I'm brewing my first batch ever, and got a little worried that it wasn't bubbling after 24 hours as the instructions said it should. I've read a lot on here that says not to worry about a bubbling airlock, but I do have a question.
It does seem to be fermenting, it's been 2 days. I can see a krausen through the plastic. And today I noticed the airlock is indeed pressurized. The instructions called to fill the airlock about halfway. I missed the mark and filled it about three quarters.
Now here's the thing. I can clearly see there is pressure in the bucket. I can press on the lid, and see the airlock bubble. When I stop pressing on the lid, the airlock equalizes, then shortly shows pressure in the fermenter again. Yet I see no bubbling. Could this be due to the fact the airlock is filled too much? Has anyone else seen this kind of behaviour?
Lastly, thanks to all of the people on here, it's relieved many worries, with the simple DWHAHB.
EDIT It's a 5 gallon batch in a 6 gallon white plastic bucket. I put a flashlight on the lid, turned off the lights, and could distinctly see different light levels, dark at the 5 gallon mark, kinda chunky brown about an inch and a half above that, and empty above that. Three piece airlock.
EDIT2 Checked the gravity tonight, and found 1.007. So I think it's done. Perhaps I had a leak on the lid, perhaps I just didn't notice it fermented in the day I was at work. In either case, I've put it in the secondary fermenter (yes, I know it's not necessary, but I want to clear it up a bit). I smelled it, and it smells almost like Sierra Nevada Torpedo, tasted it, and I can clearly taste the hops flavor and bitterness. It seems it turned out okay. I'll check the gravity again on Sunday, and if unchanged, bottle it. FWIW original gravity was 1.058, but that could be off, it was hard to measure around the froth after transferring to the primary fermenter. Either way, I'm within 0.005 of the kits specs, so I think I'm good.
DOOD! I made Beer! Sorry, this is fun