How long before you see activity in the fermentation lock?

by **JonathanBreese** » Mon May 02, 2011 5:23 am

I just made my first batch of beer and put it into the fermenter. I attached the fermentation lock, and I had gotten the impression that you see some activity in it right away. I expect I am wrong.

How long does it take to start seeing activity in the fermentation lock.

I followed the recipe, but I am concerned that it will fail miserably.

Any insight for a newbie.

by **Wild** » Mon May 02, 2011 9:02 am

I've seen bubbling start as quickly as 20 minutes and I've heard it taking as long as 72 hours. It'll depend on the temp of the wort when the yeast was pitched. Temp of the fermenter. Size of the pitch (i.e., sachet, vial, smack pack, or starter) and of course your starting gravity.

As long as the wort wasn't too hot when you pitched your yeast, I'd say this is when you start working on your patience. Since this is your first batch, hook up with a fellow homebrewer for some beer or pick up your favorite micros and relax.

Cheers,
Wild

by **JonathanBreese** » Mon May 02, 2011 3:19 pm

Actually, I woke up to the sound of it fermenting this morning, so no worries there.

The other thing I was wondering about was checking the gravity and such. My starting gravity was a bit lower that what the recipe called for. I did measure when the wort was a bit hot, but I made the necessary mathematical adjustments for the hydrometer. I expect gravity can vary depending on wort at the end. I expect that once you measure final gravity, you adjust your expected gravity for what your initial gravity was.

The only thing I am really wondering about is how do you go about measuring final gravity. In order to do that, you have to break the seal. Can you just recover it with the same lid if you discover the gravity hasn't dropped enough? I'm concerned about bacteria, but I expect I am exaggerating the impact of it in my mind.

Also, do you have to buy a new fermenter lid to make another batch or can you use the same one from the previous batch? I have a fermenter that is a plastic bucket.

Finally, I couldn't figure out which was the fermenter and which was the bottling bucket. I put the wort in the bucket without the spigot, expecting that once the wort was done fermenting, I would transfer it to the spigot bucket, add the sugar, then put it into the bottles from the spigot. The only reason I am doubting that idea is because I have seen things about avoiding getting a lot of air into the beer when bottling.

A lot of random questions I know, but anything helps. If I had some home brewer friends, then I would hit them up for the answers, but I don't know anyone who does home brew.

by **Wild** » Tue May 03, 2011 6:31 am

JonathanBreese wrote:Actually, I woke up to the sound of it fermenting this morning, so no worries there.

Congratulations.

JonathanBreese wrote:The other thing I was wondering about was checking the gravity and such. My starting gravity was a bit lower that what the recipe called for. I did measure when the wort was a bit hot, but I made the necessary mathematical adjustments for the hydrometer. I expect gravity can vary depending on wort at the end. I expect that once you measure final gravity, you adjust your expected gravity for what your initial gravity was.

If you topped up your wort with too much water, it will throw your OG off.

JonathanBreese wrote:The only thing I am really wondering about is how do you go about measuring final gravity. In order to do that, you have to break the seal. Can you just recover it with the same lid if you discover the gravity hasn't dropped enough? I'm concerned about bacteria, but I expect I am exaggerating the impact of it in my mind.

Also, do you have to buy a new fermenter lid to make another batch or can you use the same one from the previous batch? I have a fermenter that is a plastic bucket.

Just re-seal the lid when done. One tip would be to use a sanitized turkey baster to thief out the brew to measure.

JonathanBreese wrote:Finally, I couldn't figure out which was the fermenter and which was the bottling bucket. I put the wort in the bucket without the spigot, expecting that once the wort was done fermenting, I would transfer it to the spigot bucket, add the sugar, then put it into the bottles from the spigot. The only reason I am doubting that idea is because I have seen things about avoiding getting a lot of air into the beer when bottling.

The bottling bucket is the one with the spigot. Add your priming solution first then rack your brew on top of it. The flow will mix the priming solution better. I've even heard some brewers gently stir the beer with a sanitized spoon to thoroughly mix the priming solution into the beer.

JonathanBreese wrote:A lot of random questions I know, but anything helps. If I had some home brewer friends, then I would hit them up for the answers, but I don't know anyone who does home brew.

No problem. That's what these forums are for.

by **daneurysm** » Mon May 16, 2011 11:43 am

Good to hear that the batch is alive and well. It does sound like too much water may have been added to the kettle. No worries though, it's likely that it'll just be a bit lighter of a beer, not always bad as the weather warms.
What was the expected/measured OG? I'm interested to hear what the difference was.

Good luck, and welcome to the fun of HomeBrewing! You'll learn a bit more with each brew, and be a pro in no time. It's a bummer you don't have any friends that brew. Solution: have a few buddies over to help with some batches, and you'll likely convert at least one.

There are some great HB books out there as well, so build a little library, keep an eye on the forums, and have a great time.

by **annapolismdbrewer** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 7:39 am

Hey Johnathan, since your fairly new to home brewing you might not have this program yet. It's free and makes brewing a little bit easier, especially when it comes to calculating gravity.

http://promash.com/Software/eval.html

How long before you see activity in the fermentation lock?

How long before you see activity in the fermentation lock?

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