WLP002 - Krausen fell too fast?

Hoping someone can help me find some peace of mind here. I know I should just RDWHAHB, but I've seen some conflicting info on this and it's nagging me.

On Saturday I brewed a batch of ESB using AHS mini-mash kit. My OG was 1.053, right on target per the recipe. I pitched WLP002 English Ale yeast directly from the vial (I've never made a starter yet and have had fine results with White Labs yeasts so far) at about 73 degrees F, a little warm but the whole house was warm from my wort boil and there wasn't much I could do to cool the wort further. The closet where I ferment got down to 71F by Sunday morning and has stayed there, which is about as cool as I ever get it and I've had decent results so far. On Sunday, fermentation was going great. I had a thick layer of krausen and plenty of positive pressure in my airlock. No bubbles, but I rarely do get any bubbles.

Today, however, less than 48 hours into the fermentation, the krausen appears to have fallen back into the beer. I still have quite a bit of positive pressure in my airlock; not as much as yesterday but it's noticeable. I probably shouldn't worry, but I have never seen krausen fall this soon.

I've read that WLP002 is a highly flocculant strain, and some people claim that it should be roused every couple of days. I'd prefer to leave the beer alone, of the mind that yeast should be left to "do its thing" and not micromanaged. But obviously I don't want a stuck fermentation.

Does anyone else have experience with WLP002, and thoughts about if and when I should bother rousing, or whether I should just leave it alone? Would making a starter have made any difference here?

Thanks!

WLP002/WY1968 will drop like a stone when the ferment is over, and I've never had an issue with it not fully attenuating.

71° is a mite warm and the resultant beer will likely be more estery than you originally planned for, but that strain reliably finishes fermenting in 2 - 3 days for me.

Take a reading and see where you are. That stuff is pretty quick in my experience. Even if it's done, let it sit for a while.

Thanks for the input. I normally wouldn't take a reading this early, but it sounds like a good idea in this case. I'll take a reading at lunch today and see what I get.

At any rate, I won't be bottling for a while, since I usually leave everything in primary for 3 weeks.

Thanks!

Update: I took a sample at lunch and got a reading of 1.021. So although it's not quite finished (target FG is 1.015) it looks like the yeast have done most of their work already. I'll take another reading in a day or two and make sure it's still on track.

Thanks again!

Update:

Well, the good news is that the temperature in the house dropped to 67.5°F the night after I posted this, so the ESB is now sitting at a much better temperature ... even if it's too late to make a difference.

The bad news is that I took another gravity reading today and it looks like it's still at 1.021. Target FG was 1.015, so I am a few points off. By my calculation, I'm looking at an attenuation of only 61.11% with a yeast that has an expected range of 63%-70%.

I'm going to leave this in primary for a full 3 weeks before bottling anyway. Should I just let it go and check gravity periodically over the next 2.5 weeks? Is 1.021 low enough for safe bottling, assuming this is it and I don't get any more attenuation before then?

Or, should I consider this a "stuck" fermentation and do something about it... if so, what?

Thanks everyone!