No foam cap

I started my first batch of beer on Sunday, the Caribou Slobber extract kit. Everything went well in brewing, my original gravity was exactly what it was supposed to be. So I added the yeast (dry yeast, that I mixed with warm water earlier) and sealed it up.

That night the airlock was bubbling steadily, so I didn’t think I had anything to worry about. But the next day, the airlock had stopped bubbling, I opened the fermenter a little to see inside. There wasn’t a cap of foam on the beer, but there was residue up the sides of the bucket, like it had a exploded (there was a little junk in the airlock too, but not enough to block it).

So I’m wondering, is this common? Is my yeast still working?

If the beer temp was high, near 80*F then you probably finished in a day. Also, buckets are notorious for not sealing well allowing CO2 to escape through the lid instead of the airlock. The beer will be fine if the lid doesn’t seal. Let it go another couple of days and check the gravity with a hydrometer to see if it’s finished.

I brewed and pitched the Caribou Slobber extract kit on Saturday night. Primary is a bucket. Rehydrated yeast before pitching. Sunday, fermentation was going like crazy; Monday morning still going strong, but slower.

By Monday evening, much, much slower.

I did not record temp at which I pitched. But, I believe it was about 70.

I did not open bucket to see what the cap looked like.

Fermenting at 67.

So, your experience doesn’t seem too far off from mine. I will take a gravity reading tomorrow and another Sunday to see if it is done.