ANOTHER Newbie question

[Nickrp83]

OK so my dad and I brewed our first batch last Sat, and it seems to have stopped bubbling. Is that normal? everything i read says it should still be bubbling for like another week? Its an ingredient kit from the bruery in Fullerton of American Amber Ale. Any suggestions?

[JonGoku]

Do you mean zero bubbling or very little bubbling like ony once or twice a minute? How soon after you originally pitched the yeast did you start seeing action in the airlock? It can be fairly normal for a brew to only vigorously ferment for a couple days, however the yeast should still be at work making beer even though you see decreased action. If you are not seeing any action at all in the airlock, you could also have a slight leak in your fermentor's seal, which should still be perfectly fine, it is just letting Co2 escape elsewhere other than through the airlock.

Ultimately the only way to determine if your beer is done is to take gravity readings with your hydrometer. Do that a couple days in a row and you will see if the gravity continues to drop or not. If it doesn't then it is done.

Anyways, that's my $0.02 and I'm sure others will pipe in with other advice as well.

Cheers!

[Nickrp83]

yeah it was bubbling a every second or so but now its not. ok well how do i take the gravity reading? i have the hydrometer just dont know how to use it?

[brahn]

First thing: RELAX! Your beer is fine. The primary fermentation for an ale, which may or may not be visible via bubbles from your airlock, will generally take anywhere from 3-7 days (maybe 10 for a big beer). The amount of time depends on the gravity of the beer, the yeast strain, the amount of yeast added, the temperature, etc. If it stopped bubbling between 4-5 days you're right in a normal range. I'd say most average gravity beers with american ale yeast generally finish in about 5 days for me.

As for using the hydrometer, it's really simple. Your kit probably also came with a sample tube, maybe about a 1' tall clear plastic tube with a base so it can stand up. Use a sanitized thief, or turkey baster (you probably want one used just for brewing), to fill the sample tube all the way to the top. Then just float the hydrometer in in the tube, the tube should overflow and you can read the gravity. Most homebrewers use the scale called specific gravity that goes from somewhere around .990 to 1.170 or so.

[JonGoku]

Here's some links that might help as well:

John Palmer - How to brew
http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixA.html

Calculator to adjust for temperature of your sample (see bottom left calc)
http://www.leebrewery.com/beermath.htm

[kevinham]

You can use the tube the hydrometer came in as a sample tube too.

[Nickrp83]

Hey all thanks for your help just found out my dad pushed down on the lid which of course made it bible and created room in the bucket for the gas so I'm assuming it may start bubbling again. Or may not depending on how hard he pushed. And thanks for the links! Y'all are a great help!

[backyard brewer]

Hey all thanks for your help just found out my dad pushed down on the lid which of course made it bible and created room in the bucket for the gas so I'm assuming it may start bubbling again. Or may not depending on how hard he pushed. And thanks for the links! Y'all are a great help!

Most buckets seal poorly. They almost always allow CO2 to leak around the lid and offer less resistance than the airlock resulting in no bubbles.

[Nickrp83]

You can use the tube the hydrometer came in as a sample tube too.

Can you use the spickot on the bucket to take the sample or do u need a sample from the middle of the wort?

[dhempy]

I don't know why not .. just be sure you clean the spigot real well if you plan to use it later for racking / bottling (including a spritz of iodophor right after taking the sample and before you rack / bottle).

Dan

[JonGoku]

(including a spritz of iodophor right after taking the sample and before you rack / bottle)

What Dan is referring to here is a very common and ingeinous tool used by homebrewers and pro-brewers alike called the squirt bottle. Skip this post if you already know this, but if not you might consider doing this yourself. I'm also not exactly sure if it's doable with Iodophor (although if Dan says so, I'll take his word for it) but I know for sure it is ok with Starsan. See below for clips from John Palmer's "How to Brew" section 2.2.3 Sanitizing Your Equipment.

Star San
Star San is an acidic sanitizer from the makers of PBW and was developed especially for sanitizing brewing equipment. It requires only 30 seconds of contact time and does not require rinsing. Unlike other no-rinse sanitizers, Star San will not contribute off-flavors at higher than recommended concentrations. The recommended usage is one fluid ounce per 5 gallons of water. The solution can be put in a spray bottle and used as a spray-on sanitizer for glassware or other items that are needed in a hurry. The foam is just as effective as immersion in the solution. Also, the surfactant used in Star San will not affect the head retention of beer like those used in detergents.

[dhempy]

(including a spritz of iodophor right after taking the sample and before you rack / bottle)

What Dan is referring to here is a very common and ingeinous tool used by homebrewers and pro-brewers alike called the squirt bottle. Skip this post if you already know this, but if not you might consider doing this yourself. I'm also not exactly sure if it's doable with Iodophor (although if Dan says so, I'll take his word for it) but I know for sure it is ok with Starsan.

Yes, Iodophor will work just fine in a spray bottle at the recommended concentration. If I were cleaning a spigot after sampling/ racking / bottling, I'd get a rag to hold below, shoot 3-4 spritzes of iodophor into the spigot (catching the drips with the rag) and let it drip dry. Same thing before racking / bottling (just wait at least 60 seconds for the Iodophor to do it's thing). I don't know if I'd try the spritzing with Star San because of its foaming tendencies ... I tend to only use Star San on carboys but that is a personal choice.

Dan

[jward]

Spraying StarSan works great for me. It works so well I loaded a hand pump garden sprayer with StarSan so that I don't have to kill my hand working a little spray bottle.

[brahn]

That's a great idea since StarSan will break down most of the hand pump sprayers out there and make them stop working over time.

[JonGoku]

That's a great idea since StarSan will break down most of the hand pump sprayers out there and make them stop working over time.

Care to enlighten?