Am I freaking out for no reason

[Stgdragon4life]

Evening all, hope everyone is well. I put down my first brew on Sunday 29th May (mangrove jacks blonde lager with coopers no.2 enhancer), gave it a really good stir and pitched the yeast that came with the pack at 22oc and stirred through. Let it drop to 18oC and it's been constant at this temp for the past 5 days. However over this time I have had activity through the airlock but nothing erratic, never really getting over 4 bubbles a minute now has dropped to 2 a minute. I understand the airlock is not a gauge of Fermentation and I know after 5 days it would not be ready but is brewing this beer at the lower end of the range attributing to the slow action as I never really got a big krausen only an inch above the brew or am I just paranoid. Any advice for a first timer would be great, don't think I was this nervous with the birth of my two kids as I have been with this lol.

 

[earle]

Before anyone tells you to get a kitten for your airlock you better tell us what the yeast was.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

First up. Do a search for "kittens" & "airlocks"

Second. Go buy some Glad Wrap or the Aldi equivalent

Third. Dont take notice of the krausen unless it is crawling out the fermenter. Some beers only produce small krausens

Fourth. Never trust a kitten

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

....and ignore post #2

 

[sp0rk]

Do a gravity test, that is your accurate gauge of whether you have fermentation activity or not

 

[danestead]

Yes you are freaking out for no reason.

18 degrees is probably IDEAL for the kit yeast.

Measure your gravity with a hydrometer. When it is stable over 2 or 3 days, and similar to what you expect final gravity to be (kits with a can of goop and a kg of sugar will probably have a final gravity in the 1.004-1.008ish region from what I remember), bottle or keg it.

If you don't have a hydrometer, you need one. The only reliable way of measuring fermentation activity is by measuring the gravity.

 

[Stgdragon4life]

First of all thanks for the quick replies, secondly my yeast was the one that came with the pack (after researching mangrove jacks the from all accounts they were supposed to be good). I have not tested it yet apart from getting my og because I didn't think it would be done so early as I had planned for 2 weeks in fermenter just on the back of most of the advice on here.

 

[petesbrew]

The airlock's sole purpose is to keep the nasties out of your fermenter. That's all.

You have a hydrometer? Use that instead.

And learn RDWHAHB.

 

[Danscraftbeer]

My opening gravity test is after yeast pitch, mixed/shaken well. I don't tip out the hydrometer test. I leave it sit beside the fermenter as an open ferment preview of the brew.
Its a habit now. View its krausen , spin the hydrometer, smell it etc, view the drop in gravity etc. Clean gunk off it to retest more accurately.
As a guide of the vessel ferment.
$0.02

 

[Stgdragon4life]

Alright.... Just tested 1.018 strange thing though it's slightly carbonated out of the fermenter is this supposed to happen. Good news is that it tastes good which I'm stoked about, also wouldn't mind dry hopping with something any suggestions?

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

My opening gravity test is after yeast pitch, mixed/shaken well. I don't tip out the hydrometer test. I leave it sit beside the fermenter as an open ferment preview of the brew.
Its a habit now. View its krausen , spin the hydrometer, smell it etc, view the drop in gravity etc. Clean gunk off it to retest more accurately.
As a guide of the vessel ferment.
$0.02

Take it one step further, and keep a 600ml bottle with a hydro in it sitting next to your fermenter.. Gives you a real time view with out having to touch your main brew*

* You get infections thru taps. The only time you want to open it is when you go to bottle/keg.

 

[Danscraftbeer]

Alright.... Just tested 1.018 strange thing though it's slightly carbonated out of the fermenter is this supposed to happen. Good news is that it tastes good which I'm stoked about, also wouldn't mind dry hopping with something any suggestions?

The apparent carbonation is unfinished fermentation.
Its your first brew I don't recommend dry hopping. Finish it uninterrupted. Leave it another week. Assuming you are bottling?
What hooked me is an ordinary Coopers kit ingredients made better Beer than the shelf product.
Keep it simple for starters you will be impressed. (If you've got sanitation all good).
IMO

 

[danestead]

To add to Dan above, all liquid will have some form of gas dissolved in it. The higher the temperature of the liquid/beer, the less gas/carbonation. The colder, the more dissolved gas/ carbonation. This is why the priming calculators ask for a temperature.

When you take a hydrometer sample or take a sample to taste, the bubbles you see escaping are due to either: the beer warming up (less able to keep that co2 in solution); or if the beer is still fermenting, the co2 produced during fermentation will still be coming out of solution and the extra nucleation points allow this to happen more rapidly.

 

[fletcher]

yes

 

[djsmi4]

The apparent carbonation is unfinished fermentation.

Swooping in on this thread for my own gains here - thanks for this info! (this helps me with one of my brews)

 

[Stgdragon4life]

Thanks everyone for the feedback, danscraftbeer I was very particular about the cleaning and sanitising of everything that I brewed with. Can't wait to bottle next Sunday, when should I add the finning

 

[TheWiggman]

Danestead is on the money regarding the bubbles. It will still bubble on sampling once fermentation has finished, not quite as much though.
As for air locks, I've been brewing for a few years now and still use them. Many brewers do. They're not a good indicator because gas can escape past the lid seal, but they're not going to do anything bad that glad wrap will correct. Forget you ever heard about it for the time being and just use hydrometer samples as a guide. They tell the truth about fermentation progress and can be relied upon. As long as you know what your target should be, you'll be fine.
And don't worry, it's normal to freak out on the first few brews. The two most important things in brewing: cleanliness and patience.

 

[peteru]

* You get infections thru taps. The only time you want to open it is when you go to bottle/keg.

There are ways to manage the infection risk fairly effectively. Before I take a sample, I use a spray bottle to wash out the tap spout with sanitiser. I do the same thing again as soon as I have taken the sample. After that, I cap the tap spout with one of these tap plugs:

http://kegking.com.au/universal-silicon-faucet-tap-spout-plug.html

Works for me.

 

[Stgdragon4life]

So.... After 10 days at 18oC I have hit 1.012, my question is because of the coopers enhancer will I hit sub 1.010. The fg on the pack is supposed to be 1.005 but that's with 1kg of dex, also when do I add the findings?

 

[razz]

Is it steady at 1.012 Stgdragon4life, if it is it's not going to drop any further.