Sorry for this but I have a noob question (airlock bubbles)

I am in the process of fermenting an ale from an extract kit (Cooper's). The bubbling in the airlock stopped after after a day and a half of action (2 days after pitching). I ran out of time and pitched the yeast hotter than I should have (40'C/104'F). The OG was 1.045 and was fermenting at a constant 23'C/73'F. Should I wait it out and test the FG towards the end of the week or pitch another packet of yeast?

Don't worry, you made beer. You might have some off flavors from pitching at that high of a temp though.
No need to repitch.

I'd personally not worry about it. If you really want to know the status of the beer, pull a sample for a grav measurement. If it isn't done, take another in 2 days and see if it's stuck or not.

You want to leave it for aleast a week or 2.Just because you dont see action with the airlock does not mean its finished .Take a hydrometer reading every day and if it stays the same after 2 or 3 days,it might be finished.

Agree with all.

And I was worry that I killed it. Thanks for the great advice!

somecanadian said:

And I was worry that I killed it. Thanks for the great advice!

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If it's fermenting, the yeast is not dead.

You may get some fruity flavors due to esters created at that high of a temp. You may get some fusel alcohols (anywhere from warming to rocket fuel taste) again due to the high temp.

But bottom line, you'll have beer.

Regardless of what instructions might tell you, the fermentation process is typically longer than 3-5 days. You need to let it sit in the primary for minimum 10 days - 2 weeks, I actually prefer 3-4 weeks in primary and skip the secondary unless I need the vessel to brew more beer. The yeast is not yet finished it's job until then. Moving your beer to a secondary vessel before the fermentation is complete can result in beer with more off flavors and beer that has not fully feremented. Patience is the key here. Beer is ready when the yeast say it's ready. Any attempt to alter their yeastie timeline will have unfavorable result

BamaRooster, why wouldn't it fully ferment? There should be plenty of suspended yeast left over to do the job when you let it condition in the secondary, I'd imagine. Anything that settles out is going dormant due to lack of food (fermentable sugars). Whatever's left in suspension when rack to secondary should be sufficient to finish fermentation.

You probably had accelerated fermentation due to the high temps. If you checked your SG I'd expect you'd find it near FG, probably somewhere around 1.014. Even if it is down to FG, it will benefit from another week in the fermenter, so leave it if you can.

Well I'm excited to try it no matter how it turns out. Thanks for the help everyone!

Next time, maybe think about putting the stopper and airlock on your carboy/bucket, if you run out of time. Then it'll come down to room temp on its own, and you can pitch whenever you come back from what you need to do.

After hearing that it sounds like such an obvious solution, don't know why I didn't think of it. I will definitely do that next time.