Ok, 3/22/08 first batch of Wheat Beer went into the fermentor. Waiting for it to ferment. In the first 2 days the water in the bubbler moved but then went back to where it was in the beginning. top of fermentor is domed. Still waiting for a bubble. Should I be seeing bubbles in the tube or not? It looks like there is a thick layer of foam on top of the beer, about 2-3 inches thick. When do I see bubbles in the bubbler?

If the top is domed your airlock may be clogged, take it off and recheck it, if it builds too much pressure it will pop off violently, the top shouldn't be domed. Don't say that to make you panic, but a clogged airlock isn't terribly uncommon.

Devon wrote:
If the top is domed your airlock may be clogged, take it off and recheck it, if it builds too much pressure it will pop off violently, the top shouldn't be domed. Don't say that to make you panic, but a clogged airlock isn't terribly uncommon.

Just to add on this, a lot of the wheat beer yeasts are fairly active fermenters... our first one clogged too and blew the lid off. Definitely check the airlock for a blockage. If there's krausen (the foam on top) and the top is domed, your beer IS fermenting. Bubbles in the airlock aren't a super accurate gauge of anything, to be honest. Sometimes they don't bubble at all if there's any little area for air to get out and equalize pressure elsewhere. Or they won't bubble if clogged.

Thank you, I can push on the slightly domed top and feel air coming out of the top of the airlock so I don't believe it is plugged. I think it is a matter of being patient. Ack!

char1255 wrote:
Thank you, I can push on the slightly domed top and feel air coming out of the top of the airlock so I don't believe it is plugged. I think it is a matter of being patient. Ack!

Does is bubble when you push it like that?

Yes it does bubble when I push on the lid, the lid is not domed a great deal, just slightly. My husband swirled the container to try to stimulate the beer. There doesn't seem to be much foam in there anymore. I hope this is just a waiting game, I can't imagine any reason why this beer would not ferment. From what I have read it would not be a good idea to take the lid off and expose the beer to oxygen, correct?

Well, it doesn't sound like your airlock is clogged. The krausen (foam) has gone down, so the most active stage of fermentation is over. Your beer without a doubt fermented. That foam you saw was yeast and carbon dioxide, given off from fermentation. You probably don't want to leave the lid open, but taking it off for a few minutes won't do anything bad. And leaving the lid off is more worrisome because you don't want stuff falling in.

But, rest assured your beer fermented. Check the gravity with your hydrometer and, if you've reached your final gravity you can bottle or move it to secondary fermentation, depending on whichever you wish to do.

I don't know why your airlock didn't bubble. There is really only a day or two period will it will bubble very actively. Perhaps you missed that time period? After that, it will only bubble infrequently as fermention (and CO2 production) greatly slows. Sounds like everything went a-ok though!

Thank you for your help, I know we did see some activity in the first 2 days, never quit a bubble but the water in the bubbler was definately moved over to the other side. I know there are different types of bubbles so perhaps you don't know what I am talking about. So I think we will go ahead and keg the beer and hope for the best. I really appreciate your advise and comments and I will post when we see how this beer tastes, I'm excited.

yup sounds like you're on track to a nice batch of brew, good luck!

The Homebrew place in town said that we probably didn't get a good seal on the lid and air was allowed to escape. He said if we had and inch of foam on the sides of the fermenter then that is definately what happened. So, in the keg it will go and we'll see if it's any good. Will keep you all posted just for fun. Thanks!