Short Fermentations

So for the last few batches, I have had the same cycle during early fermentation:

24, not more than 36 hours of vigorous fermentation, followed by an almost toal lack of activity.

I'm not that worried, each batch came out fine, but it seems like that's an awfully short period of active fermentation for ales.

I am aerating well before I pitch, pitching dry yeast, and my basement is holding between 70 and 72.

Is this something common that can be fixed with something I don;t know as a relative beginner?

When I have fermentation temperatures above 68 degrees, I get a FAST fermentation. It usually ferments out in 24 hours or less.

In the last few years, I've tried to keep fermentation temperatures under 65 degrees, and it's a bit slower.

The problem I had with fermentations above 68 degrees is that it gets HOT! Fermentation produces more heat, so if the wort is 72 degrees, and the room is 68 degrees, the wort inside the fermenter can get above 80 degrees really quick. The hotter it gets, the faster it goes, so it gets even hotter.

Ideally, you'd pitch the yeast at the desired fermentation temperature or a bit under, and ferment at under 70 degrees for best flavor.

as was stated by Yooper, when your ambient temps are in the 70's you can expect the beer to be even higher than that. This can certainly cause a fast fermentation as well as esters. My first several batches had lots of esters and now that i have used a fermentation chamber, my beer is on a whole new level.

Search swamp cooler and get those temps down. You will slow that down and reduce the esters in your brews.

Are you measuring your gravity to make sure it's actually done, instead of watching the bubbles? Yeast kick off pretty violently, but isn't necessarily 'finished' when the bubbles stop. This is especially important if you are bottling, or kegging without a pressure release valve. It only takes 1 gravity point (o.oo1) to blow up a bottle. It also depends on your recipe. If it's a low gravity recipe, it should be done pretty quick. If you are shooting for 5.5% an up, be wary of 'fast' fermentations.

Fletch78 said:

Are you measuring your gravity to make sure it's actually done, instead of watching the bubbles?

Click to expand...

Oh yeah, I never bottle until at least about 3 weeks in the primary, and then only if I get a stable gravity reading three days apart. It's just that the really active fermentation drops off so quick.

My last batch, which probably fermented way too warm, did have some off flavors at first, I think it was a sour apple taste. It was out after a few weeks in the bottle, but I'm starting to think that was the culprit. I had hoped the solution was less work, but I guess a swamp cooler will be the way to go for me right now. That, or wait until closer to winter when my basement gets down to about 60.