Beginning Homebrewing Part II - Fermentation

Cherry Blonde in a fermenter.

OK, so you’ve finished boiling and cooling your first batch of beer according to the instructions in your kit.  Now what?

Now, you wait.

Put the lid on the fermenter and seal it up tight, then insert the stopper and the airlock.  Airlocks are devices inserted into the top of your fermenter which hold a certain amount of liquid and allow gas to escape but not to flow back in.  This one-way flow allows the fermenting beer to release carbon dioxide gas without getting any external bacteria in it which might make your beer taste bad. 

Some folks used distilled or clean water in their airlocks.  I and many others use vodka because it ensures any bacteria that get in dies before it can infect the beer.  Plus, the airlocks typically only need a half-ounce of liquid, so buying a half-pint of vodka will last through several batches of beer unless you’re drinking it, too.  It’s up to you, though.  Good clean water should work just fine, too.  Don’t sweat it.  It’ll still be beer when it’s done.

Where should I put it?

Put it in a dark spot that is the right temperature for your yeast and where it won’t be disturbed.  (Your instructions that came with the kit will let you know the appropriate temperature.)  Keep in mind that you should probably start with an ale kit, which should be OK fermenting at room temperature (65-75 degrees F). 

Lagers use particular strains of yeast which require cooler temperatures for fermenting, and will require additional equipment.  If you have a spare fridge in your house you can use, you can make a lager pretty easily, but if you don’t, I’d stick to ales for a little while first.  You can make some pretty clean tasting ale with the right yeast, and refrigerating your whole fermenter isn’t an issue.

What if I accidentally bought a Lager kit?

Don’t worry.  It’ll be fine.  Even if you can’t ferment it at the recommended temperature, it will still make beer.  It will just have some different character in it due to the abnormally high fermentation temperature.  It will still make a good beer if the rest of your processes are sound.

What happens now?

Over the next seven to ten days (for ales) the airlock will bubble.  It should get started within 24 hours, but if it doesn’t, don’t panic.  It’ll kick in.  If it’s been a few days and fermentation hasn’t started there are a few things that might be wrong:

1. The lid isn’t all the way on your fermenter – Gas may be leaking through the gasket in your fermenter, and not going through the airlock.  It’s no big deal.  Just make sure the lid is snug on the top and wait to see if it starts bubbling.
2. Your yeast is dead – This is very rare, but it can happen.  Sometime in shipping, storage, or during your brew, the yeast has died.  Always check the expiration date on your yeast and buy your yeast from a reputable source.  If you think this may have happened to you, go buy another pack of yeast and pitch it.  You won’t hurt anything by doing this even if your yeast isn’t dead, and it might just jumpstart your fermentation.
3. There are other possible causes of this, but they aren’t very common.  If you run into one of those batches, email me.  I’ll help you figure out what the problem is. 

Once it’s bubbling away, just leave it alone until it stops. 

As you get more advanced, you can take gravity readings with a hydrometer periodically until the readings stop changing.  This is how you can know exactly when fermentation has stopped, but for the first few batches, there is no need to do so unless you just want to. Since it’s your first batch, you can just wait until it stops bubbling and then give it one or two more days before bottling, and that should ensure the beer is completely fermented. 

What to do while you wait.

While you’re waiting the 7-10 days to bottle, you’ll want to gather all your bottles and get them ready for use.  I always make sure all of my bottles are clean before use, and I remove all of the labels.  You’ll need about 48-54 twelve ounce bottles for your 5 gallon batch of beer, so you may want to clean them in advance, in batches.  It will give you plenty of time to get them all done and not have to clean them all at the same time right before bottling.  While some brewers boil their bottles to get the labels off, I find it is easier to do it this way:

1. Soak as many bottles as you can in the hottest soapy water you can stand in your sink. 
2. Once the labels are saturated, peel them off and scrub off the adhesive. 
3. With a bottle brush (one should be included in your kit), scrub the inside of the bottle to get any residue out.
4. Rinse them well and set them up to air dry.  

You can skip the bottle cleaning entirely for a batch by just buying all of your bottles, but you’ll still probably want to clean them some, as there may be dust, dirt, or other stuff on them from manufacturing, shipping, and storage.  Plus, buying bottles is expensive.  Getting them from your beer-swilling friends is free.  Just make sure they’re not twist-off.

That should cover you during the fermentation process.  In our next session, I’ll discuss bottling.  Good luck and good brewing.