No bubbles.

[The Basic Brewer]

I started my brew yesterday in a plastic bucket but it's still not bubbling is that normal??

 

[Chippy_Tea]

We see this question quite often and the answer is many FV's are not airtight so best to use a hydrometer than rely on airlock activity.

 

[The Basic Brewer]

I sat it in the sink full of hot water for about an hour (,the temp shot up to about 24°) and it started going mad lol it's been bubbling every few seconds since, its day 4 and I tested it with the hydrometer for the 1st time since I closed it up, it went from 1060 (1st day) to 1010 (now) I'm gonna leave it fermenting for 20 days. Then put the hop pellets in on day 20, for 2 days then on day 22 I will add the sugar to the fermenting bucket give it a good stir then bottle it in to my glass bottles with the gold caps... am I doing everything right?? Or should I do something different?? This is my 1st attempt and want it to go well as I've already got the I.P.A brew that came with my brew kit and I'm gonna start that as soon as I bottle this one lol Appreciate any help u give

 

[Charles Stanley-Grey]

I would ”rack’ you ale first, before adding priming sugar. So transfer it into another vessel if possible so you get it off the yeast cake at the bottom of the FV, try not to splash or stir to roughly, oxygen is bad at this point. This is also a great time to add the priming sugar in slowly and ensure its fully mixed in. That way you get very little sediment in your bottles, unless you want that.

If you want to reduce the amount of sediment in the FV all together grab some cheap muslin bags off amazon, the pellets go in, tie a knot and chuck it in easy.

Remember after the initial stages of fermenting it will quiet down quite a bit, this does not mean anything has gone wrong, if your confident its at the right temprature let it be, super bubbles are for the early stage, the occasional bubble is fine after. The goal is to find a steady state of temperature, not whack it up and down and move it about. Also may want to cover it up, fermentation does not like sunlight.

Would recommend a thorough read though of this, gives you loads of ideas and tips and just general knowledge.

http://howtobrew.com/book/section-1/fermenting-your-first-beer/choosing-your-fermenter

 

[cushyno]

If your room is warm, sitting the FV on a cold floor can help keep temperature down. However if the room is a little cool for the yeast put an old towel or two beneath the FV and also wrapped around it to insulate the fallen yeast from a cold floor. The yeast generate their own heat during early fermentation and in a cooler room you may want them to retain that extra heat for longer.

 

[The Basic Brewer]

It started bubbling every 2 seconds for last 3 days, I checked it do day and it's at 39/1015
It's now bubbling every 10 seconds it's been fermenting for 6days now I'm gonna wait till the 19th day then add the HOPS what do u think?? Do I wait for it to stop bubbling b4 I add the HOPS???

 

[Charles Stanley-Grey]

You just want to wait for the first stages to finish, anything after 7 days will be fine. You can bottle two weeks later, so a total of three weeks fermenting.

 

[foxy]

Yeast and temperature dependent 3 to 5 days in the primary, dry hop in the secondary 3 to 4 days again temperature dependent, cold crash 2 days bottling bucket with priming sugar. Where did you get the 20 days from? I would be starting to drink it by then.

 

[cushyno]

Yeast and temperature dependent 3 to 5 days in the primary
...
Where did you get the 20 days from? I would be starting to drink it by then.

This says quite a lot. With a decent yeast and temperature control you can reasonably expect 5 days, but some crappy kit yeasts can take 2 weeks, longer in low temperatures.

Let the hydrometer and airlock be your guide. At 1.015 I wouldn't be afraid to dry hop.

The risk with dry hopping kits too soon can be a grassy taste if the hops are left in too long while waiting for the slow yeast to ferment out. It looks like yours is making good progress, so you'll be fine to dry hop now with the expectation that in 3-5 days the SG will have stopped falling and you can bottle/Keg.

 

[The Basic Brewer]

It's been fermenting 8 days now, I woke up this morning to it bubbling every 20 to 30 seconds I'm gonna take a Hydrometer reading in a minute, do you think I should add the HOPS yet.?.?. I dont want to rush and ruin it.!.!.!. Can I have a taste of it when I take a reading. Or not?.?. The instructions say I should leave hop bags in for 2 days, then bottle

 

[Chippy_Tea]

If its still bubbling every 30 seconds its still got a bit to go i wouldn't take reading until its down to one bubble a minute.

 

[The Basic Brewer]

Thanks for that *CHIPPY~TEA* Was just about to take reading but I thought I'd check on here 1st lol when should I add the hop bags.?.?.?.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

What do the instructions say?

 

[The Basic Brewer]

It says I should add the hop bags 2 days before bottling on the 4th day

 

[Chippy_Tea]

For some reason i thought this was the wine forums i will leave it to the beer brewers.

 

[The Basic Brewer]

)Lol I tried some today for the 1st time, I only had the bit I used to test the FV it was beautiful but a bit flat will that change when I add HOPS and sugar??

 

[terrym]

By my reckoning your beer has only been in the FV for a week. So it may well be still fermenting. Some beers can take a lot longer than a few days before they are ready for adding the hops. Therefore you should, in my view, be leaving it alone to finish off before adding the hops. And there is no no magic formula for this, but the safest option is to allow it to finish first. So if you are uncertain about this leave it about 12 days or whenever the bubbling stops whichever is the longer. It will do no harm to your beer. And remember that each time you take the lid off your FV you run a small risk of contaminating your beer and it may spoil. So leave it alone as much as you can i.e. leave the lid on.
And if you do not have a second FV in which to batch prime, I suggest you go straight from the FV into your bottles and then add sugar to the bottles. Adding sugar to the primary FV and stirring, unless you know what you are doing, is a surefire way of getting carryover of yeast and possibly hop debris into your bottles which you do not want.
Finally what sort of beer are you brewing (that will determine how much priming sugar to use), and have the instructions advised to just chuck the hops in as they are or is there a bag provided?

 

[The Basic Brewer]

Thanks for the advice it's my 1st ever time making Home brew I needed a hobby and thought this would be a great use of my time lol it's been in 10 days and the bubbling is down to once every minute, I'm brewing *MAD DOG*... I dont have a second bucket so I'm just gonna go straight to bottle with the priming sugar...these are the instructions...

My FERMENTING bucket doesn't have a tap either.... do you think I need more, less or the right amount of sugar per bottle.?.?.?.

All help is gratefully appreciated

 

[terrym]

1. It appears you have 'tea bags' of hops so follow the instructions. Do not open the tea bags or you will release hop bits into your beer and may struggle to stop them going forward at bottling time.
2. At the end of your dry hop period provided you are satisfied the SG has bottomed out I suggest you move your FV into the coldest place you have for 1-2 days. This is standard practice for many homebrewers and helps clear the beer before bottling.
3. If you are using ordinary table (granulated) sugar I suggest you add 3/4 tsp of sugar to each 500ml bottle, which will suit the style. A clean dry plastic funnel will help get the sugar into the bottle and not onto the floor
4. After bpriming and bottling leave you beer in a warm place for two weeks to carb up, and then move to the coldest place you have for another two weeks before you sample. And if you are using clear bottles keep them out of the light particularly direct sunlight.

 

[The Basic Brewer]

Im using proper Brown bottles with gold CAPS and proper beer sugar, I've gone all out and brought the best stuff as I'm really excited about becoming a home brewer lol what does SG mean.?.?.?.

I've already got my next brew waiting I'm trying that 5.5% one that u have to add 1.5kg of sugar to it at the start, unlike the one im doing now that already had the sugar in the malt...

My pantry is like 15°/ 18° is that cold enough.?.?.?. So should I cool it down when I add the hops or 2 days after I add the HOPS.?.?. The instructions say I should mix it up when I add the HOPS, is that a bad idea.?.?