Yeast Issue...maybe

So I did my first all grain on Saturday. Despite a few new equipment issues everything went pretty well until it was time to chill the wort and pitch my yeast.

I have used ice baths with my mini mash / extract brewing for the past few years with no problem. I went through my normal routine, thought the wort was in an acceptable temp range, and about half way through pitching the yeast I realized that my work temp was higher than I thought. I took the temp to learn it was still around 100 (yikes!)

So I added some ice to bath and waited another ten minutes until it got down to an acceptable temp and pitched the remaining yeast.

I'm using Safale US-05. No starter on this batch. OG was 1.048

Everything appeared normal the first 48 hours but today (day 3, roughly 65 hours) the airlock has completely stopped bubbling. I recognize that it could still be fermenting and just not bubbling, but how do I know for sure?

Should I pop it open and take a gravity reading or just chill out and see where I'm at in a week or so?

I have a starter going w/ some San Diego super yeast for a brew I'm doing tomorrow. Would anyone think about pitching some of this 3 days in?

Patience, grasshopper.

Let it ferment for another two weeks at least before taking a gravity reading.

JohnnyO said:

Patience, grasshopper.

Let it ferment for another two weeks at least before taking a gravity reading.

Click to expand...

+1

Airlock activity isn't what you should follow. It's likely that it just went fast.

yeah... that's the reassurance I needed. Sometimes we just need to think out loud to know we're thinking crazy.

Exactly. But don't let anyone fool you. Most homeberewers, beginner and advanced, love seeing that active airlock. I now use a blowoff tube, but still check it 2-3 times a day in the first few days just to see the activity and hear that bloop, bloopbloop, bloop. It's fun and exciting.