Stalled fermentation?

[markjohnl]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum and also totally new to brewing. I got my very first kit started on Sunday. It is a Youngs American Pale ale and I followed the instructions to the letter. I'm in Ireland here, so when it said to add cold water to bring it up to 23 litres and then wait until it dropped to at least 25 degrees I had no issue. Here in Ireland the water is that cold that mine was sitting at about 12 degrees. On went the brew belt and after 8 hours, I got it up to 20 degrees and pitched the yeast.

About 12 hours later, I had it sitting steady at 22 degrees and a few hours after that it started bubbling away quiet rapidly. After about 24 hours of regular bubbling, I could see the foam hitting the top of the tub and some of the water from the airlock had spurted out, so I topped it up a little ... and that was the last bubble I saw

Reading on here, people are waiting days for it to finish bubbling and others are waiting days for it to start and I'm wondering what the heck I've done. Is this normal? Should I sit it out for another week and then do a gravity reading for some reassurance? Temperature wise, I'm all kit no clue as I splashed out on an inkbird so it is sitting steady at 22 degrees, so didn't think this was temperature related.

Any advice, ideas very welcome. Alternatively, tell me to chill the hell out, if that's what I really need to hear :)

Thanks,

Mark

 

[yrhendystu]

Check the lid is on properly. It must have had quite a vigorous initial brew and might have force it open slightly.

How long after filling the airlock did you wait for bubbles, it can take a while for the pressure to build back up.

 

[Clint]

Sounds perfectly normal. As said,push the lid on and leave it at least another week.

 

[markjohnl]

HI, really appreciate you both coming back to me. I'll go down check that lid again. It was quite constant bubbling at times, but not to the extent that any of the contents made its way into the airlock. It was the second I topped up the airlock that everything stopped. I did it without touching the tub or lid. I assumed the extra water added a bit of downwards pressure and that it would take a couple of minutes to start bubbling again, but that was over 24 hours ago.

Thanks again!

Mark

 

[Obadiah Boondoggle]

Agree with what's been said above

Just chill - you not the fv!

 

[markjohnl]

Thanks everyone! Checked the lid just now and it looks sound, so I'll take Mr Boondoggle's advice and chill for a bit

 

[Clint]

BTW I done that kit a few times..it can take best part of a month to hit fg..

 

[Ale House Rock]

You've picked a really good kit for your first one - hope it turns out good.

 

[markjohnl]

Same here :) It's like having a baby in the house, worrying constantly about keeping it warm and checking in every 5mins. I wasn't planning to admit this, but I now have a webcam set on top staring at the airlock with motion detection enabled so I get a notification the second a bubble comes through. I think I might have a bit of homebrew OCD.

 

[markjohnl]

Hi, it is now day 7 for my Youngs American pale ale. My original gravity reading was 1.050 and my latest is 1.008. I drank the test jar (bits n all) as it was verging on drinkable and it was definitely boozy :) What I thought odd was that it tasted a little bitter, as though I had already added hops. I haven't got to that stage yet, but would the Youngs beer kit have added bittering hops into the liquid malt already? I sure hope so!?

The instructions say that fermentation should be done within 15 days and that the hops should be added at or below 1.010 and 2/3 days before bottling.

I'm planning on doing another SG on Wednesday and if it hasn't moved, throw in the hops so its ready for bottling on Saturday. Still no sign of bubbles, but it sounds like fermentation has probably finished. Any issues with my timing? This is my first brew, so wondering what you pros might do differently?

Cheers,

Mark

 

[Ale House Rock]

I just bottled a batch of this yesterday. My final SG was 1.009 from an OG of 1.052. Previous time according to my notes was 1.008. I'd expect that the bittering hops will be in the kit extract. The additional hops are to finish your brew with hoppiness! Sound to me like you are good to go. Add your hops and bottle in a few days time. This is a nice beer - I hope you enjoy it.

 

[markjohnl]

Great to hear AHR :) Only checked the instructions after posting and according to my SG, the fermentation is done. I'm guessing siphoning off and then bottling will be a Saturday/Sunday job, so it will need to wait another week. I'll aim to do another reading on Wednesday and assuming there is no movement, I'll drop the hops in right after to keep me on course for bottling at the weekend.

Thanks again!

Mark

 

[Tickles58]

I would appreciate some advice. I put 2 kits on last weekend a coopers lager and a wilko Canada. The coopers I’ve sat on the garage floor wrapped in a foil blanket and it’s bubbly away quite nicely as it said that fermentation temperature was best at 15-18* although I did pitch the yeast when it was around 23*. The Wilko I’ve placed in the fermentation fridge with a heater pitched the yeast at the same starting temperature. The fermentation went off straight away within a few hours. Checked this one the following day and unfortunately the heater was on the wrong setting and it seems to have stalled. I’ve left it a week and it’s been a constant 22* in there (checked every day) but no signs of life.
Can I add some more brewing sugar in a little warm water (say@22*) as that the temperature in there along with another packet of yeast and I might even throw in a bag of hops. Do you think it’ll recover.

 

[Clint]

You say "seems"...have you taken a hydrometer reading? It's the only way to check what's going on...lack of bubbles means nothing. Also if you have the bucket directly on a concrete floor it may act as a heat sink and actually cool it down.

 

[Tickles58]

It’s not the one on the concrete that the problem. It’s the one in the fermentation fridge that’s been at a constant 20-22* which seems to have stalled.
I’m going to chuck in some brewing sugar and more yeast and see what happens.

 

[Clint]

Take a reading.

 

[Tickles58]

No point in doing that as I didn’t take one before adding the yeast

 

[barry.morgan71]

If you take 2 or 3 readings on consecutive days you will see if is still active or stalled. If the readings are the same, no matter what they are, it has stalled, if they change then it's still active, maybe just slow.

 

[Tickles58]

Thanks I’ll try that but it’s not doing anything

 

[Clint]

Do or do not . There is no try.
Hydrometer reading. This is the way.