I Am Fermenting And Have A Few First Time Questions

This Is My First Brew And Im Making A Irish Red Ale From A Recipie Kit. The Boil Went Good , The Wert Looked And Smelled Good. But Here Is My Question, I Started To Ferment With In 5 Or 6 Hours. Now My Instructions This Will Take 1 To 3 Days. And The First Day It Was Bubbling Out The Airlock About Every 3 Seconds And The Second And Third Day I Barely See It Bubble. It Started To Ferment At 72f But I Got Down To 68f. I This Normal? My Next Question Was That My Directions Say To Let Ferment For Two Weeks. If My Beer Is Finished Fermenting Before 2 Weeks Will It Hurt It Just Sitting ?thanks

Fermentation can start anywhere from a few hours up to 72 hours from when yu pitch the yeast. Many factors will influence that. The fact that it started so quick is actually a good sign, be proud, your yeasties are making beer.

It will not hurt it to let it sit there. I routinely let mine sit for 3 - 5 weeks.

Welcome to the hobby, and the site. Plenty of great info to be found around here.

The airlock just allows co2 to escape, lack of bubbles does not mean fermentation has stopped. If you took a reading now with your hydrometer you'd probably find that you're still a bit high. That is the only gauge of when fermentation has stopped..the same reading three days in a row, and its a little early to start checking it.

Most of us that primary only will leave it that way for 3-4 weeks before we bottle. This allows the yeast to clean up after itself.

Your temps were fine, but i wouldn't bottle before 2 weeks.

Thanks For The Advice. This Is A Great Site I Am Learning More Hear Than A Book I Read And My Homebrew Store Thank Again

+1 to hydrometer readings.

The only way to truly tell is to take hydrometer readings, when they remain stable for 3 days then you know its done fermenting.