Another Fermentation Question

Hello all. Yesterday I brewed my first batch following the instructions at howtobrew.com. It's an APA made with cluster and cascade. I pitched the yeast at about 3:00pm yesterday and by 6:00pm I was seeing activity. By 8:00pm it was bubble every 2-3 seconds and by 10:00pm I was seeing a bubble every 1 to 1.5 seconds.

I woke up this morning and there was 0 activity and as far as I've been able to tell to day, I haven't seen a single bit of activity. My OG was 1.056 (.005 off the mark but that's probably because my post boil batch size was just a bit small). The gravity reading I took about an hour ago was 1.028, about .013 off of the top end of an APA.

Is there anything I should be looking out for or could it have just slowed down enough that I don't have the patience to wait 5+ minutes to see a bubble appear?

I'm also worried about racking to the secondary if fermentation finished so fast. This is only a 2.5 gallon batch in a 5 gallon bucket and I don't have the CO2 to rid the secondary of the O2 in the headspace.

Should I just be patient and wait? And if it is nearly done, what do I do about racking so small a batch to a secondary?

Although I'm new, I'd wait about 2-3 days and take another gravity reading. It with almost seems if the gravity has went down by half, it might be nearly finished with the vigourous fermentation. My first brew only actively fermented for 1-2 days, then it went to 1 bubble every 2-5 minutes. My gravity went from .56 start to .14 finish. And it took little over 1 and a half weeks to stall out.

So basically just be patient, wait 2-3 days and take a gravity reading. That should tell if you it has stalled out at 28 or if it's fermented more.

Last night through about noon today the indoor temp was between 70-72. I pitched 15g (1 packet) of Coopers Ale Yeast. I did buy an extra packet, so I can repitch if needed.

However, the temp in here did get up to about 78-80 this afternoon, that was after it stuck, though. I've got the AC on right now and it's cooled back down to 74. This morning however, the temp of the fermenter was 72 when I woke up and checked it out.

As was mentioned, give it another few days before you check the gravity again. At that point even if the FG is where you want it I would leave it in the primary for 7-10 days. There are other things going on in there than just yeast eating sugar. They all make your beer that much better.

A good rule of thumb often advocated is the 1-2-3 method. 1 week in primary, 2 weeks in secondary and 3 weeks in the bottle. The primary phase can be variable as it is up to the yeast.

Everything sounds good. I would be careful though, and not let your temperature slip past 76 degrees. After 80 degrees, the beer will produce esters, which would give your beer a fruity off taste, which in most cases isn't desirable.

I have the same problem with keeping the temperatures stable (assuming you have a little trouble.) I've been keeping my air low (68 degrees) for 3 weeks now. Fortunately, I bought a thermostat for a spare refrigerator for $50. This will easily maintain the 65-75 degree temperature range.

Anywho, good luck and keep us updated!

Well, I think I just learned something. I've been checking things out.. In my recipe I used:

2lbs of Coopers Light LME
1lb of Laaglanders Amber DME

From what I've been reading Laaglanders is only 50-55% fermentable, but the question is, even at that rate (and I don't know what normal is.. 75%?) would that account for the gravity being off by .013?

I found something else... From the howtobrew.com book:

Symptom: The fermentation seems to have stopped but the hydrometer says 1.025.

Cause 1: Too Cool This situation is commonly referred to as a "stuck fermentation" and can have a couple causes. The simplest cause and probably the most common is temperature. As previously discussed, a significant drop in temperature can cause the yeast to go dormant and settle to the bottom.
Cure: Moving the fermentor to a warmer room and swirling the fermentor to stir up the yeast and get them back into suspension will often fix the problem.

Cause 2: Yeast The other most common cause is weak yeast. Referring back to previous discussions of yeast preparation, weak yeast or low volumes of healthy yeast will often not be up to the task of fermenting a high gravity wort. This problem is most common with higher gravity beers, OGs greater than 1.048.
Cure: Add more yeast.

Cause 3: Low Attenuating Extracts Another common cause for extract kit brewers is the use of extracts high in dextrins. Two brands are known to be high in unfermentables, Laaglanders Dry Malt Extract (Netherlands) and John Bull Liquid Malt Extract (UK). These are not bad extracts, in fact they are high quality, but their use is better suited to heavier bodied beers like strong ales, porters and stouts, where a high finishing gravity is desired.

My primary is reading 1.028 and as mentioned above I did use Laaglanders. Also, my OG was supposed to be 1.046 but was 1.051 (I didn't account for boil off and my batch was only 2.5 gallons)

I think at this point I'm not going to worry about it. It's probably finished, next time I just need to buy a more fermentable extract like Munton's.

I'll let it in the primary until this weekend like I was going to then rack it to the secondary.

Szerek said:

Well, I think I just learned something. I've been checking things out.. In my recipe I used:

2lbs of Coopers Light LME
1lb of Laaglanders Amber DME

Click to expand...

You learned the way so many of us did about Laaglanders.

Two things:

1) Please don't get tempted to do the Beano routine. (Bean there, done than...gushers)
B) Regardless of your G reading today, let that beer sit for a week before moving to a secondary.

You are going to end up with a nice, lower alcohol, session ale that will be a bit maltier than normal. Nothing wrong with that.

Just don't try to make the beer do something it's not supposed to do.

I'll let it sit. Since it's my first batch I'm fretting over it like an old hen.

Nexus555 said:

Although I'm new, I'd wait about 2-3 days and take another gravity reading. It with almost seems if the gravity has went down by half, it might be nearly finished with the vigourous fermentation. My first brew only actively fermented for 1-2 days, then it went to 1 bubble every 2-5 minutes. My gravity went from .56 start to .14 finish. And it took little over 1 and a half weeks to stall out.

So basically just be patient, wait 2-3 days and take a gravity reading. That should tell if you it has stalled out at 28 or if it's fermented more.

Click to expand...

With advise like that , I think you've gone past the noob stage.