Only 2 days to ferment??

So, I brewed a 5G batch of ~1.061 on Sunday night, and pitched the yeast at about 10p. The wort was a bit warm when I pitched ~81, but I was impatient. I fermented in a 14.5 gal blichmann conical with a 4ft 1" blowoff in a jar of starsan.

I used a 1L starter that I made from about 50ml of 2 week old harvested US-04 slurry on Saturday. It sat on a stir plate for 24 hrs, it krausened a little and I pitched it all.

I knew this was all rushed and I was being a bit cheap, but whatever. I saw no bubbles in the starsan blow-off tube the next morning (Monday), and still nothing by Tuesday at ~5p. I took a taste and there was some carbonation so I figured that I way underpitched so I threw in a leftover packet of Muntons that came with a kit, which I didn't use (paid for the upgraded yeast).

The fermentor is kinda big, so lots of headspace, but previous 5 gal batches bubble CO2 like it's their job. Also, the seals were good on the conical because there was a suction when I drew an initial sample after brewing before putting the blow off on (I kept the blow of port closed up while carrying the beast).

I checked just now, 5p on Wednesday, and still no blow off bubbles, but I checked gravity and it's down to 1.011. Can it really be attenuated this far after no bubbling? I'm guessing it was done yesterday even before I threw in the muntons because there was no krausen when I opened up the conical to re-pitch.

The good thing is, my smoked brown tastes great. But, this all doesn't add up to me, am I missing something?

Did the beer ferment at 81F as well? At that temp a quick fermentation is totally possible. With the equipment you are using you are obviously not a noob so I will asume you r hydrometer is properly calibrated and you know how to read it

Lack of bubbling in the airlock is nothing more than an indication of lack of bubbles in the airlock. It doesn't mean that you weren't fermenting.

At that high a temp, it's certain possible that fermentation is mostly done in a couple of days. Give it another two or three weeks, though. At the very least, the yeast will clean up.

duboman said:

Did the beer ferment at 81F as well? At that temp a quick fermentation is totally possible. With the equipment you are using you are obviously not a noob so I will asume you r hydrometer is properly calibrated and you know how to read it

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Yeah, both the hydrometer and I work just fine

cg2112 said:

Lack of bubbling in the airlock is nothing more than an indication of lack of bubbles in the airlock. It doesn't mean that you weren't fermenting.

At that high a temp, it's certain possible that fermentation is mostly done in a couple of days. Give it another two or three weeks, though. At the very least, the yeast will clean up.

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I never fermented that high so I was just surprised that it went so quickly. I'm definitely ready to leave it in primary to finish up.

Thanks!

At 80 degrees, that you saw - it probably went higher, the fermentation probably did go that fast.

On another note 2 hours of a starter did very little to nothing to increase your cell count. At the recommended 12 - 18 hours on a stirplate 2 hours would be about a 16 percent increase. That is if the reproduction is linear, which I don't think happens, so it is likely even less.

So I would think that the original pitch did little and the Munton's addition was what really did the fermentation.

Am I the only one that thinks pitching and possibly fermenting at 81 is way too high? What temp did you actually ferment at? If you pitched at 81 and the yeast took off you may have fermented in the mid to high 80's. If that's the case it's no wonder the beer was done fermenting in 2 days. Also, even though you think it tastes good now, you may be in for some serious funk after you carb it up and actually attempt to drink it. I pitched at 80 twice and got paint thinner both times, but maybe you got lucky.

chumpsteak said:

Am I the only one that thinks pitching and possibly fermenting at 81 is way too high? What temp did you actually ferment at? If you pitched at 81 and the yeast took off you may have fermented in the mid to high 80's. If that's the case it's no wonder the beer was done fermenting in 2 days. Also, even though you think it tastes good now, you may be in for some serious funk after you carb it up and actually attempt to drink it. I pitched at 80 twice and got paint thinner both times, but maybe you got lucky.

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It doesn't matter. He did it,it happened and is done.
Not the end of the world mate. From personal experience I can tell you that it is very possible for a ferment to be mostly done in that time under such warm condidions.

cg2112 said:

Lack of bubbling in the airlock is nothing more than an indication of lack of bubbles in the airlock. It doesn't mean that you weren't fermenting.

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This.
There are two signs of fermentation: mechanical (bubbles in airlock) and biological (FG reading). Since you take hydrometer reading I wouldn't concern too much about it, probably your fermenter don't seal well so CO2 founds another way to escape.

I've had the same thing happen to me. My primary fermentation was complete within 36 hours. The beer ended up tasting amazing so have no fear!

kh54s10 said:

At 80 degrees, that you saw - it probably went higher, the fermentation probably did go that fast.

On another note 2 hours of a starter did very little to nothing to increase your cell count. At the recommended 12 - 18 hours on a stirplate 2 hours would be about a 16 percent increase. That is if the reproduction is linear, which I don't think happens, so it is likely even less.

So I would think that the original pitch did little and the Munton's addition was what really did the fermentation.

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Updated my original post... Should have read "24 hours" not 2

The only yeast that I let that get into the 80s or higher is Saison, anything else I tend to keep below 70*F. That being said you might end up with a lot of off flavors from fermenting at those temps with that yeast. I use SO-4 for a few brews regularly and usually keep the temps under 68*F. I can see most yeasts fininshing up that fast as long as you pitched enough, which seems like you did, and kept the temps up, which again you did.

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