Stopped fermenting after 2 days??????!?

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spenca99

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Ok, so i picked up a Canadian Adventure beer kit. My dad has brewed beer before so he helped me out. I sterilized the stuff and add the water and the mix and sucralose.after about 12 hours my dad put the yeast in after the mix warmed up. It was bubbling pretty good for 2 days now its stopped completely...is this bad?
 
Probably fermented hotter than you would normally want. That would really get the yeast working creating more heat and more active yeast.

Bad? Not too bad, you might get some fruity flavors but you'll still have decent beer.

Ideal? No, but again, you should be fine. I would let it sit for another week to 10 days and start taking gravity readings.
 
I don't see anything by what you are saying to indicate that your fermentation actually was stuck. All I see is that your airlock stopped bubbling, and that you didn't take a gravity reading because you can't with your conical.

BUT without a gravity reading all you are telling me is that your airlock stopped bubbling....That is NOT the samething as a stopped or stuck fermentation.

Whether it's in a conical, a bucket, or a carboy, it's the same thing. An airlock is a VENT, a VALVE to release excess co2, nothing more.

If it's not bubbling it just means that there no excess co2 to be vented out.

In your case, more than likely the big "bang" of fermentation is done and there's no excess co2 being voided out. It may or may not mean that fermentation is complete or is even stuck. But you can't no that just by an airlock.

It may mean that the majority of the fermentation is complete, but the yeasties still have a few points to go, just not active enough to blip the airlock.

That's why you need to take a gravity reading to know how your fermentation is going, NOT go by airlocks. The most important tool you can use is a hydrometer. It's the only way you will truly know when your beer is ready...airlock bubbles and other things are faulty.

The only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in....

Thinking about "doing anything" without taking a hydrometer reading is tantamount to the doctor deciding to cut you open without running any diagnostic tests....Taking one look at you and saying, "Yeah I'm going in." You would really want the doctor to use all means to properly diagnose what's going on?

In your case I would wait a week and take a reading, it's only been two days, so relax.
 
Ok, so i picked up a Canadian Adventure beer kit. My dad has brewed beer before so he helped me out. I sterilized the stuff and add the water and the mix and sucralose.after about 12 hours my dad put the yeast in after the mix warmed up. It was bubbling pretty good for 2 days now its stopped completely...is this bad?

No, it's fine.
 
I have a similar problem, except my fermentation was going pretty smoothly for about 3 days and then completely stopped. My temperature was pretty high when I pitched my yeast, which is what I attribute the short fermentation too (about 85 degrees). I let the beer sit in the fermenter for 6 days and now I'm considering transfering it into a secondary. Would this be enough to reactivate the yeast or should I put something in to help this process along? Thanks.
 
Did you take a gravity reading? You beer is still fermenting and just because you don't see the lock bubbling doesn't mean it's stopped. Let the beer sit in primary for a few more days then take a gravity reading.
 
I have a similar problem, except my fermentation was going pretty smoothly for about 3 days and then completely stopped. My temperature was pretty high when I pitched my yeast, which is what I attribute the short fermentation too (about 85 degrees). I let the beer sit in the fermenter for 6 days and now I'm considering transfering it into a secondary. Would this be enough to reactivate the yeast or should I put something in to help this process along? Thanks.

I wouldn't call it a "problem". More than likely, everything is fine and the vigirous fermentation is over. Normal. Part of the process. 85° is pretty warm to pitch, but you didn't kill any yeast at that temp. Thinking of 'reactivating' after 6 days is very premature. Get a hydrometer reading if you need to (or better yet, wait a while longer) but that will probably confirm that your yeast has done job #1 and converted your wort into beer.

You will probably get a lot of advice to let it ride out in the primary for another week or two (and skip the secondary if you're not adding anything). That's good advice, although I tend to use a secondary to clear my primary for new batches and to get a look at the beer and just do something. It's a useless feeling, just sitting around and letting the yeast work.
 
I wouldn't call it a "problem". More than likely, everything is fine and the vigirous fermentation is over. Normal. Part of the process. 85° is pretty warm to pitch, but you didn't kill any yeast at that temp. Thinking of 'reactivating' after 6 days is very premature. Get a hydrometer reading if you need to (or better yet, wait a while longer) but that will probably confirm that your yeast has done job #1 and converted your wort into beer.

You will probably get a lot of advice to let it ride out in the primary for another week or two (and skip the secondary if you're not adding anything). That's good advice, although I tend to use a secondary to clear my primary for new batches and to get a look at the beer and just do something. It's a useless feeling, just sitting around and letting the yeast work.

That's exactly how I feel! I just want to do something and I hear throwing it in the secondary not only clears up the beer, but removes any off flavors. So I should let it sit for a week or two more? I opened the lid quickly to see the residue along the side of the bucket, it looks as if the fermentation completely stopped, but I'll get a gravity reading tomorrow to confirm. What is the difference of me moving it to a secondary for two weeks vs. leaving it in the primary for two more weeks? Sorry for so many questions, this is my first solo batch so I want to make sure everything goes well.
 
I would leave it in primary. pick up your bucket by the handle and gently twist it back and forth with your wrist (think laundry machine motion) without too much splashing going on. this will rouse up your yeast and should get them working again.

my first batch stopped bubbling entirely after 3 days, but I have been gently agitating it and it has been dropping gravity points in the 4 weeks since then.
 
I agitated it a few days ago after I stopped seeing activity so hopefully between that and the washing machine you just suggested I will see a difference in gravity. Thanks for the advice.
 
no problem! you don't need that much motion, just a few twists of the wrist each day and you're good.
 
Well my OG was 1.060 and I just took a reading 10 days later and the gravity is 1.012, so it seems to be finished. The activity stopped about a week ago and the krauzen has completely fallen back into the beer. Right now I'm trying to decide whether to let it sit in the primary, move it to the secondary, or just bottle these suckers already. What do you guys think? I think I should wait a bit longer, but with little/no activity and a pretty good FG I'm getting impatient.
 
I don't see anything by what you are saying to indicate that your fermentation actually was stuck. All I see is that your airlock stopped bubbling, and that you didn't take a gravity reading because you can't with your conical.

BUT without a gravity reading all you are telling me is that your airlock stopped bubbling....That is NOT the samething as a stopped or stuck fermentation.

Whether it's in a conical, a bucket, or a carboy, it's the same thing. An airlock is a VENT, a VALVE to release excess co2, nothing more.

If it's not bubbling it just means that there no excess co2 to be vented out.

In your case, more than likely the big "bang" of fermentation is done and there's no excess co2 being voided out. It may or may not mean that fermentation is complete or is even stuck. But you can't no that just by an airlock.

It may mean that the majority of the fermentation is complete, but the yeasties still have a few points to go, just not active enough to blip the airlock.

That's why you need to take a gravity reading to know how your fermentation is going, NOT go by airlocks. The most important tool you can use is a hydrometer. It's the only way you will truly know when your beer is ready...airlock bubbles and other things are faulty.

The only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in....

Thinking about "doing anything" without taking a hydrometer reading is tantamount to the doctor deciding to cut you open without running any diagnostic tests....Taking one look at you and saying, "Yeah I'm going in." You would really want the doctor to use all means to properly diagnose what's going on?

In your case I would wait a week and take a reading, it's only been two days, so relax.

i never seemed to put this together until now, but i think revvy must have a "noob spread sheet" that has all of his responses pre-typed; copy and pastes onto the thread, or hes just that into brewing. i think a little of both. :drunk:
 
Sometimes the obvious signs of fermentation can be very vigorous right out of the gate and then taper off. This was my experience with my first batch which produced tons of bubbling for the 1st 48 hours and then little visible signs afterwards. The batch turned out fine and from what you've said there is no reason to assume that yours will not also. The advice that you are getting about using hydrometers is good advice - they take the guess work out of what is or is not happening. GL with your brew.
 

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