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Daburban

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Hey All, Just finished 2 batches of beer. 1 American IPA and 1 Hefe. This is a close to having a baby i've ever been so i get a little worried about the health of these large bottles of liquid goodness. I just wanted to check in to see if things sound like their going well. My question really is the health of the IPA yeast. The IPA was initially the strongest bubbler and i had to put a run off tube on it. A lot of foam came out of the tube and now the top isn't very heady at all, especially compared to the Hefe. Yeast activity has gone from very strong last night to one bubble every 40 seconds or so. Since i haven't used run off tubes too much i was a little worried that too much stuff went out the tube. Anyway, does extremely busy in the first 10 hours to one bubble every 40 seconds sound good for an American IPA? The room is at a solid 60 degrees F. Also, if you have any general recommendations for primary, secondary and bottling schedules i'd love to have your input! I'm very excited about my soon to be 8 great batches of beer, thanks for reading.
~Dave
 
RDWHAHB, it is fine. Fermentation is probably 80% done. That is fast but not unheard of.
 
Daburban said:
Hey All, Just finished 2 batches of beer. 1 American IPA and 1 Hefe. This is a close to having a baby i've ever been so i get a little worried about the health of these large bottles of liquid goodness. I just wanted to check in to see if things sound like their going well. My question really is the health of the IPA yeast. The IPA was initially the strongest bubbler and i had to put a run off tube on it. A lot of foam came out of the tube and now the top isn't very heady at all, especially compared to the Hefe. Yeast activity has gone from very strong last night to one bubble every 40 seconds or so. Since i haven't used run off tubes too much i was a little worried that too much stuff went out the tube. Anyway, does extremely busy in the first 10 hours to one bubble every 40 seconds sound good for an American IPA? The room is at a solid 60 degrees F. Also, if you have any general recommendations for primary, secondary and bottling schedules i'd love to have your input! I'm very excited about my soon to be 8 great batches of beer, thanks for reading.
~Dave

Hey, Dave...welcome to the obsession!

First things first: do you have a hydrometer? Airlock activity and krausen should only be used as very general indicators of fermentation activity. Think of it this way: trying to determine what's going on by airlock/krausen is like trying to figure out how much gas you have in your car by peering into the gas tank with a flashlight.

In this case, it's entirely probable that your IPA finished up the bulk of its fermentation last night. But you won't know until you take a hydrometer reading of a sample (don't put the sample back in afterwards...just drink it!) I would also raise the fermentation temps up to the mid to upper 60's...60f is at the low end of the range for many ale yeasts, and it could prevent it from finishing out as low as it could.

As for primary/secondary/bottling, it depends wholly on the style of beer. I've made hefe's and wit's before that went straight from primary to the bottling bucket after 3 weeks. I've also had barleywines that aged in secondary for 4 months. But for most "normal" ales, you can do 10 days in primary, 2 weeks in secondary, 3 weeks in bottle...and then it's ready.
 
It was a dry yeast but i don't remember which one it was exactly. I started it off with a little sugar so by the time it went into the wort it was frothy. So if fermentation is 80% done, how much longer should i keep it in the primary?
 
don't worry about them and don't compare the 2 since they use different types of yeast there will be a drastic difference in fermentation. Leave the IPA in the primary for a week to 10 days. Some people even let it stay in for 2 weeks but anything longer than that, IMHO, is pushing it. transfer it to a glass secondary for 2 weeks, then bottle.
 
keep it in the primary until fermentation is complete...which means 3 days worth of hydrometer readings, where the reading stays constant.
usually 7-10 days...longer on heavy beers, which yours are not.

i'd rack em to secondary for 2 weeks..at least the IPA. Hefe's can be cloudy...so that's your choice on direct to bottle, or secondary a bit.
 
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