During fermentation you will get foamy bubbles on the top of your beer, this is called krausen and is perfectly normal for brewing. One way to always check for fermentation is to see if you have any trub build up on the bottom of the fermenter. If you do, then your good to go.

You should not stir your homebrew during fermentation, in most cases, as it can contaminate the beer with outside bacteria, wild yeast, and oxygen which leads to off-flavors or spoilage. Stirring can have disastrous potential to ruin your beer in a variety of ways.

The most common cause of cloudy or hazy beer is yeast, proteins &/or polyphenols suspended in the beer. The best solution is to cold crash your wort after boiling it to encourage most substances to sink to the bottom as ‘trub’. Other causes include starches, low-flocculating yeast or an infection.

Swamp Cooler Simply put your fermenter in a pan of water. Soak a T-shirt in the water and place it over your fermenter, making sure that the bottom of the shirt dips into the water all the way around. Place a fan blowing on this, and your fermenter will hold a temperature about 10-15 degrees below ambient temperature.

The optimum temperature range for yeast fermentation is between 90˚F-95˚F (32˚C-35˚C). Every degree above this range depresses fermentation. While elevated temperature is problematic in all phases of ethanol production, it is specifically hazardous during the later stages of fermentation.

Fermentation is finished when it ceases to off gas. The airlock is still and has reached equilibrium. If you brew in glass, look at the beer, the yeast ceases swimming and flocculates (settles) on the bottom. Pull a sample and taste it.

Completion of fermentation process indicates low concentration of glucose i.e. 0.2 g/Lit. The completion process depends on the initial glucose content, pH, nitrogen assimilation, Dissolved oxygen etc.

Does fermentation need to be airtight? No! In fact, primary fermentation should never be airtight because you run the risk of blowing the top off of your fermenter or breaking it completely. As carbon dioxide is created during the fermentation process, an incredible amount of pressure can build up over time.

You didn’t ruin it by any means, but adding dry yeast to secondary is often a no-go. Assuming the yeast doesn’t take off, what may work is to make a starter with some fresh yeast, step it up once to acclimate the yeast to a high-alcohol environment, and add the active starter to your beer in secondary.

So if you are using good quality ingredients and techniques, a pure yeast strain with a good starter, and are not planning on leaving the beer in your fermenter any longer than needed – then a secondary is not needed. Just leave it in the primary and let it go.

Adding more flour as necessary: a ratio of 60% flour to 40% liquid is usually a good ratio for bread doughs so add sufficient flour needed to balance. Knead the active yeast mixture into the dough, then let it rise in a warm, moist place. This can also be an indicator to see if your yeast is not active.

If you see that the dough is not rising, it’s likely due to at least one of these reasons: The yeast, baking soda or baking powder that you’ve bought from the store is old. If it’s too cold, it won’t activate the yeast, and if it’s too hot, it can kill the yeast. It should be between 105 F and 115 F.

You don’t need to dissolve active dry yeast in lukewarm water before using it. Well, if you’re using a typical 1/4-ounce packet of yeast, just follow the directions on the back: dissolve the contents of the packet in 1/4 cup warm water with 1 teaspoon sugar. After 10 minutes, the mixture should be bubbly.