My first brew batch was transferred to my 6.5 gal carboy Friday night. On Saturday I noticed a large layer of foam on top of my brew. I assume this means the yeast is doing its job. But, shouldn't I see activity on the airlock? Today (Sunday) the layer of foam is almost gone & still no airlock activity. I'm brewing a 5-gal batch of Mudslide Chocolate Milk Stout. I live in Northern California where there is a big temperature swing each day, so I put the carboy in a Cool Brewing Fermentation Cooler. The temp is holding in the 70's (around 74 degrees). Should I wait until I see airlock activity before dropping the temp to 64-72? Or, should I just sit tight and wait?
I would give it another week and check your gravity. Did you get a gravity reading when you put it in the carboy Friday? If so, then compare it to the one now. I suspect if you are fermenting around 74* which is pretty warm, that the beer is probably close to finishing, especially since you saw krausen in the fermenter. You probably have a bad seal with the airlock, so don't always go by any airlock activity as a function of where the beer is in the process. Yes, seeing it bubble means the yeast is producing co2, but past that, the ONLY way you can tell if a beer is fermenting, is checking the gravity via a hydrometer.
Thanks for the advice! I did not use my hydrometer yet. I will take a reading as soon as I can figure out how to get the beer out of the carboy & into the hydrometer. I suppose I can siphon off a bit for that purpose.
I would buy a wine thief, as it will make doing so much easier. I would also suggest, using the hydrometer during your brewing and taking notes so you can learn from it all.
Probably have a leak in the seal up top or the airlock is improperly secured. If you see krausen in the carboy, fermentation is active and CO2 is being produced. I wouldn't worry about it, take a gravity reading after a week and if it's at terminal gravity, transfer to secondary. Or try to find the leak in the seal and fix it then you won't have to transfer to secondary so soon.
Welcome to the site. We have a nifty search feature for the forum and a quick search of "no airlock activity" would probably pull up a thousand threads and responses for this issue. Each one will reiterate that 'airlock activity is a poor indicator of fermentation.' Because you saw Krausen you are most likely fine. A hydrometer reading is the only way to be sure.
