I brewed my first batch of beer ever (Caribou Slobber) using the Essential Brewing Kit. After adding the yeast, the airlock was bubbling like crazy for about two days, then there was silence. It has been 2 weeks, 3 days since brew day (the beer has not changed locations) and today I noticed that the airlock has started up again. The bubbling is not as frequent as it was originally, but it is definitely noticeable. I was waiting until this Sat. (the 3 week mark) to bottle after deciding to skip secondary fermentation. Is this a reactivation of the fermentation process and should I be concerned?
airlock activity doesn’t equal fermentation activity. It could just be (and likely is) just CO2 coming out of the beer. This can happen for a variety of reasons,
Good call on skipping secondary, just bottle it. :cheers:
A steady hydrometer reading 3 days in a row will tell you if you are at FG.
Airlock activity isn’t a good gauge of complete fermentation.
If you don’t have a hydrometer, then it won’t hurt to wait 4 weeks, and of course you could bottle at 3 weeks, but the recommended yeasts for that beer are highly flocculent so sometimes fermentation can “linger” for a while.
IMHO, try swirling up the yeast and waiting another week.
I agree with everyone that if airlock activity will not indicate fermentation completion. You have to take a series of SG readings. However, unless you were fermenting really cold with a sluggish yeast, you are almost guaranteed to be at FG by 3 weeks.
As an example, I have a CS that I started on 3/29, using S-04 yeast. Kept the temps. in the low 60s for a week, then increased to high 60s for a couple days. It was at FG in a week and 1/2. I left it alone for another week, cold crashed for a week and bottled 4/18- 1 day short of 3 weeks. I’ll try one this Friday after 2 weeks, but generally leave things for 3-4 weeks before chilling.
So, take a SG to be sure, but you should be able to bottle this weekend.
