Common question: My brew is not fermenting

[Oliver]

One of the most common questions we get on this forum is along the lines of "Help, my beer is not fermenting" or "Help, my airlock is not bubbling".

If you have this problem, rule No.1 is that your beer will almost always be fine. Your beer is not ruined so don't throw it out.

Provided your beer is not too cool, it's highly unlikely that it is not fermenting. It is most likely that the gas caused by fermentation is escaping elsewhere

The minimum fermentation temperature for ales is about 16C, with the ideal range being 18C-22C. For lagers (and bear in mind that most "lager" homebrew kits are actually supplied with an ale yeast) the minimum is about 9C and the ideal 12C, although it will brew at higher temperatures.

If your beer is below these ranges, put it somewhere warm or use a brew heater and you should find fermentation starts.

If the beer is within these ranges (and for lagers you're sure that the kit comes with a lager yeast) look for signs of fermentation, including:
* Condensation on the inside of the lid
* Froth forming on the top of the brew
* A beery smell around the fermenter
* A layer of sediment forming on the bottom of the fermenter (obviously you'll need a fermenter you can see through for this one!)

You may have taken a specific gravity reading when you began your brew. If so, take another one. If your beer is fermenting, the SG reading will have dropped.

If all these things point to your beer not fermenting, go to your local homebrew store and grab another pack of yeast and add it. Your yeast may have been dead when you pitched it (it may have been well past its use-by date or mayhave been exposed to high temperatures during transport) or you may have pitched the yeast when the wort (the beer mixture) was too hot, thus killing the yeast.

Once you have established that your beer is, in fact, fermenting, you need to work out where the gas is escaping and if you want to bother fixing the problem.

The chance of the leak being big enough to let in nasties to infect your brew is so small as to be not worth worrying about (particularly as there is gas coming out of the fermenter, so the chances of anything getting in are even slimmer).

If you've got a screw-on lid, make sure it's done up firmly. Over-tightening can actually cause leaks.

If, after all this, you still think your beer is not fermenting, please let us know.

Cheers,

Oliver

[scblack]

Good idea Oliver.

It just happened to me, and you have not mentioned my problem, so I will add it here.

The airlock had a some sharp edges from the molding process, which allowed air to escape past the grommet. Just lightly sandpapered the edges and that stopped air escaping.

[Kippo]

Hey i am in the process of making my first brew. Over the first night the Forthy foam formed on top of the brew but since (last day or so), it has dissapeared. Is this a problem or should i not worry about it? P.S. all of the other signs of fermentation you mentioned above have and are still occuring.

[gregb]

Kippo, brew is brewing like a good brew should. Do nothing, relax and maybe empty another bottle or something.

Cheers,
Greg

[tyrone]

Here ;(passes a coopers wheat tallie) This did the same!Good isn't it

[ex0ja]

I'm trying to brew some Coopers Dark Ale, pitched the yeast about 3 hours ago and there is no sign of fermentation. Nothing in the airlock, no condensation, no froth. The use-by on the can was 14/10/07, so I guess the yeast isn't out of date? The code on the yeast sachet was 270 05, I have no idea if that is relevant.

I might go get some more yeast from the home brew shop tomorrow, what should I ask for? Any specific kind or do I just ask for ale yeast?

Edit: The temp at the time of pitching was 24C and still is now. Its in a fridge with two frozen 2L coke bottles (frozen water, not coke ).

[Shaun]

Give it time 3 hours is nothing. See what it is doing tomorrow afternoon.

[ex0ja]

Give it time 3 hours is nothing. See what it is doing tomorrow afternoon.

OK, I thought it started immediatley. On my first brew (and first attempt that failed) it started fermenting right away. It was the same yeast, only it was a Coopers Lager instead of Dark Ale. The temperature was a couple of degrees higher then too, I know that would speed it up, but would it really be much of a difference?

[ex0ja]

Well I got up this morning and had a look and its starting to get some frothy stuff on top (not even half as much as my first brew had after only 10 minutes though) and I can see there is pressure on the airlock coming from the fermenter , no condensation on the inside of the lid yet. I'd still like to know why this one took so much longer though.

[mark68]

I have had this problem with both my coopers dark ales,finally starting on day 2,but wow!!, when it does get going it's volcanic.

[Liz E]

Hi, noob here. I'm using a Coopers set up and have made about 5 batches of various beers so far. Each wort has fermented just fine but without my ever at any time witnessing one escaping bubble. I put down a Mex Sev last night and this time, for something different I didn't use any of the Coopers brewing sugars but rather 1kg of Breweiser Brew Booster. The wort is now happily bubbling away every 3 to 5 sec's. Two questions.

Does the existence of bubbles mean that the final quality of the beer will be better if the wort had not bubbled? Should I ditch the Coopers brand of brewing sugars altogether? I used the search function but could only really find ppl concerned about whether or not their wort was fermenting at all. That's not really what I'm looking for.

Thanks

[Tipsy]

Hi, noob here. I'm using a Coopers set up and have made about 5 batches of various beers so far. Each wort has fermented just fine but without my ever at any time witnessing one escaping bubble. I put down a Mex Sev last night and this time, for something different I didn't use any of the Coopers brewing sugars but rather 1kg of Breweiser Brew Booster. The wort is now happily bubbling away every 3 to 5 sec's. Two questions.

Does the existence of bubbles mean that the final quality of the beer will be better if the wort had not bubbled? Should I ditch the Coopers brand of brewing sugars altogether? I used the search function but could only really find ppl concerned about whether or not their wort was fermenting at all. That's not really what I'm looking for.

Thanks

Hi Liz E
You probably couldn't see bubbles in your air lock because your fermenter wasn't sealed properly. Coopers fermenters a notorius for this. It should not affect your beer in any way. I like bubbles so I now use pail type fermenters

[Oliver]

The code on the yeast sachet was 270 05 ...

This code indicates that the yeast was packaged on the 270th day of 2005.

You'll find that quite a few manufacturers use this code. Coopers used to use it on their bottle-conditioned ales, until around the time they moved to the "Best after" date.

Cheers,

Oliver

[ex0ja]

The code on the yeast sachet was 270 05 ...

This code indicates that the yeast was packaged on the 270th day of 2005.

You'll find that quite a few manufacturers use this code. Coopers used to use it on their bottle-conditioned ales, until around the time they moved to the "Best after" date.

Thanks Oliver. Actually I just noticed the 'Best After' on a Coopers Best Extra Stout bottle last night. I thought it'd be a s%!t if you bought some and you get home to drink it and you realise the date is before the 'Best After' date!

[Cat]

Hey, n00b question here.

I think I pitched my yeast in when it was still too hot (28 degrees - eek) because I didn't want to run the risk of infection ruining my very first brew. The SG rating hasn't changed from last afternoon and today when I measured it again, so I'm pretty sure I've killed my yeast.

My question is - will adding another packet of yeast make the brew especially 'yeasty' in taste? Or affect the taste at all? Any side effects from having 2 batches of yeast in there?

[drtom]

I'd wait another 24 hours before getting too concerned.

If there is still no activity then, you could pitch more yeast, which should be fine.

I note that the Cascade kits I've made have a relatively gentle fermentation, and didn't bubble vigorously at all.

Tom

[Cat]

I'm using the Black Rock Whispering Wheat kit if that makes any difference

I moved my fermenter to a warmer spot, so fingers crossed. I must admit though, I did open the lid to take a peek at any action on top of the brew - seems to be a nice layer of froth, but I'm not sure if that's from me shifting the fermenter all over the house!

Either way, I hope to see some airlock activity, because my sister broke my hydrometer (!) and now I have no other way to judge if anything's going on in the brew

[Redsicks]

I'd be buying another hydrometer to make sure your brew has finished fermenting before bottling.
I havn't bought one for a while but I think a cheapie is only around $10 from any HBS.

[Cat]

Yeah - I went out and got another one yesterday. This one I'm keeping stored nice and safe though!!

Took another reading yesterday - it's definitely changed since that first day, so I don't think the extra yeast is necessary (phew!). There's a nice thick layer of foam(?) on the top which I've heard is a good sign. However, there's definitely no airlock activity, which makes me think I have a leak in my fermenter.

Also, my cats have gotten into the habit of licking the fermenter tap. Obviously I'm going to sanitise it again before bottling because of this, but has anyone else found that their pets do this? Is it because of the sugar?

Cheers,

Cat

[Redsicks]

Sounds like the yeast is doing it's job fine.

Make sure the tube part of the airlock that seals in the "o"ring has no rough bits on it. That may cause air to escape.

I tighten the lid hand tight. Usually that is enough to make a good seal.

If after 1 day I see no airlock activity, I use a crude lid spanner (made of an old bit of angle iron) to tighten it a tad more.

I'd keep pets away from your fermenter - atleast the tap...

Maybe turn the fermenter so the tap faces into a corner? Or put a big box over the fermenter - that will keep light off your brew too.

After each use, clean the tap by turning it 180 degrees and pouring hot water over the outlet. Brew may leak out from around the threaded part but that can be rinsed clean once the tap is turned back the right way round.