I started using this method.

 

[bboyeruga]

All of my fermentation bucket have spigots, so there is no need to open the fermenter. I put vodka in my "S" shaped airlock. After I take the sample, I rinse out the spigot with water, and then with iodine solution just to be safe, and before taking a sample, I iodine wash the spigot again before I turn the handle. Overkill maybe, but I haven't had any infected batches since I started using this method.

Interesting. Got a picture? I'm interested in how that looks.

I heard having spigots in your bucket fermenter puts you at risk for infection, but it sounds like you've got a good process to keep it sanitary.