Second brew, not a lot happening!

BeardySi

Hi folks, am on my second brew - a Youngs American Amber Ale kit.

The first was a Youngs American IPA which is now nearly bottle conditioned and went without a hitch...

Set up the kit on Sat and by Sunday it was bubbling away nicely. As of yesterday evening activity in the airlock seems to have stopped and there's not a lot happening. Temps have been reasonably steady in the 20-22 degree range for it. Am I being paranoid or is there likely to have been a problem with the yeast or something?

The IPA was extremely vigorous and I had to rig a blowout tube for the first 5 or 6 days. This seems to be the complete opposite....

BeerNut

It sounds fine. The airlock doesn't really tell you anything useful. Give it the week and take a gravity reading.

FlipperThePriest

Only thing you can really rely on is your hydrometer in this situation. My fermenter lid is no longer proper sealed so my air lock hasn't bubbled in about 7 or 8 batches. But the CO2 produced by the beer fermenting will protect it from oxygen, so all's good. Resist the urge to test it too early, last thing you want is to be inside the fermenter every few days. The warmer temps maybe helped the first stages of the ferment to happen quicker.

BeardySi

Well, measured the SG last night - came out at 1.010 (from 1.048 a week ago!). No sign of much foam on top and still some undissolved yeast floating about, so I stirred it in gently and left it be. Will check again in a few days and consider dry hopping and bottling if it's looking stable...

BeerNut

Treadhead wrote: »

I stirred it in gently

It's not a good idea to touch the beer at all during fermentation as you risk it getting oxidised, or even infected.