Hey everyone, I brewed a batch of beer last Saturday and from what I could tell all went well. I followed a recipe from Northern Brewer for the Single Hop Chinook IPA. I used Safale US-05 Ale Yeast. It's been 4-5 days now and I hadn't seen any activity in the airlock so I took the calculated risk of opening up my bucket to take a peek. There was a thin layer of krausen from what I could tell, as well as some "gunk" on the sides of the fermenter about a cm from where the water line is. Could that be leftover krausen from when it was fermenting initially? When I press on the lid of the fermenter gently I can smell the beer (smells great, no off smells) coming through the top of the airlock, but it's not bubbling at all. Is my beer fermenting properly? Is my airlock faulty/could I have filled up my airlock with too much water? Thank you for reading, Alex
Airlocks don't mean anything. It is quite likely that you missed the krausen and all you are seeing is the ring that is frequently left. What temperature did you pitch at? What temperature did you ferment at? Have you taken a gravity reading? Or, RDWHAHB
The gunk on the sides usually means there was some fermentation. It's possible you have a small leak somewhere but it should be fine. Might want to refrain from pushing on the middle of the lid since it might suck some air back into the bucket. If I think my lid might have a leak I push along the edges to make sure it is sealed properly. The more you brew you will see all sorts of airlock variation. As long as you are pitching healthy yeast at proper temperatures you can pretty much assume your beer is fermenting regardless of what the airlock is doing.
You're all good. Beer has already gone through high krausen which left the ring up higher than the volume level. Leave for another week or two. Probably have either a bad seal on the airlock bung or the lid which let CO2 escape there instead of through the airlock.
That was my first AG brew and I loved it so much that I've brewed 4 variations in the year since. I agree with the other posters about your fermentation.
I've also brewed this batch and it was fantastic. Don't be afraid of opening the bucket/fermentor. The chances of your beer getting contaminated is so slim I think you have a better chance of hitting $1000 of a scratch off ticket. Temp has a lot to do with fermentation, take gravity readings, and RDWHAHB itll be ok!
