Looking for Advice

Heres my situation.

Tuesday at 8:00 pm I finished brewing a batch and set in a room that is consistently 65 F. Within 17 hrs (Weds afternoon) of pitching my yeast I had my first signs of fermentation in the airlock. The following morning (Thursday, 32 hrs after pitching) my airlock was gurgling at almost a steady stream with no laps in time between gurgles, im thinking damn that yeast is going nuts. Today, (Friday evening) almost 72 hours exactly after pitching I have no activity in my airlock. Ive watched it for a good 2 minutes straight and the airlock levels are very still.

Im brewing an Autumn Amber Ale using dry yeast my OG was 1.045 but I havent look at it or smelled it yet. It has been undisturbed since Monday Night. Best I can tell I was as careful as can be to not contaminate anything. I was planning on moving to stage 2 when the airlock was 20-30 secs between gurgle, at or about 7 days in, but that seems to be the least of my worries now.


Anyone have any opinions as to what may be the issue and should I open it to see if it smells sour!

Sorry that's in disturbed since Tuesday night.

Youre beer is probably done fermenting. Open it up to see if the krausen has fallen and to take a gravity reading.

Why would it be infected or sour? You pitched yeast. The yeast worked. Now you have beer. . The airlock doesn't bubble forever. Let it sit for a week or so (Some will say two or three more) to clean up and settle, then start taking readings to confirm you are ready to bottle.

The active ferment is done now leave it alone for 3 weeks.. Forget it is even there.

Wow really! Done in 3 days. That seems Bit quick doesn't it?

All I read about on here is 2 week... 2 week... 2 week... 2 week... LoL

I am also a new brewer but experienced this same thing. I would open the lid and see if the surface of the beer still has bubbles on it. I have read many times that airlocks are not the best indicator of whether you still have fermentation happening. When you have the lid off checking for bubbles take a gravity reading then wait 3 days and check it again to see if the gravity has changed. If it has changed then you know the yeast is still working. If it hasn't changed then you know the yeast is done fermenting.

The two week or longer mantra is how long you leave it in the fermenter to condition and clear. Active fermentation takes only a few days.

Love this site. What a feet group of people that love brewing and helping others.

SittingDuck said:

The two week or longer mantra is how long you leave it in the fermenter to condition and clear. Active fermentation takes only a few days.

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Ahhh ok I see so should I even siphon to a secondary?

Hmmm. I don't know if I've ever been part of a feet group before.

akervin said:

Ahhh ok I see so should I even siphon to a secondary?

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No need to. Just leave it be.

akervin said:

Ahhh ok I see so should I even siphon to a secondary?

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Wow, are you opening the floodgates. To secondary or not is a debated issue, but the most common view is that it is not necessary for most beer. Leaving the beer in the primary doesn't hurt and reduces the opportunity for infection.

SittingDuck said:

Wow, are you opening the floodgates. To secondary or not is a debated issue, but the most common view is that it is not necessary for most beer. Leaving the beer in the primary doesn't hurt and reduces the opportunity for infection.

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Lol yeah maybe that was a question better left unasked.

Just leave it, patience my friend... Fermentation is complete when you have the same gravity reading 3 days in a row. I suggest you give it a total of 3-4 weeks in the primary and you will be happily rewarded. About the secondary, I only rack to secondary when aging a beer for extended time. Otherwise, just let the yeast clean up after themselves in the primary. Some people even keg straight from the primary.. It's up to you though. Try racking one brew and not racking another. See which method you like best. Keep us posted on your progress. Good luck and Cheers!

Bobby_M did a neat experiment with dry yeast fermentation times, check out his YouTube video "Dry Yeast Experiment" Majority of active fermentation was complete in somewhere around 30 hours and all had reached final gravity by day 6 or 7. He did a real nice job presenting it.

I wouldn't even open the lid to check. You clearly witnessed an active fermentation, it's settled down in what I've found to be a fairly typical short monsoon, and now it will finish up over the course of the next few weeks. There's no reason to risk contaminating it now. I've brewed 10 batches in the last four months and only one did anything visible for more than five days..most were three or four.

Chances are your beer got too warm. If the ambient temp was 65, your beer could have been as warm as 75F, as fermentation generates heat. This would have caused a very fast ferment. Next time, try to make sure your beer (not the ambient temp) stays in the low 60s F and you'll be happier with your beers.

I'm sure this beer is fine- happy fermenting!

I don't even open my lid for 3-4 weeks. The first time I open it is to rack it to the bottling bucket.

I have a West Coast Blonde Ale that I brewed on 12/28 that will have it's virgin lid popped on Sunday in order to rack and bottle.

ETA: I couldn't even tell you how many days the airlock bubbled. I noticed it at one point a couple days into it but didn't really pay attention to when it stopped.

daksin said:

Chances are your beer got too warm. If the ambient temp was 65, your beer could have been as warm as 75F, as fermentation generates heat. This would have caused a very fast ferment. Next time, try to make sure your beer (not the ambient temp) stays in the low 60s F and you'll be happier with your beers.

I'm sure this beer is fine- happy fermenting!

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The thermometers I use are the liquid crystal type that is taped to the side of the bucket and a ambient temperature placed in the room and the one on the side of the bucket never got above the 66 mark which should resemble a temperature that's closer to what the buckets at shouldn't it?

Or should I rethink my temperature monitoring.

Waiting for your first brew is so difficult. Always wondering what it's doing, is it infected, etc. If you want to open it up and look at it or yopu want to rack it to secondary you will probably be fine (as long as sanitation is sound) and you will be rewarded with the satisfaction of looking at your first beer, everyone is. However, if you are patient and wait another 2 weeks everything will be great too. With all of the activity in the first days I'm sure your first brew will be excellent, but do let the yeast finish it's job.

Most kits say 10-14 days to ferment and that information is misleading but not totally incorrect. The initial fermentation usually occurs in a matter of 3-4 days on an average beer. (Average doesn't mean poor) What the kit doesn't tell a person in the days that follow; yeast have a second purpose and that is to eat the crap they produced while eating up the sugars provided them.

Revvy seems to be the expert in patience and he is right. Beer is not something made quickly, OK, a lot quicker than wine, but give beer at least a month or at least a few weeks out of the fermenter before you keg or bottle. Once in that bottle or even keg. Patience

akervin said:

The thermometers I use are the liquid crystal type that is taped to the side of the bucket and a ambient temperature placed in the room and the one on the side of the bucket never got above the 66 mark which should resemble a temperature that's closer to what the buckets at shouldn't it?

Or should I rethink my temperature monitoring.

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66F on the bucket therm is fine. I agree with everyone here about leaving it in primary a bit longer than 10 to 14 days. Meanwhile get a good pack of craft beer that you can drink, get your hands on another fermentor and start another batch, and be patient. Next thing you know you'll have 5 or 6 batches fermenting at one time and a good pipeline to keep you satisfied...