No fermentation?

Are you fermenting in a bucket? They are notorious for sometimes having lids that don't quite seal completely, which can result in no airlock activity. Have you looked inside?

 

Have you opened up the bucket to look inside? If you see krausen (foam) on top the beer, it is fermenting.

Using the airlock as an indicator of fermentation is not always a good idea; you might have an air leak (e.g., a poor seal) and the CO2 is escaping there.

Cheers!

 

A krausen, i.e. a layer of foam/yeast/hop bits on top of the fermenting wort, which would indicate that fermentation is under way.

Or, a ting around the bucket, just above the top of the wort/beer, which would indicate that there was a krasuen and that it has fallen.

 

Is 72 the ambient temperature or the temperature of the fermenting beer?

Cheers!

 

Usually, no. The fermenting beer will be even warmer than your 72F garage. Your 68F ambient basement was probably better, for most yeast strains/styles.

Note: fermentation will happen faster at higher temps, but it's not usually good for your beer.

 

I would.

 

The only way to tell if it's fermenting is to check gravity readings days apart. Bubbles don't necessarily indicate ferm.

Conversely, the only way to tell if ferm is done is to have steady gravity readings multiple days apart.

 

A steady stream of relatively rapid bubbles does indicate fermentation. You can get some bubbles from temperature/pressure change and from off-gassing, but they won't be very rapid.

But an absence of bubbles doesn't necessarily indicate no fermentation, for reason already mentioned.

 

Yes.

Cheers!

 

I agree with moving it back to the basement. If your garage is typical of any garage (unless it has heat/air-conditioning), it will get much hotter during the day during the warm season, and that would be way to hot for good fermentation.

 

Agree with other posters to open the bucket. I stopped using airlocks a long time ago and just use solid lids. After a day or two I just open the bucket to check for krausen. I doubt there is any significant risk of infection by opening the bucket.

I wanted to add that you are fermenting rather warm. I wouldn't ferment at 68 ambient, much less 72.

 

Depending on the yeast strain I usually shoot for upper 50s or low 60s ambient, knowing that the beer will be slightly warmer because of fermentation activity.

If I were you starting from jump, knowing I couldn't get below 68 ambient and not having a temperature controlled fridge, I would do a "swamp cooler" to keep temps low from the beginning. Likely too late now, as I would guess that your beer has completed most of its fermentation.

 

OK, you caught me on a technicality.

I just meant the OP shouldn't be worried if he has no bubbles in the airlock. Or worse yet, bottle too soon thinking fermentation has ceased, when it actually hasn't.

 

Agreed, take a look in the bucket and move it back to the basement.