NZGirl

Recipes 

Argh... I just read an article Revvy had linked in another post... along the lines of "evaluate before action"... once you've taken an action it's hard to undo it.

And never listen to your LHBS guy/girl... ask the guys/girls here.

Two days is too soon for secondary

IwanaBrich

Recipes 

I agree I've never done it so fast before, but the fermentation appears finished and that is what the local HBS guy told me to do. In fact it is already clearing.

What is the reason for not racking?

MX1

Recipes 

There is a lot of stuff that goes on after the bulk of fermentation stops. The yeast still have work to do cleaning up after themselves. I always let my beer wait for 3 weeks in the primary, then to the clearing tank if needed for conditioning.

Did you get consecutive SG readings before you racked? That is the only real way to know if your done.

my euro cent

Tim

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IwanaBrich

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Yes, the SG was 1.008.

ILOVEBEER23

Recipes 

I just made an amber ale & had similiar results, the fermentation stopped after 1 day. i pitched my yeast at 70 degrees like the directions said & the OG reading was right on as well. I guess time will tell!

Revvy

Recipes 

How do you know fermentation stopped? Fermentation doesn't just stop....Not once in the ANCIENT thread did anyone bother to ask what the OP meant by "fermentation stopped" or if the poster mean "Airlock Stoppped Bubbling" nor did it appear that anyone even asked if the op took a CURRENT GRAVITY. But you notice that the OP opened up the bucket and found out that indeed fermentation was going fine.....And learned that an airlock is NOT a fermentation gauge.

Bubbling doesn't really mean anything other than the airlock is bubbling. And airlock is not a fermentation gauge, it's a vent to bleed off EXCESS gas, be it oxygen or EXCESS co2. It shouldn't be looked at as anything else, because an airlock can bubble or stop bubbling for whatever reasons, including a change in temperature (gas expands and contracts depending on ambient temps) changes in barometric pressure (You can have bubbling or suckback in the airlock, depending on pressure on the fermenter) whether or not a truck is going by on the street, the vacuum cleaner is running, or your dog is trying to have sex with the fermenter. Or co2 can get out around the lid of the bucket or the bung...it doesn't matter how the co2 gets out, just that it is.

And bubbles don't coordinate with anything concrete within the fermenter either, "x bubbles/y minute" does NOT TRANSLATE to any numerical change in gravity....if an instruction says do something when bubbles do something per something, throw the instructions out.

Fermentation is not always dynamic, just because you can't see what's going on, doesn't mean nothing is going on. And just because your airlock starts up, and then slows down or stops in a few days, doesn't mean fermentation is over YET, it just means the excess co2 is not coming out of the airlock...not that the yeast is done.

The only way to know how your beer is doing is to take a hydrometer reading, if you're worried. But not until 72 hours have gone by. Then if you're still concerned, take one...then you'll know.

But don't try to discern what the yeast is doing by what the airlock is or isn't doing. All it is is a cheap piece of plastic, not a calibrated gauge of anything.

So I'm going to ask you, how do you KNOW fermentation has stopped, have you taken a CURRENT GRAVITY reading? If the answer is "no" then you don't KNOW if fermentation has or hasn't stopped.

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ILOVEBEER23

Recipes 

Ya your right, i'm just assuming it has stopped based on the lack of activity in the airlock, as you say its not a gauge. I'll just wait & take a gravity test soon!Hey you gave me a boost of confidence that i did'nt mess it up, thx

biodarwin

Recipes 

I just did an Amber Ale and noticed the exact same thing. I went ahead and left it in the carboy for a total of 2 weeks, despite the fact it looked like it only fermented for a day or 2. Just bottled them on Saturday. Despite the fact it might be mostly done fermenting you will want to leave it in there so the yeast can clean up after itself.