Airlock issues

[James77]

I am a first time brewer and had a question about airlocks.

After 72hours of brewing I had no bubbles coming from my airlock so decided to try the Vaseline trick around the airlock bung and grommet. That immediately worked and bubbles started passing through the airlock. However I’ve woken up the next morning with no bubbles coming through the airlock again. It has almost been 4 days of brewing now. Is that too soon to expect the bubbles to stop as fermentation slows down. I’ve read that lagers (what I’m brewing) normally take far longer so it seems unusual for the bubbles to have stopped within 4 days.

 

[Zoiks]

If you can take a sample and check the current gravity and how it compares to your expected final gravity.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

After 72hours of brewing I had no bubbles coming from my airlock so decided to try the Vaseline trick around the airlock bung and grommet.

Many FV's are not 100% airtight so dont trust an airlock use a hydrometer instead.

It has almost been 4 days of brewing now. Is that too soon to expect the bubbles to stop as fermentation slows down.

Yes four days is way too soon, get yourself a hydrometer and on day 10 take a reading.

Many members use the 2 + 2 + 2 method so two weeks for fermentation to finish.

 

[Jan.]

This might be controversial but the best thing to do with airlocks is throwing them on a fire. They are the single thing that causes the most stress to new brewers and provokes mistakes. The only thing that the airlock shows is that air is passing through, this is not necessarily related to the fermentation.

An airlock may not be bubbling because the air is finding another way out. You may have a perfect fermentation but may decide to lift the lid and fiddle with the wort just because you don't see airlock action and this may ruin the beer.

Or maybe there is no fermentation happening but the airlock is bubbling because of a change of temperature (for example it would bubble if you take the fermenter out of the fridge and leave it at room temp. the liquid and air in the fermenter would expand slightly and the airlock would start bubbling).

Ignore the airlock and trust your process. It is extremely difficult to have no fermentation if they yeast is healthy, there are sugars to process and the temperature is within range.
Slap a piece of sanitised foil over the hole and burn the airlock!!

Leave it 2 weeks and check the gravity, then check again 2 days later and if it is the same reading, your fermentation is done.

...oh, and burn the airlock.

 

[The Baron]

Welcome to the forum.
As Chippy has said bubbles or not through the airlock can not be 100% proof either way.
Now if it has fermented for 4 days it is possible it has done depending on temp and yeast type but it will generally need the yeast to clean up so leave it till a minimum off 10 days but ideally 2 weeks before bottling/kegging

 

[AJA]

I wouldn't go as far as @Jan. but agree with the sentiment, FVs are notoriously leaky and you can get fermentation and no airlock activity. One of my buckets is like this. Alternatively, after dry hopping you can get airlock activity and no fermentation, due to Co2 nucleating on the hops.

They do have their uses when they actually work though, they can inform when you should start taking gravity measurements etc.

 

[klaus]

I had many brews where there was no airlock activity at all. The beer was always good!
If in doubt open the lid. You are allowed to. If it looks different, even just a little bit, from when you closed it the yeast is active. Don't look at it for a couple weeks. Fermentation is a natural process and doesn't progress the same from one brew to another, sometimes it looks like nothing is happening, or you have mountains of kreusen, either way the yeast is busy.

 

[Robin54]

I periodically make ginger beer in 5L water bottles and gave up on air locks, - just left the bottle top screwed on a few turns. Never used an airlock on beer fermentation vessels. In fact Ive just bought 2 new fermentation vessels with a pre drilled hole for an air lock so I immediately blanked them off!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

This might be controversial but the best thing to do with airlocks is throwing them on a fire.

I think that is a little overkill many members (like me) like to see airlock activity for peace of mind.

I have two FV's the one made by Richies has ridges around the outer edge of the lid (see below) which makes the edge much stiffer so you get a much tighter seal.

Several years of regular use and its still airtight unlike my other which is a cheapo FV this one has no ridges and has never allowed CO2 through the airlock, i rarely use this one.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Slightly off topic, but may I suggest one of these for bucket users who have a hard time opening the lid? They are a couple of quid and are worth their weight in gold, especially for arthritic hands.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Slightly off topic, but may I suggest one of these for bucket users who have a hard time opening the lid? They are a couple of quid and are worth their weight in gold, especially for arthritic hands.

View attachment 80845

I have never seen one before, a handy gadget if you have problems with your hands.

Do they make one for pop bottles i am sure my son over tightens them on purpose

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Not a clue

 

[SMP Brewery]

Decided to brew a APA on Sunday so that I could dump the yeast straight from my Rye IAP into it. 24hrs later no activity.. Hmm perhaps not enough yeast, dumped some more and and added that, another 24 hrs still nothing.
Went to the lhbs bought some Liberty Bell yeast, to get things going rehydrated it and then pitched that as well.
Each time removed the airlock and poured it in, another 18hrs pass and still no activity.. WTF so decided to remove the lid to see what’s going on, like a nob I’d not fastened the lid properly and there was a massive
amount of activity going on.. Now there is a ton of yeast available for it..

In my defence I couldn’t see the lid..

Lesson learned don’t believe the Airlock

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Silly Billy!

We've all done it though!

 

[Robin54]

If you DONT have an airlock, you cant have an issue with one - sorted

 

[Agentgonzo]

I have never seen one before, a handy gadget if you have problems with your hands.

Do they make one for pop bottles i am sure my son over tightens them on purpose

Yes, they do make handy gadgets to open bottles and/or jars. They look like plastic/rubber spanners.

I have no idea what you'd search for to find them though

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I have no idea what you'd search for to find them though

Definitely not rubber strap

 

[Jan.]

If you DONT have an airlock, you cant have an issue with one - sorted

Thanks Robin54!

I am going to have to start an anti-airlock gang. hahahahah

 

[Stevieboy]

I exclusively use airlocks - but I don't use buckets for beer fermentation (only use them for transfer), I use the large wine FVs, with screw on caps and correct size holes for bung and airlock....never had a problem.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

2+2+2 is another brewing myth and will not lead to good beer.
The first 2 weeks is overkill, check your FG and if it’s stable across 2 days at around 1010 then it’s finished. I find with most dry yeast fermentation takes 5-7 days.
The second 2 weeks is wrong because it does take into consideration the temperature if you are bottling. Better to ensure 20C where you carbonate and fill a plastic PET bottle and see how firm it is after 2 weeks. However if you keg and force carbonate 1 week usually does the trick.
The third 2 weeks for bottle conditioning is the most wrong and far too short. As a minimum base the conditioning on the OG, I.e. for an OG of 1050 then 5 weeks and 1060 then 6 weeks, etc