Homebrewing beer is simply the brewing of beer at home. There are many steps involved in it, and fermentation is one of them. Fermentation usually takes place before the bottling of beer or wine.
Are you learning how to homebrew beer? Do you want to know when your homebrew is done fermenting? There are certain things you can do or use to determine if your homebrew is done fermenting. Still, the most effective way of checking if fermentation is complete is by using a hydrometer reading to check the content of alcohol when the fermentation process finishes. Take the first hydrometer reading before pitching the yeast; this is known as the original gravity. As soon as you notice that the airlock is no more bubbling and the krausen layer has fallen, the time for taking another small sample of beer to measure its gravity is due. If you notice that the current value is lower than the value you took before you pitched the yeast, then then you can conclude that your homebrew is done fermenting. Take another reading three days later and measure the gravity. If the current value is still the same as the one you took previously, you are sure that fermentation is complete. After this, you can then go ahead to store your beer in your keg.
What are some other visible signs you will see during the fermentation process? Check them out below.
1. Bubbles of carbon dioxide forming in the wort
You will notice bubbles of carbon dioxide forming in the wort after adding yeast. Each yeast cell will be suspended in the wort until they start multiplying due to absorbing oxygen.
If you use a transparent PET fermenter or a glass carboy, you will begin to see tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide gas forming in the wort after some hours. The tiny bubbles of gas float up through the wort to the surface of the fermenter.
2. The airlock, bubbles, and levels
Usually, the gas that is generated by fermentation makes the pressure in the fermenter gradually increase. So, when the pressure in the fermenter is higher than the ambient pressure outside, the carbon dioxide gas goes out through the airlock as bubbles.
You should know that the airlock is there to prevent air from entering and allow carbon dioxide to escape from the fermenter. A bubbling fermenter indicates that fermentation is already occurring, but if you notice that the airlock is not bubbling, it doesn’t mean that fermentation has ended. Most times, you will see this if you are using plastic bucket fermenters. Carbon dioxide will easily escape out of the fermenter because the lids of plastic fermenters don’t seal completely.
3. Krausen forms and then falls
As fermentation continues, a foamy layer of krausen forms at the tip of the wort. The krausen preserves the beer from getting infected, and it can also be used to determine when fermentation will finish.
Proteins from the wort, yeast cells, hop oils, and other residues are contained in krausen. Krausen begins to form one day after you pitch the years. This is when fermentation is very active. When fermentation becomes less active, the layer of foam reduces and flocculates. After the completion of fermentation, the layer of krausen goes down to the bottom of the fermenting vessel alongside other by-products of fermentation.
Usually, the condition of the krausen is a good sign of how the fermentation process is going.
4. Yeast particles floating around in the wort
At the early fermentation process, when the yeast is very active, you will notice tiny lumps of yeast around the wort, going to the surface of the carboy before it eventually goes to the bottom again.
5. Flocculation
This is a situation where yeast sinks to the bottom of your fermenter. When fermentation continues, the yeast dies off gradually, then leaves suspension and sinks to the bottom of the fermenter; and forms a yeast cake which is a combination of inactive and dead yeast and other remnants.
What is fermentation?
Fermentation is a very crucial step in the brewing process of your beer. It is a situation where yeast turns the sugar in the wort into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The method of fermentation begins when cooled wort is transferred to a fermenting vessel before yeast is added. Based on the kind of yeast you use, the concentration of sugar in the wort, and ambient temperature, fermentation typically takes about two weeks before it is completed. Immediately fermentation is completed, you can pour your beer into a keg or bottles, but if you are dry hopping, you can decide to rack it into a secondary fermenter for some days.
For brewers that want to know how long they should allow their beer to ferment, there is no stipulated time frame for fermenting your beer because you have no control over the fermenting time. Immediately you pitch the yeast; you wait for them to do their job.
But you can change some things to either reduce or increase the time frame, and controlling fermentation temperature is one of them. And all these will depend on the yeast strain you are using and what you want in the beer.
Controlling fermentation temperature is very important in the fermentation process as it can make some remarkable changes during fermentation. Also, each yeast strain has a particular temperature range they work best in. The warmer the temperature, the faster the yeast work, and the cooler the temperature, the slower the yeast works. The hotter temperature outside the yeast temperature range, the more chances you get unwanted features and off-flavors in your beer. And the cooler the temperature outside the stipulated temperature range, the more extended time frames you get and the more issues you encounter with getting to the expected level of fermentation.
So what is the required fermentation temperature you need to enjoy a seamless fermentation process? Always go for the lower-middle temperature of the yeast temperature fermentation range. If the temperature range is between 18 to 22 degrees celsius, you should go for 19 to 22 degrees celsius. This rule may not be the same for wheat beers and Saisons because their fermentation process is quite complex.
When your beer has finished fermenting, you should allow it to rest for some days so that it can settle out and clear with the yeast flocculating under the fermenter. You can reduce the temperature at this stage so that it can quickly clear.
You can also choose to package your beer as soon as fermentation is complete. Depending on the beer you are brewing, you can choose to add oak or fruit to your beer after fermentation.
Secondary fermentation is not good because of the risk of possible oxidation and contamination. You should only do it if it occurred, that is, keg or bottle carbonation.
If you want to see what your beer looks like during fermentation, you should use a see-through or transparent fermenter so you don’t alter the result of your beer. Don’t just remove the top of your fermenter to see the progress of the fermentation process and expose your beer to air.
How beer looks during fermentation depends on the yeast. Once the yeast is pitched into the wort, the following stages occur.
1. Lag phase
This phase lasts for about fifteen hours. The yeast cells are awake, and they are in search of their morning stimulants like minerals, amino acids, and oxygen. The yeast cells are aware of the food around them. During this phase, there is no airlock activity. You can only see a small quantity of natural convection of the wort in the fermenter because of the remaining temperature stratification.
2. Growth phase
This phase can last between four hours to four days. At this stage, the yeast begins to replicate and work on the sugars in the wort. A foamy head of yeast proteins and sugars called the krausen starts to form and grow. Carbon dioxide in large quantities also starts to produce, and the airlock becomes more active. You will also experience a gradual rolling over of the wort in the fermenter because the yeast manufacturing alcohol has heat and the heat convection in the wort begins to increase.
This is also the stage where most of the aroma, flavor, and alcohol compounds are manufactured.
3. Stationary Phase
The stationary phase usually takes three to four before it is completed. At this stage, all the sugars have been eaten, and the krausen will start turning from creamy white to yellow-brown color.
At this stage, the yeast begins to absorb many compounds like sulfur compounds, diacetyl, higher alcohols, and esters. It then reforms these compounds into more alcohol and other more excellent esters.
Here, the fermenting wort known as green beer is still yet to attain the correct balance in flavors. The airlock and convection become slower as the yeast begins to settle and go to sleep and drops out of solution as the remaining food disappears.
4. Death Phase
This stage usually takes weeks before it gets completed. Here, convection stops, and airlock activity stops, too, or you might still witness bubbling sometimes. The yeast will be settled at the bottom of the fermenter and will be mostly asleep. The beer begins to clarify, and the flavors in it mature too.
How is fermentation different from brewing and distillation?
Fermentation is very different from brewing and distillation. Most alcoholic beverages belong to either the wine or beer, or spirit category. While wines go through a fermentation process, beers are brewed before they are fermented, and then spirits are fermented before they are distilled.
Fermentation is when sugar is converted into energy as yeast consumes those sugars, thereby converting them into carbon dioxide and ethanol as waste products. Fermentation is essential during the manufacturing process of alcoholic beverages.
The brewing process occurs when germinated grain or barley is dried, milled, and steeped in heated water. This will produce a cereal mash where yeast and other ingredients are added. This yeast is what makes fermentation happen. It consumes the plant sugars and converts them to ethanol and carbon dioxide. The liquid is filtered and prepared for consumption as beer.
Distillation occurs when different liquids are extracted by heating and condensation. Before these alcoholic liquids are extracted through the distillation process, they are fermented before the vapor is allowed to condense through a cooling mechanism. The heated fermented drink yields its alcohol content as vapor before it is condensed, and the water content of the fermented liquid is left behind. Usually, the distilled alcohol can be further distilled before a good spirit is produced.
How can you handle stuck fermentation?
Stuck fermentation is when fermentation stops prematurely or the second gravity reading is not as low as expected.
Don’t try to bottle your beer if you experience this because if you do, it might cause the bottles to explode, and it is hazardous.
It is possible that fermentation didn’t occur if there were no bubbles in the airlock or not even a layer of krausen formed. If you kept the fermenter at the correct temperature and you aerate the wort, it might be that the yeast you used was not enough or it was dead. If that it your case, feel free to pitch more yeast from a new packet, mix it with a sanitized spoon and wait for one day to see if fermentation will start.
In a situation where fermentation began but stopped prematurely, you will need to restart the process by taking the fermenter to a warmer place or swirling the fermenter slowly to get the yeast reactivated again.
It is possible that fermentation will begin again, and you will have to wait for some days before you try to take another gravity reading.
Can beer ferment without bubbling?
It is a normal thing for you to get worried if your beer is not bubbling as it should. Although it is pretty difficult for you not to be bothered about the visual signs of brewings to indicate how the fermentation process is progressing, it is more to it than what you see most times.
Bubbling is a significant visual sign of healthy fermentation, but it is not the best way of finding out if your beer is fit for the next stage in brewing. Instead, you should take a hydrometer or refractometer to know if there is a change in its specific gravity.
Beer can ferment without bubbling, but it may not make your beer come out healthy for you or anyone to consume. You can experience a severe fermentation without splashing, and you can also experience serious bubbling without fermentation; the only way you can truly determine fermentation is by taking gravity readings after a space of two to three days.
Part of why your airlock may not be bubbling is because the seal is not tightly closed. Fermentation may occur, but carbon dioxide may not come out via the airlock. You should get a new seal to fix this kind of problem.
How do you know if fermentation is working?
What are the signs of fermentation you can check to know if fermentation is working? Check them out below.
- If you have a glass fermenter, look through it and check for any foam or a swirl of brownish sc around the fermenter. If you see any of that, it shows that fermentation is working.
2. You can also use hydrometer to check the gravity. If the final gravity of the beer is one-third to one-fourth of the initial gravity then, you can say the fermentation process of the beer is done.
If after adding more yeast and you discover that fermentation has still not happened, it could be that some mistakes were made, like you forgetting to rinse the sanitizer from the fermenter or you positioned the fermenter in a very cold place, or you used old or dead yeast.
How do I know if my fermentation is stuck?
Stuck fermentation happens when you get to your final gravity target, and your yeast suddenly stops working.
To know if your fermentation is stuck, do a forced fermentation by taking a sample, then pitch it with plenty of yeast, ferment warm before you measure the final gravity, and compare it with the gravity of the wort in the fermenter. If your fermentation stops at a gravity that is higher than the targeted gravity, then you can say your fermentation is stuck. You can have fermentations that started but stopped at some point, and you can also use fermentations that got stuck at the beginning of the process.
Different things could cause stuck fermentation; some of them are:
- Lack of enough nutrients in the wort to sustain yeast activity.
- Too much temperature can kill yeast.
- Unhealthy or dead yeast cells.
- A small quantity of pitched yeast.
- Too much pitched yeast that often leads to excessive krausening.
- Yeast that easily clumps together or flocculates.
Can I bottle my beer if it’s still bubbling?
You shouldn’t bottle your beer if it’s still bubbling, you will end up ruining the fermentation process, and this can cause your bottles to explode. Be patient enough for fermentation to take place before you consider bottling your beer fully.
Bottling your beer while it’s still bubbling can also alter its taste.
Conclusion
If you want to be very good at homebrewing beer, you should not neglect the frequent hydrometer readings during the fermentation process.
Ensure that you avoid bottling your beer when it’s still bubbling so it doesn’t end up exploding and causing an environmental nuisance.
Follow all the procedures and measurements involved in producing quality beer. It will help you come up with beers or alcoholic beverages that have a fantastic taste and flavor.