Inactive airlock

[ScaniaBrew]

Hi all - I brewed a German style pils yesterday. Since I want to serve this at a party in early April, I went for White Labs Hornindal Kveik with the intent of doing a super quick but still quite clean fermentation. I finished brewing around 7pm last night and already around midnight my airlock was going crazy, as expected. However, this morning, all signs of activity in the airlock seem to have ceased. Should I be worried about something having gone critically wrong overnight?

Other relevant info:

OG 1.041 (target 1.044)

I pitched one packet of the liquid Kveik into around 20 litres of wort.

The carboy is on a heat plate and is reading between 28 and 30 C.

I let the Kveik get up to room temperature before pitching. I pitched when the wort was around 30 C.

I used about double the amount of yeast nutrient.

Upon shining a bit of light into the carboy it appears that things (protein, I guess) are swirling around quite aggressively - is this a sign that we are still on track?

 

[Zambi]

Don't worry.
Most kveiks are beasts and your primary fermentation has probably finished already

 

[Ward Chillington]

Check for air leaks as it sounds like your visual activity is not matching your airlock activity. I agree with Zambi 100%, it's a beast and while Kveik is a fast fermenter, you are obviously not done yet given your "swirl" observation. If I read you're post right, you're not yet 48 hours from pitch...right? What's your krausen look like?

The only other note but I don't THINK is an issue here is the temperature delta between your wort and the yeast pouch at pitch. You can shock your yeast if your temperature difference is 10° F or more. The result there is less cells to do the job which would be compounded if the pouch was getting near the expiration date.

Welcome to the forum by the way @ScaniaBrew !

 

[ScaniaBrew]

Check for air leaks as it sounds like your visual activity is not matching your airlock activity. I agree with Zambi 100%, it's a beast and while Kveik is a fast fermenter, you are obviously not done yet given your "swirl" observation. If I read you're post right, you're not yet 48 hours from pitch...right? What's your krausen look like?

The only other note but I don't THINK is an issue here is the temperature delta between your wort and the yeast pouch at pitch. You can shock your yeast if your temperature difference is 10° F or more. The result there is less cells to do the job which would be compounded if the pouch was getting near the expiration date.

Welcome to the forum by the way @ScaniaBrew !

Hey! Thanks so much for the input and the warm welcome. There wasn’t a huge temp delta to my recollection. Krausen was high overnight judging by the foam marks on the carboy. I also have a lot of headspace in this fermenter…I am approximately 19 hours from when I pitched it.

also checked gravity a few hours ago - was at 1.026ish

 

[Ward Chillington]

Sounds like the finish line is still in front of you!

How are you checking gravity?

 

[ScaniaBrew]

Sounds like the finish line is still in front of you!

How are you checking gravity?

Indeed there is a ways to go.
I am checking it with a simple graduated cylinder/hydrometer setup and adjusting for temperature difference since it’s calibrated for 20 C but the wort is around 28-30C.

 

[Ward Chillington]

I'd give it a week before checking it again...let the yeast do their thing, unfortunately, they can't read a calendar. I've not used Hornindal and I'm not sure if that's one of the Kveik strains that are recommended for Pilsner-like used or if it imparts a orange or peachy ester but it sounds like you're making beer!

Here's some profile info to consider from the milk the funk site

• Hornidal 1 - Tropical, pineapple, rum-like, caramel, citrus, balanced malt/hop
• Hornidal 2 - Floral, rose-like, sulfury, orange, rum-like, very malt accented
• Hornidal 3 - Orange, red apple, rum-like, caramel, balanced

Let us know how it turns out...are you bottling or kegging?

 

[Donoroto]

There may be a leak bypassing the airlock. No need to worry, contamination is very unlikely, but if you find it, correct it.

 

[ScaniaBrew]

I'd give it a week before checking it again...let the yeast do their thing, unfortunately, they can't read a calendar. I've not used Hornindal and I'm not sure if that's one of the Kveik strains that are recommended for Pilsner-like used or if it imparts a orange or peachy ester but it sounds like you're making beer!

Here's some profile info to consider from the milk the funk site

• Hornidal 1 - Tropical, pineapple, rum-like, caramel, citrus, balanced malt/hop
• Hornidal 2 - Floral, rose-like, sulfury, orange, rum-like, very malt accented
• Hornidal 3 - Orange, red apple, rum-like, caramel, balanced

Let us know how it turns out...are you bottling or kegging?

Will do - bottling this time around because my keg is full of a cream ale I made two weeks ago.

 

[Craigerrr]

If you are seeing "things swirling around aggressively" that is the yeast eating sugar like they are pacmans! If you are bottling you must be patient. Note that bottle conditioning with kveik may not be as quick as the original fermentation. If you want to enjoy this in early April you may need to find a way to free up your keg. I recommend having friends over for help with this process

 

[Zambi]

How does hotnidal compare to Voss?
As with Voss, I wouldn't worry about bottling early. My standard there is 5-7 days fermentation, 4-5 days carbonating, min 2 days fridge.
(note my carbonating temp is similar to fermentation temperature and above 30 oC)