No bubbles from the airlocks

[tomjones2]

Hi , this is a newbie question so by kind to me,

The wife and I started 2 x 30 bottle kits on Saturday, Mine is a Beaverdale Chardonnay and hers is a Muntons Chardonnay. All our kit is new, we have 2 x Youngs Fermenting vessels which we have started with and plan to rack off to a couple of 5 gallon carboys when fermentation is done and leave it to bulk age until hopefully its nice and drinkable. We followed instructions to the letter and the bubbles started plopping a little within a few hours so we were quite content, we used a brewbelt on both to keep the temp at around 20 - 25 deg, putting the belt at half way up the vessel as per instructions, they are both in our dining room as we only use it on high days and holidays and its quite cool in there as we turn the heating off.

Checked the temperature on Sunday morning using a laser gauge (use them for work, they save a lot of messing around with thermometers) and it showed the temp at around 28 deg, the beaverdale was bubbling slowly the Muntons not at all , took the belts off and have checked the temp this morning and its a more reasonable 21 to 22 deg.There is no bubbling through the airlocks of either brew but when I look at the lids of both vessels they look to be under pressure and are visibly convex in shape , I can hear a fizzing noise from both of them so assume something is going on. Question is , do we have anything to worry about ? is it likely that the vessels are not a perfect seal and the gas it getting out some other way ? Wife is convinced we have killed them off but she is a born worrier I think we are OK but would like a second opinion if anyone can spare a bit of time

 

[screamlead]

Sounds like the co2 is escaping elsewhere - you could try smearing vasiline around all the seals of the fermenters. When i use barrels once i get the ferment going i use silicone sealant to seal the barrel lids until finished. i also use vasiline on corks and rubber bungs too to seal the airlocks as well. But if co2 is escaping then nothing nasty is getting in so dont worry too much.

 

[oldbloke]

Those fermenters rarely seal perfectly so the airlocks often fail to bubble, or only bubble a bit, but it's not a problem, the CO2 produced by the brew forms a protective layer over it.

 

[calumscott]

Those fermenters rarely seal perfectly so the airlocks often fail to bubble, or only bubble a bit, but it's not a problem, the CO2 produced by the brew forms a protective layer over it.

+1

If you want properly sealed ones, the ones that The Malt Miller sells are the berries. :thumb:

 

[tomjones2]

Another question please, my Beaverdale says to check the brew around day 5 and if its 1050 , then transfer it to another container to finish the fermentation, if its not 1050 then check till it is then tranfer.How often is it safe to take the lid off which obviously lets out the Co2 and lets in the Oxygen.Original plan was just to let it brew , but re- reading the instructions they say that due to experience they strongly recommend the transfer, any thoughts anyone

 

[calumscott]

There is no definitive answer I'm afraid. Lid removal will disturb the CO2 layer and allow O2 in, in an active fermentation phase this shouldn't be much of an issue, the yeast will quickly use that up in respiration (basically what we do, rather than fermentation) and the layer will be replenished.

Each racking has its risks. Infections and oxidation being the main ones. You can mitigate infection though good sanitation and aseptic technique and oxidation by ensuring very careful siphoning with no splashing.

Take care, it'll be fine. :thumb: