Airlock activity after taking DM reading

[Neil1454]

Been really new to brewing I'm finding a few bits a bit odd.

So I have a Dark Velvet stout that has been brewing since 20th November.
I know 6 days is not long.... I'm questi
Pitching yeast at 19 and keeping temps between 18-21 and keeping between 19-21 more often than not.
Activity seemed to have stopped for a few days now. So I take a reading pop the lid back on the FV and put the air lock back on and pretty much straight away the air lock is going bonkers.
I've not stired or done anything other than take a reading. Temp is sat at around 19c.
There looked like some yeast still on the top that had not dropped. Not allot but some.

Just wondered if allowing air in kicks things off again or is it more to do with disturbing the yeast on top and should I stir it?

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
It's more to do with, "Don't trust airlocks".
Leave your brew for 2 weeks and don't disturb it.

 

[Ghillie]

Been really new to brewing I'm finding a few bits a bit odd.

So I have a Dark Velvet stout that has been brewing since 20th November.
I know 6 days is not long.... I'm questi
Pitching yeast at 19 and keeping temps between 18-21 and keeping between 19-21 more often than not.
Activity seemed to have stopped for a few days now. So I take a reading pop the lid back on the FV and put the air lock back on and pretty much straight away the air lock is going bonkers.
I've not stired or done anything other than take a reading. Temp is sat at around 19c.
There looked like some yeast still on the top that had not dropped. Not allot but some.

Just wondered if allowing air in kicks things off again or is it more to do with disturbing the yeast on top and should I stir it?

How did you get the beer out to take the reading?

Don't stir the krausen (the mess on top) back into the beer - it'll fall in naturally when it's ready.

I agree with @Bigcol49, airlock activity is only an indication of airlock activity - nothing more. Minimum of 14 days undisturbed in the fermenter, I go with 21 days for virtually every beer. Keep that lid closed!

 

[Neil1454]

Opened the lid and used a starsan sanitised

just really weird how I'd not seen anything at all for a while then all of a sudden things happen. There are spots that just look like yeast that is floating and doing nothing. The rest has fallen.
I've attached a pic. The flash of the camera makes it look silver.

Should the yeast not be mixed in? Do I just leave it then?

Thanks

 

[BrewHouse]

As with all hobbies, when you are new to home brew there is a lot to learn and some of it seems very complicated. Two of the the most important things are hygiene and PATIENCE. There is probably not a single person on this forum who has not prodded, poked, measured, sniffed, tasted when they should not have. I agree with Ghillie. As long as you see some sign of life after starting fermentation, just leave it alone for 2 weeks minimum. It will take care of itself and if it doesn't, there is not a lot you can realistically do about it anyway.

 

[Ghillie]

just really weird how I'd not seen anything at all for a while then all of a sudden things happen. There are spots that just look like yeast that is floating and doing nothing. The rest has fallen.
I've attached a pic. The flash of the camera makes it look silver.

Should the yeast not be mixed in? Do I just leave it then?

Thanks

You'll find that in time there'll be virtually nothing left on top of your beer. Everything will fall in by itself.

As @BrewHouse has said, we all messed with beer at the beginning - and a lot of us learnt the hard way. It really is a patient man's game. The less you interfere, the better the reward!

 

[MmmBeer]

Been really new to brewing I'm finding a few bits a bit odd.

So I have a Dark Velvet stout that has been brewing since 20th November.
I know 6 days is not long.... I'm questi
Pitching yeast at 19 and keeping temps between 18-21 and keeping between 19-21 more often than not.
Activity seemed to have stopped for a few days now. So I take a reading pop the lid back on the FV and put the air lock back on and pretty much straight away the air lock is going bonkers.
I've not stired or done anything other than take a reading. Temp is sat at around 19c.
There looked like some yeast still on the top that had not dropped. Not allot but some.

Just wondered if allowing air in kicks things off again or is it more to do with disturbing the yeast on top and should I stir it?

I have noticed this effect too, either when opening FV to take FG readings, or when bottling after 2+weeks and no airlock activity for several days, there are frequent bubbles rising to the surface. What I believe is happening, is that the beer is absorbing some oxygen, which kick starts the yeast cells back into action.

 

[Neil1454]

I am just been cautious because my last brew was a bit of a failure.
It was the wilko sweet newkie brown. It ended up coming out at 2% instead of 4. But I pitched the gervin yeast at like 28c. :/ and just used 1kg brewing sugar.

This time...
Wilkos Dark Velvet Stout.
500g Brewing Sugar
500g Medium spray malt
500g demerara sugar.

SG: 1.044
Reading just now is 1.016
3.68%

Gervin yeast pitch temp 19c.

 

[Ghillie]

28C wouldn't have done your yeast much favours buddy.

19C is a much better pitch temp. No idea about kits, but I'd imagine that FG will come down a bit yet, maybe fish up around 1.010 - 1.014. The kit should give you an "estimate", but that's all it will be.

I don't actually bother measuring FG anymore, I know when I see bubbling in the air lock; and eventually a krausen; that everything is good. Temp control is good so leaving it for 3 weeks and I know it'll definitely be finished.

 

[Neil1454]

Going to ask some maybe stupid questions here.

Does the water I use effect the end result?
I'm not using tap water I'm using the 17p cheap bottled still water from tesco.

With adding more fermentable stuff to the FV I'd have thought that the ABV would end higher than the 4.0% it's suppose to end at with just 1kg of brewing sugar ?

 

[Ghillie]

Going to ask some maybe stupid questions here.

Does the water I use effect the end result?
I'm not using tap water I'm using the 17p cheap bottled still water from tesco.

With adding more fermentable stuff to the FV I'd have thought that the ABV would end higher than the 4.0% it's suppose to end at with just 1kg of brewing sugar ?

No stupid questions, only stupid answers!

Water will most definitely impact the results, how much by, that's very much dependant on various factors. You can make good beer with almost all water, it's typically the last place where beers fall down. You can make a good beer great by altering water chemistry - but you can't make a bad beer good regardless of what you do to the water. It's really the last 5% of your worries on brewday. Sound sanitary practices and good fermentation temperatures is what makes good beer. This is where most people let themselves down.

The more sugar you put in, the higher the alcohol content will be. This is true up until the point where the yeast cannot tolerate the alcohol and basically dies. It's also only true if your temperatures are sound and you have a high enough yeast cell count to work on all that sugar. Adding extra sugar will give you a higher OG which is more strenuous on the yeast, that's why guys who make big beers, like imperial stouts for example, pitch loads of yeast.

I wouldn't expect too much from kits in all honesty. I have made a kit beer, cider and wine - all of them were horrifically bad. I went straight to all grain from there and was blown away by the difference.

I now treat my water, but just a small amount. Lactic acid for reducing mash pH into the correct range alongside tiny gypsum and calc chloride additions to help the hops come through. My beer was quite good before and I now think it's slightly better with the water adjustments. I am lucky that I have good tap water though.

 

[phillc]

I think it'll be fine and as @MmmBeer has alluded to, you've de-gassed the wort somewhat by letting out CO2 and letting in oxygen. This has kickstarted your yeast again.

Here's a stackexchange thread asking a similar question:
https://homebrew.stackexchange.com/q/2114

This specific answer might be relevant for your case:
https://homebrew.stackexchange.com/a/16281

I'm not a beer expert, having made more ciders and meads. I had pretty much the same thing happen with the first mead I made. After a bit of reading I found some recipes for mead specifically recommend de-gassing early in the fermentation to keep the yeast happy.

Just let it finish fermenting now, sit for a few more days once bubbling activity has stopped through the airlock, take another gravity reading but then bottle immediately.

 

[terrym]

Just wondered if allowing air in kicks things off again or is it more to do with disturbing the yeast on top and should I stir it?

What you probably had was a poorly fitting lid first time round and when you replaced it seated properly. Hence the bubbles return. Otherwise just leave it alone as others have suggested.

And take heart. I'm sure your stout will turn out fine. In spite of what some would have you believe, you can make perfectly good beer from a beer kit, you just have to know which ones to pick and what to do with them.

 

[matt76]

I'm new too - I did one kit which was ok, but only ok (I'm sure with practice it could be better though).

Since then I've switched to all grain. Last weekend I had a bottle of my first all grain brew and like Ghillie I'm stunned by the difference.

I encourage you to have a go a simple AG, it really is easy:
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/have-a-go-at-simple-ag.51779/

Regarding water, yeah I use those big 5L bottles of Tesco Ashbeck water too - no problems so far. I figure I've a lot more to learn before I start worrying the water!

Cheers,

Matt

 

[Bigcol49]

I use those big 5L bottles of Tesco Ashbeck water too

Hi!
Very handy when empty - I use mine as demijohns when maturing wine. A couple of months in the plastic and then rack into glass - the plastic allows some oxygen to permeate into the wine, thus aiding the maturation process.
I now use RO water for brewing beer, but store it in empty 5 litre water bottles just prior to brewing.
All in all, a versatile product.

 

[dad_of_jon]

Going to ask some maybe stupid questions here.

Does the water I use effect the end result?
I'm not using tap water I'm using the 17p cheap bottled still water from tesco.

With adding more fermentable stuff to the FV I'd have thought that the ABV would end higher than the 4.0% it's suppose to end at with just 1kg of brewing sugar ?

the tesco 17p water is great, I use it for all my brews. if you're going to use tap water treat it to get rid of the chlorine/choromine otherwise most untreated water from the tap will give you off flavours. pouring in brewing sugar slowly there should be no need to stir it. stirring beer = bad - stirring wort = good.

 

[BrewHouse]

Hi!
Very handy when empty - I use mine as demijohns when maturing wine. A couple of months in the plastic and then rack into glass - the plastic allows some oxygen to permeate into the wine, thus aiding the maturation process.
I now use RO water for brewing beer, but store it in empty 5 litre water bottles just prior to brewing.
All in all, a versatile product.

Hi BigCol, what do you use to get your RO water? I bought a cheapo system for about £50 and it takes ages to get anything. I haven't used it for a year but seem to remember I ended up with about 10L of RO water after 4-5 hours, maybe even longer. I gave up in the end.

 

[Neil1454]

When I get to bottling. Is it 4.6 grams of table sugar per litre of beer?
Like good carb in my beer so was wondering what is a safe aim?

Also I bottle from FV straight into bottle.
What is the easiest way to get this into 22 litres of beer as previously I have used carb drops?

Thanks

 

[phillc]

Here's an older thread covering the topic of how much sugar to use: https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/priming-sugar-per-litre.28446/

Personally, I like a lot of carbonation so go with 7 grams per litre. That's with straight dextrose.

Carb drops are probably the easiest way. Many people dissolve the sugar in a small amount of water, then rack their beer to a bottling bucket, adding the dissolved sugar solution, then bottling from there.

Personally, the method I use is to dissolve the sugar in water, then use a syringe to add 20 ml to every 500 ml bottle. If you have 40 bottles (20 litres), you'll need to dissolve 140 grams of sugar in 800 ml of water (less really as the sugar will increase total volume, so start with 500 ml and top up after the sugar dissolves). I won't say it's the easiest method, but with a 60 ml syringe you can do 3 bottles before "refilling." I like this method because it means I don't have to mess about with another racking.

Edit: Fixed calculations. 140 grams of sugar for 20 litres, not 280 grams.

 

[foxbat]

"Going bonkers" after 6 days more than likely means your yeast flocculated early and you've done your brew a favour by disturbing it and getting the cells back in amongst the sugars.

In any healthy fermentation of an average brew you'd be past the exponential (bonkers) phase by 6 days and into the stationary (diacetyl rest) phase where bubbling is slow as activity dies down.

Keep an eye on it but don't worry. It sounds like this will end well.