Two Fermenters, Only One Bubbling

Northern Brewer General
1

I brewed a 10 gallon batch on Saturday. Pitched the Bry97 into both buckets.

5 days later, one bucket is bubbling away. The other…nothing.

Both are in tubs of water. The one bubbling away is in a larger tub and its about 3/4 deep on the water. The water temp in the deep tub is 65.5

The shallow tub only goes about 1/4 up the side of the fermenter. That water is 64.4 and zero bubbles in the airlock.

I cracked open the one with no activity and there is plenty of krausen in there, so I’m not too concerned.

It just seems weird that one would be bubbling away and the other doing nothing when both are the same beer and same yeast and only 1 degree temp difference.

2

Sounds like a lid is not sealing properly.

3

Not unusual at all - I ferment in buckets and I would say bubbles in the airlock are about a 50/50 proposition. Lids leak enough, on a regular basis, to prevent bubbling. No big deal - fermentation is going on fine, CO2 is just escaping.

4

Yea, if I do not see bubbles, I will crack the lid after 3 days or so. If I see activity, I shut it back up and ignore for 2+ weeks other than occasionally checking temps.

I get air lock bubbles about 50% of the time

5

That was my thought two. One of the buckets is a couple years old, so that could be the case.