Slow starting Fermentation

brewed a brown ale on Friday, 1.052. Pitched a jar of WHite Labs Cali Ale washed yeast that was warmed to room temp before pitching. Placed in fermentation chamber set at 67 degrees.

Checked on it Monday morning, no activity in airlock, shut Chamber. Checked again Monday night and no activity, so I pulled the lid off and Ive got a pretty decent looking krausen. Put lid back on.

Checked on Tuesday, bubbling away.

Checked today at 5pm. No activity.

Aside from pulling the lid on Monday I have just let it sit.

Usually my primary fermentations are over in a day or two for 1.060 or less and 3-4 days for anything bigger. This is the first time in a while I didnt make a starter, but it was a fairly low gravity and a good bit of yeast. Should I be worried??? Any effects of such a slow kickoff/seemingly quick fermentation?

Check your ending gravity.

you're fine, relax and have a homebrew. You pitched yeast that had probably been sitting around for awhile, and needed some extra time to do their thing...and possibly underpitched depending on what you mean by a "jar" of yeast (washed yeast?). Also, as you will often see here, airlock activity isn't a good indicator of anything, you should only rely on gravity readings. If the seal on your fermentor wasn't perfectly sealed, the setup could have been leaking CO2, which would have bypassed the airlock entirely. Just leave it alone for a few weeks then check your gravity a couple days apart to ensure that fermentation was completed.

Checking the SG is really the only way to tell.

Cool. Ill probably just leave it alone and check it on Friday (a week from brew day).

I've got three bucket fermenters that I use. Not one of them ever bubbles anymore, but the beer they produce is fantastic

Edit:
With the lights out, I put a flashlight on top of the lid pointed down and look through the side of the bucket. It's see-through enough that I can tell when krausen has formed.

stpug said:

I've got three bucket fermenters that I use. Not one of them ever bubbles anymore, but the beer they produce is fantastic

Edit:
With the lights out, I put a flashlight on top of the lid pointed down and look through the side of the bucket. It's see-through enough that I can tell when krausen has formed.

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I used to do that. though I only use buckets for wine now a days as I use 46 liter carboys for beer.

Denny's Evil Concoctions said:

I used to do that. though I only use buckets for wine now a days as I use 46 liter carboys for beer.

Click to expand...

My back went out just thinking about moving that

stpug said:

My back went out just thinking about moving that

Click to expand...

I Put the carboy in a large round bucket (the ones with those rope handles) and then 2 of us carry it into the house and the whole thing goes on flat wood karts.

I have carried them full before but not recommended. I use my sanitized marsh pump to transfer to kegs. (with 1" camlocks and 3/4" tubing).

Makes transferring a breeze and no lifting the carboy.