Trouble With My Bubbles...

[wezz]

Hi All,

I have heard from some people that when they throw a kit together, the airlock starts bubbling within an hour or so.

I have now done 3 kits (coopers lager & canadian blonde) which never seem to bubble at the airlock. The gravity changes so i know fermentation is completed when it stops decreasing.

The brew seems ok and still gets you drunk, but has a disappointing head and very little carbonation compared to some other homebrews I have seen.

I use the coopers carbonation drops for convenience.

Can anyone suggest what I can do, to put more bubbles in my brew?

Cheers!

Wezz

 

[peas_and_corn]

What are the ingredients of the brew?
How long are you leaving it in the bottles?
A little more info would be helpful please

Lack of bubbles in the airlock doesn't mean much if gravity is falling- you might not have a perfect seal at the lid. Don't worry.

 

[Simon W]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

It's pretty common that airlocks don't bubble.
I have a Coopers barrel here that has absolutelly no chance of sealing.
The rim is very distorted, if I use a ruler and claim one half of the casting(from one 'seam' line to the other) is level, the other side drops away maybe 3 or 4mm! the O-ring never touches that part of the rim.

I've also got another fermenter here that had the same problem and I scraped/shaved the rim level with a thin strip of steel, tedious but now it seals great.
I've also got an old 'Wander' brand fermenter I bought 13 years ago, sealed perfectly straight out of the box.

To cure your bubble problems in the beer, do a search for 'Bulk Priming', there will be plenty of reading there.

The head issue is pretty common with kit brews, not sure what the solution is for that sorry.

Simo

 

[Stuster]

I wouldn't worry about not getting bubbles within an hour. If you are not getting any bubbles at all, then there's a leak somewhere. What kind of fermenter is it?

I've never used the carbonation drops, but white sugar works well. Get a little red scoop from your LHBS to measure it out with.

Head problems. Are you using sugar with your kit? If you are, trying using malt extract. Also, what yeast are you using? Using a better yeast like US56 (US05!) might help.

Finally, how long are you leaving them are bottling before drinking?

 

[DJR]

Lack of head/carbonation is sometimes just either a priming problem (not enough sugar in bottles) or just an ingredient problem - use more malt in the brew rather than the standard 1kg of dextrose and your head retention will improve.

 

[wezz]

What are the ingredients of the brew?
How long are you leaving it in the bottles?
A little more info would be helpful please

Lack of bubbles in the airlock doesn't mean much if gravity is falling- you might not have a perfect seal at the lid. Don't worry.

Sorry for being vague...

I never see any bubbles at all - after a while though I can see some fresh 'foam' on top of the brew through the lid.

It has happened on Coopers Lager, Coopers Canadian Blonde, and Toohey Real Ale. I have used Coopers Brewing Sugar and Brew Enhancer 1. I am just using the yeast supplied with the kit.

I am using the fermenter that comes with the Coopers starter kit - if I squeeze the fermenter the airlock moves so the seal isnt ALL bad but I suppose there could be a slow leak...

Bulk priming sounds interesting I shall do some research.

Thanks for your replies every one!

 

[Simon W]

If I squeeze the fermenter the airlock moves so the seal isnt ALL bad but I suppose there could be a slow leak...

My Coopers fermentor with the large leak did the same thing.
If you squeeze it and force a couple of bubbles through, the lock should not settle level, if it levels out, there's a leak.

EDIT: carefull you don't force too many bubbles through or you'll suck some lock water into the brew!

 

[tipsy_mcstagger]

I re-hydrated the yeast before pitching it for the first time on the weekend. kick started the fermentation very quickly. bubbling too quickly now but, struggling to keep the temp down! Dolt.

 

[Simon W]

Tipsy, yeah temps at this time of year can be a problem.
Try wrapping the fermentor with a wet towel and have a pedestal fan(approx $15 at bunnings) blowing on it. Will drop the temp a degree or three.

Or go to kmart and buy one of the collapsable can coolers from the esky section for $20. Fermentor fits in this with enough room for a frozen coke bottle or two.

If the ferment is active enough to blow out the airlock water, try a 2foot length of 10mm dia polyvinyl tubing shoved into the grommet the airlock fits thru, soften the end by dipping 20mm of it in boiling water. Get a 2L coke bottle half filled with water and drop the free end an inch or so into it and you gotta better airlock.

Edit: typo

 

[Brewtus]

Put the absolute minimum water in the air lock. Check the seal on the fermenter and if it has got a leak, don't worry to much as the presure will force the air out so the beasties won't come in.

 

[mika]

I generally use a small amount of vegie oil on the rubber seal. Allows you to get it up fairly tight, but is a bit of a bugger to do up.
With the oil on the seal, as I tighten it I can see the deal bedding against the lid all the way around.

Head retention is never fantastic for kits, certainly for ales and that kinda of thing I don't get much head at all, though what there is tends to last to the bottom of the glass. Wheats always show a big head.

 

[RobboMC]

Seal: I always run boiling water over the seal just before putting the lid on. It softens the seal nicely so it deforms to the shape of the barrel and seals properly.

Priming: I found the carbonation drops created a poor head. I reckon
dextrose is better and Brew Enhancer is better still.

 

[wezz]

Thanks for your input everyone!

I tightened the lid up with a LOT of force - turned only about 4-5mm and it started to bubble straigt away and hasn't stopped since!

I will try some of your tips like boiling water or oil on the seal next time.

Robbo - does this mean I can use the brew enhancer instead of carbonation drops on bottling day? How much do I put in? I am using the Coopers 700ml PET bottles so I normally use two carbonation drops.

 

[RobboMC]

I use about 220 g of enhancer for a 30 bottle batch.
I dissolve in 400 ml of boiling water and put about 13 ml in each longneck. I'm using 700ml PET bottles as well, and after 2 years I'm finding some leaking screw caps - they don't last forever.
I've never tried putting the enhancer straight in the bottles to dissolve, but if you did that 7 g per bottle would be about one teaspoon.

I'll try one with my next batch and see how it carbonates.

 

[Keifer]

"Priming: I found the carbonation drops created a poor head. I reckon"

Thats what i found, first brew tasted good for a first go but had f**k all bubbles. Never had that problem since with dextrose.

After reading on here about using cling wrap with pin holes in it, i've always done it that way. Using the o-ring on the outside to hold cling wrap there works a treat. Easier to clean up,don't have too clean lid, oring and airlock. And biggest plus is you can see the brew very clearly.