Is his batch BAD?!

[Big "A"]

Ok, I need to get my friend to join the forum.

He started a Belgian Wit (extract) on Monday, he is very sanitary. He says he cooled the wort down to pitching temps within 15min. He feels that he aerated the wort well. Pitched the yeast White Labs Belgian wit.

Ok so...um it's now Thursday and there have been no signs of fermentation in the air lock. (using a bucket) he checks it yesterday and there is a layer of what looks to be krausen still no gas through the air lock though????

Is this a bacterial infection??

 

[Revvy]

Airlock bubbling is not a true sign of fermentation, only your hydrometer is....

The airlock is outgassing oxygen initially and more importantly co2 (which is of course a byproduct of fermentation), but there are a lot of variables that come into play in terms of the airlock bubbling...You could have for example and bad seal between the grommet (or stopper) and the airlock, or the lid on the bucket isn't fully tight and gas is getting out elsewhere besides the airlock, or the stopper and mouth of the carboy and that would appear slow, while fermentaion is actually occuring rapidly... Or the little bubbler in the airlock could be sitting a little crooked, or become weighted down with tiny co2 bubbles and need to build up a good head of gas before blurping again.

Even having the airlock leaning slightly askew affects it.

So as you can see airlock activity varies, and should not be used a a sign of speed or lack of fermentation.

If you have krausen, that means there's fermentation....

The beer is fine.

 

[McKBrew]

Very high probability that the bucket is not getting a tight seal and the gas is leaking out under the rim. This happens often with buckets. If their is krausen, their is fermentation.

 

[CatchinZs]

If you have krausen then your probably good to go.

No activity in the air lock could just mean that the bucket didn't have a good seal and it was escaping elsewhere.

If you have krausen after 3 days then your probably in good shape. Either way....don't do anything for at least another few days....you haven't really given it a chance yet.


Wits can have krausen hang on for a very long time also...I had one last for 2 weeks. It nevery really got much more than a thin layer on it (less than 1/2") and I eventually just racked from under it after getting a satisfactory gravity reading.

Give it time....I'll bet it's fine.

 

[scinerd3000]

had the same thing happen to me for my first ferment in a bucket. You can tru using a layer of seran wrap over the outside lip where the lid meets the bucket to try and force the air through the airlock but some people use open fermentation mothods with NO AIRLOCK. Look for the increading krausen and take hydrometer readings

 

[ohiobrewtus]

It's certainly not a sign of infection. Check to make sure the lid on the bucket is tight and that the airlock is in properly. Check the gravity a week after pitching.

 

[Bytor1100]

I thought I might of had problems with my last batch since the krausen was real small, fermented out in about a day, and the fermentation wasn't very vigorous. I took a reading after 4 days and it was at 1.012 from an OG of 1.054. I feel much better now, and it taste good too.

 

[carnevoodoo]

Let it finish and send the beer to me. I will check the quality to determine the infection level.

 

[Big "A"]

Thanks Guys!!! I'll give him a call to tell him the good news and tell him to buy a wine thief again, LOL. This has to be the third time! Oh yeah...it is cause this is his third batch

 

[Beerthoven]

I just switched to bucket fermenters and have used them for 2 batches of beer now. My airlocks have barely bubbled the whole time. I'm not worried though, because I can see krausen and my chest freezer is filled with enough CO2 to choke a moose. (And of course, my hydrometer tells me fermentation is happening as it should.)

I am surprised, though, that the airlocks don't bubble more. The lids fit on pretty damn tight and the air locks themselves are seated in #7 stoppers that fit snugly into a 1.5" hole in the lid of the bucket. I guess the gas is finding other ways out.

 

[BigKahuna]

STOP WORRYING!
There is no good way to ferment your first few batches of beer...If you have a carboy, you'll look at it until you've convinced yourself that it's doing something it shouldn't. If you have a bucket, you can't see what's going on, so you convince yourself that there isn't enough bubbles. It's ALWAYS going to be something!
Get another batch going and stop fussing over the one in the fermentor!

Tell Your...uh hum...."FRIEND" that he's got nothing to worry about as long as he leaves the lid on.

1-2-3 Remember?