No bubbles

[MashBag]

Air locks are notorious for not showing bubbles as the co2 can leak past them and the lids so not a guaranteed way of seeing if fermentation is happening

Absolutely.

 

[Brian1954]

Air locks are notorious for not showing bubbles as the co2 can leak past them and the lids so not a guaranteed way of seeing if fermentation is happening

Okie dokie I'll do a hydrometer test when I get back home tonight.

 

[The Baron]

I would not bother with the hydrometer yet as you will see froth and bubbles on top and as it has only been put on it may not show a substantial enough drop in specific gravity to tell and you could risk too much air contact that is why I said just have a quick peek to stop too much air getting in.
Ps have you got a spare packet of yeast incase it is not going

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Get a grip, you will have him bleaching his teeth a minute.

I think that's a little harsh we dont know how long Brian has been brewing so not keeping the lid off more than is needed is good advice especially as he is already having issues with this brew.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Air locks are notorious for not showing bubbles as the co2 can leak past them and the lids so not a guaranteed way of seeing if fermentation is happening

You beat me top it B

 

[Brian1954]

I would not bother with the hydrometer yet as you will see froth and bubbles on top and as it has only been put on it may not show a substantial enough drop in specific gravity to tell and you could risk too much air contact that is why I said just have a quick peek to stop too much air getting in.
Ps have you got a spare packet of yeast incase it is not going

The brew has been in fermenter for 5 days now and I was I was going to draw some wort via the syphoning tap so to not allow air to get in .

 

[MashBag]

I think that's a little harsh we dont know how long Brian has been brewing so not keeping the lid off more than is needed is good advice especially as he is already having issues with this brew.

No offence meant.. I read it differently.. Apologies.

 

[Brian1954]

Welcome to the forum.
Any bubbles froth on top of the beer

Air locks are notorious for not showing bubbles as the co2 can leak past them and the lids so not a guaranteed way of seeing if fermentation is happening

No offence meant.. I read it differently.. Apologies.

No probs mate.

 

[Brian1954]

No probs mate.

Yeah only done 1 brew before this so new to brewing the first one I did was bulldog bad cat and it was brilliant proper strong and better in every way to the hobgoblin king goblin I've been drinking for ages.

 

[jof]

It's great to hear your first brew was a success.
So no problem asking on here, we all make mistakes or have mishaps.
So we are looking to help you get your 2nd brew going, or help you find out what went wrong.

So let's recap: you don't see any airlock activity.
So we asked if you can see bubbles on the surface of the beer, to know if the yeast is working or not.

Now we get differences of opinion dependent on people's brewing style.
With traditional UK beer styles letting in a bit of air makes no difference. But some people brewing modern styles with lots of expensive hops become obsessed with keeping oxygen out, so let's assume your beer isn't oxygen critical.
(Continued in next post...)

 

[Brian1954]

It's great to hear your first brew was a success.
So no problem asking on here, we all make mistakes or have mishaps.
So we are looking to help you get your 2nd brew going, or help you find out what went wrong.

So let's recap: you don't see any airlock activity.
So we asked if you can see bubbles on the surface of the beer, to know if the yeast is working or not.

Now we get differences of opinion dependent on people's brewing style.
With traditional UK beer styles letting in a bit of air makes no difference. But some people brewing modern styles with lots of expensive hops become obsessed with keeping oxygen out, so let's assume your beer isn't oxygen critical.
(Continued in next post...)

Okie dokie, what I'll do when I get home later I'll lift the lid a bit to se if there are any bubbles and then I'll do a gravity test .

 

[jof]

So if the yeast is working, even towards the end of the fermentation there should be small rafts of bubbles on the surface.
If the surface has no bubbles, then we are looking at failure to add yeast or yeast failure.
You can check the wort with a hydrometer, but it's just as easy to sample & taste dipping a small shot glass into it. But you should either clean the glass in your favourite steriliser solution & rinse. Or take it directly from the dishwasher at the end of the cycle - so it's been steam cleaned. (This is what mashbag is suggesting)
If it tastes sweet then the yeast hasn't worked. Tasting will also tell you if anything else got into your wort to spoil it. The difference between adding another pack of yeast or tipping away an infected batch.

 

[jof]

The checking for other infection is important as you have said it's been 5 days.

The longer it's left, the higher the infection risk.

We rely on adding a decent amount of brewing yeast so it can out compete any other microbes and produce alcohol that will further help kill off undesirable microbes.

 

[Brian1954]

So if the yeast is working, even towards the end of the fermentation there should be small rafts of bubbles on the surface.
If the surface has no bubbles, then we are looking at failure to add yeast or yeast failure.
You can check the wort with a hydrometer, but it's just as easy to sample & taste dipping a small shot glass into it. But you should either clean the glass in your favourite steriliser solution & rinse. Or take it directly from the dishwasher at the end of the cycle - so it's been steam cleaned. (This is what mashbag is suggesting)
If it tastes sweet then the yeast hasn't worked. Tasting will also tell you if anything else got into your wort to spoil it. The difference between adding another pack of yeast or tipping away an infected batch.

Hi guys,just an update lifted the lid bit there is signs of bubbles looks like leopard skin pattern and the gravity test is 1016 and taste is a bit weak with slight carbonation and tomorrow is day 6 should I leave it for a few more days.
Thanks for your replies in advance.

 

[Rodcx500z]

When you say leopard skin do you mean big floating things, if so post pics but leave it a few more days

 

[Brian1954]

When you say leopard skin do you mean big floating things, if so post pics but leave it a few more days

Lots of small patches of small bubbles lying flat on the wort not thick like foam.

 

[Rodcx500z]

Great to see a good game of football. Spain have been the best team of the tournament. Rodri is a serious player. I will be in Liverpool tomorrow wearing orange

Lots of small patches of small bubbles lying flat on the wort not thick like foam.

Could just be yeast floaters

 

[Brian1954]

Could just be yeast floaters

Don't know how to upload photo of bubbles of wort but when I've worked it out I'll post it.

 

[soupdragon]

Hi guys,just an update lifted the lid bit there is signs of bubbles looks like leopard skin pattern and the gravity test is 1016 and taste is a bit weak with slight carbonation and tomorrow is day 6 should I leave it for a few more days.
Thanks for your replies in advance.

At 1.016 it's not far off done. Give it a couple more days and check again. Keep checking until there's no change in the reading.

Cheers Tom

 

[Brian1954]

At 1.016 it's not far off done. Give it a couple more days and check again. Keep checking until there's no change in the reading.

Cheers Tom

Okie dokie that's what I was thinking of doing can't do any wrong.