Airlock Activity?

[mattcarty]

ok so....

my first fermenter was a coopers fermenter and true to form it didnt seal properly so no airlock action, took SG reading to determine the brews had finished no probs

however I have a new fermenter and the airlock works a treat but the bubbling activity is new to me and was just wondering what was happening in this situation.......

basically there was no A.L. action in the first couple of days but good kraus so assumed fermenting ok, i had to move the fermenter day three, after which the airlock started bubbling and continued to do so from here on.

day 13 and the bubbling has slowed a lot, day 14 and the bubbling has stopped, all normal, al good.

moved the fermenter to take an SG day 12, 13, 14 all good same reading after I moved the fermenter on day 14 once bubbling had stopped, after the move began to bubble again, and a few times over the course of the evening

so what up with that why would it start bubbling again after being inactive for so long, obviousely its from moving the fermenterbut what actually happens in the brew to cause it to start bubbling again?

also for those saying WHY THE F#$K YA MOVIN YA FERMENTER SO MUCH

basically i am doingtemp control it in a tub with ice blocks (ale kept at 20 degrees the entire brew, sweet) and have not worked out a good setup where i can have the fermenter in one spot in the tub whilst allowing access to the tap for SG samples.

so i assume the brew is good to keg due to the SG readings but why the inactive bubbling unitl the initial move and then the re-activating the bubbling after the move when i thought fermentation and bubbling had stopped?

cheers
carty

 

[razE]

After day 14 did you take the fermenter out of your tub with ice and leave it sit out before bottling/kegging? If the tempreture increased it would cause it too bubble as the wort expands or maybe it just stirred up the yeast a little similar to when you move to a secondary vessel. BribieG or Butters will surely have a solid answer

 

[Tyred]

Maybe the moving woke the yeast up to do a little more work ? I'd lean more towards CO2 coming out of solution causing the bubbling.

 

[Gavo]

First of all never trust an airlock as they are of the devil... although they can be good to watch, they should never be relied upon to gauge the progress of the brew. Only trust your hydrometer readings. what were gravity readings and have they remained the same for three consecutive days? Your final gravity will depend on what fermentables were in the brew.

The air lock activity could be due to a couple of things and these have already been mentioned.
1. The brew warming up and expanding, it does take a while for 20 odd litres of liquid to change temp.
2. The arousing of the yeast from moving it.
3. C02 coming out of the brew.
The activity after day 3 may have been that moving it has wet the seal and created a better seal.

Post your SG readings, but my guess is that it is probably ready for kegging.

Cheers
Gavo.

 

[buttersd70]

in short, what the others have said. :icon_cheers:

Interesting side note to this....if you watched Oz and James, when they were in the whiskey distilery, it was mentioned about the casks breathing....similar thing here, basically, but through the airlock.

 

[mattcarty]

cool thanks for that guys, obviousely my SG readings will give the indication on when to keg but was just curious to hear about why the air lock acted the way it did.

thanks again

cheers
carty