Wow.. what a difference a hour makes!

I did a batch of heather ale saturday and a batch of pumpkin ale sunday.

About mid morning monday the pumpkin ale was going crazy with bubbles and krausen a couple inches in thickness and the heather ale was barely a film on the top.

This morning there was still almost nothing on the heather ale batch.. I left for probably an hour to get something to eat and hit up home depot.

When I got back, holy crap.. the heather ale had filled the entire top of the fermenter and the airlock is cloudy but still bubbleing away happily.

I can't believe how much difference there was in the hour I was gone...

The shift from the yeast's growth phase to the production of alcohol can be rather abrupt. Until growth stops, the fermenter looks like nothing much is happening.