quiet air lock

I've had my light ale in the fermenter for 3 days and air lock was going crazy for about two days and now has stopped is this normal

yup, especially for a light ale. I just brewed a moderately bodied ale (og 1.057) two days ago, and after the first 48 hours of machine gun style fermentation lock activity, it's settled down to a bubble or two a minute. Sit back, RDWHAHB and check your gravity in a couple of weeks. Cheers!

My amber ale was the same way. It went crazy for the first two days then showed little signs of fermentation after that. However, my Belgian wheat I brewed last Mon is still bubbling away. Not sure why it's still going but hopefully it turns out great.

Thanks guys I was just making sure that it was normal

Same here. Typically, I have a few days of bubbling. I take a SG at day 7, and my beer usually still drops 1-2 points before stabilizing. It is still fermenting.

unionrdr said:

I've learned through experience to wait till the 2 week mark to check the SG. There are times when it'll need at least another week to finish & clean up.

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The one time I took a gravity reading at 7 days, I had a problem putting the airlock back in and nearly pushed the bung all the way into the carboy, where it surely would have been stuck forever! Clearly, it was the beer gods punishing me for my insolence.

Never take a gravity reading so early. Proper sanitation may essentially eliminate the added risk of infection, but nothing can appease the beer gods.

unionrdr said:

Lolz. Yeah,the beer gods don't like it when you get impatient,or let your noobness show. Not much usually happens in the 1st week to warrant thinking it's done. 9 times out of 10,it won't be.

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In my case, it wasn't because I thought it would be done -- quite the opposite! -- it was because I knew I had underpitched into a high gravity beer and I was hoping to either get reassurance (because it was already pretty attenuated) or confirm I was going to get a stuck fermentation.

I got neither. OG was 1.086, after 7 days it was 1.058. So that's not great, but it ain't stuck either. After 14 days it was 1.048. (Surprisingly, the beer gods did not punish me for this second premature hydrometer sample) It is now on day 16, and based on airlock activity it appears to still be attenuating. So it looks like I am getting a slow fermentation, but not stuck yet....

Anyway, I'm ranging pretty far off topic now. I should have pulled a sample at 2 weeks, then 4 weeks. The beer gods are angry at my impetuousness.

Of course, now based on another thread, I'm thinking the fermentation is so slow I should pitch more yeast right now rather than waiting for it to get stuck entirely. Geez, so many decisions!

unionrdr said:

My last batch took that 3rd week to go from 1.016 down to FG of 1.012. 4th week dry hop. Be patient,it'll likely finish by itself.

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But remember, I'm starting that 3rd week at 1.048....

I might start a thread to solicit more opinions on this. I thought I had decided to just wait, now I am second-guessing myself because of something somebody said in the Fermentation & Yeast forum. Argh, stupid brewing, with it's ambiguity and reliance on personal preference!