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no more bubbles in the primary HELP???
this is my first brew its a wheat ale with about 12 lbs of grain for this 5 gallon batch. everything went great put but after 3 days of good bubbles in the airlock there are none. i don't mean they have slowed down i mean there are no more bubbles. no temp change, i oxgynated before putting in primary. does this mean my beer is ruined??? also i read alot of posts that say take a gravity reading. i can do that but how do you know what it is supposed to be? remember this is my first brew i am a newbie so take it easy on me lol.
Did you take an origional gravity reading before you added the yeast? If so what was it? If not, no big deal. Pour some off, enough th take a gravity reading. It most likely is in the 1.010 range. Three days is normal for some beers to slow down or stop fermenting in the primary.
If you had an origional gravity reading in the 1.030 range it most likely is done fermenting. But the gravity reading you take now should be near the 1.010 range. I'd take a gravity reading and if it's above the 1.010 then leave it be for another few days. It won't hurt it. Don't put the sample you poured off back into primary, just dump it or drink it.
DC
Let it sit. Think positive about the batch. I've had a batch sitting in secondary for months now,it's probably ruined. But I'm not throwing it out untl I know for sure.....it could be a loose lid on your fermenter that out some pressure while you were sleeping. It could have a bubble or two every hour that you don't see, unless you sit there for over an hour watching.......for sure, check the gravity and see what action has taken place in these first few days......
Its fine. Just because its not bubbling doesn't mean its ruined.
I would let it sit for another 7 days (10 total). Then clean and sanitize your racking/tubing setup and get a sample (don't pour it out).
As long as the gravity reading is in the 1018-1010 ball park you are fine. Go ahead and bottle as expected.
I've had beers that stop bubbling after three days, they turned out ok. Higher temps when fermenting can also cause the beer to finish earlier than expected.
I think you are right because for the first day it was ferementing at 72-73 until i got the fridge dialed in to 69. How much will this affect the final outcome. I took a gravity reading and it tasted pretty good close to what i was looking for. it was 1.003. I think lol only the second time reading it so i don't know how accurate that is the OG was 1.410. again this is my first brew so i appreciate the help.
thanks again
Make sure you are using that hydrometer right! Fill your testing jar with water and make sure you are seeing a reading of 1.00 or real close. A final gravity reading of 1.003 is extremely low, and unless you started with a very low gravity beer, almost impossible to attenuate that low. If it really is- your beer is definately done.
Now on the flip side, do you mean the starting gravity was 1.041, not 1.410? Huge difference.
Not to confuse anything, but for future reference, most yeast strains attenuate to between 70-80% under optimal conditions. That means that the yeast will consume approx 70-80% of fermentable sugar.
So an example may look like: OG 1.050, FG 1.010 which means you have a potential of 50 points of sugar. If there is still 10 points left, that means only 40 points actually were consumed, leaving a ratio of 40 / 50 or .80 or 80%. This case would leave you with 80% attenuation, or a very clean beer.
You can reverse the equation and say you started with 1.050 or 50 points multiply that by the apparent attenuation say 80% and you would have 50 x .80 = 40, so knowing that 50-40=10, your final gravity should hit 1.010.
Hope this dosn't confuse but helps you for future batches, curious as to where you got your kit or recipe from and used 12#s of grain? This was an AG recipe? If you would like to tell your recipe and process we can probably piece together the results you should expect.
Oh thank you that is exactly what i'm looking for. just filled test jar with water and right at 1.000. so now re-reading the hydrometer i have an OG of about 1.039 to 1.040 and i don't know if the yeast is affecting the reading at all but the one i just took was 1.003. the recipe i am using is a 6 lbs of red wheat 5 lbs of 2 row and 1 lb carvineaen (however you spell it). now i did have a seal leak for about 24 hours that i was unaware of who would have thought a new bucket would leak? i made a yeast starter 3 days in advance. oxygenated the wort well before putting into the primary dumped yeast in at about 80-85 degrees and put in fridge. stopped bubbling after 3 days but was at 73 degrees for 2 until i got fridge dialed in. Just trying to give you a run down of my trials and tribs of the first brew. So what does this mean as far as the beer goes why fermenation so fast i would have thought this recipe would have been boubbling for at least a week. Thanks again for the gravity lesson I am actually learning and hopefully by the time i brew my second batch i won't be the annoying newbie asking all the questions. lol thanks again
Sounds like you did your homework and prep on your first beer, good for you! If you are at .1.003 then you are likely done fermenting- however leaving the beer on the yeast for a few extra days is always good, gives the yeast a chance to clean up their mess improving flavor. Then it will be fine to rack to secondary or bottle. If it is a whear, I would just go straight to bottle. Let us know how it comes out.
By the way, you are now an addict- you will soon see why!
I checked the recipe and the OG was supposed to be 1.055 and mine was 1.041 my question is what did i do wrong or what would cause this. What can i do next time to get the numbers. I realize that the beer will probably still be pretty good but what can i expect with the lower gravity taste wise. How do i correct this for my second brew.
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