6th Day, Still going strong

I have 20 gallons of IPA in the fermenting fridge @ 65 deg. OG. was 1.060. I made a starter and was very careful about sanitation and I aerated each carboy. It's the 6th day of fermentation and all four carboy are going strong still. I dipped into one to taste it and it didn't taste sour or off in any way, just a little sweet still. This doesn't seem normal to me. Any thoughts??

Seems normal to me. Six days is completely within the normal range of fermentation. 65 deg. F. will lengthen fermentations compared to a 72 deg. F. fermentation. What yeast did you use? Different strains ferment differently.

Also, have you taken a specific gravity reading? How close are you to your expected FG? It may actually be nearly done.

-Steve

Sounds normal to me. I'v had beers take several weeks to finish out, where as others have taken less than 48 hours.

I used WLP 001 yeast.
Thanks for putting me at ease.

According to White Labs, 65 deg. F. is a bit lower than the optimal temperature for that yeast, so that would probably explain the slower fermentation.

-Steve

It was my understanding that a small amount of heat is generated during the fermentation proses. That's why I have the fridge set at 65.

But since you're actively cooling the fermentation, then your beer is probably near 65-- maybe 67 or 68. Any heat generated by the fermentation will warm the refrigerator up, which will activate the cooling cycle. Depending on the temperature swing of the thermostat, the beer is probably fermenting a few degrees warmer than the set point, but probably lower than if you weren't actively cooling it.

If you're using an external thermostat with a temperature probe on the carboy or in the beer, then you're definitely very close to the 65 deg. F. set point.

-Steve

Thanks for your imput. I think I'll leave it at 65.

Does having a longer fermentation have any direct impact or known change in flavor to the brew?

So if you were to keep the brew cooler to slow down the fermentation what sort of effect does this have on the final brew?

It improves the flavors but not because it's slow, it is because of the lower temperatures.

I've had batches continue to bubble consistently for 2 weeks with certain strains of yeast. Ringwood ale yeast in particular comes to mind...

uechikid said:

I used WLP 001 yeast.
Thanks for putting me at ease.

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I'm fermenting an IPA with the same yeast, temperatures have been 69-71˚. I haven't tasted it yet, but it was going strong for about 3 or 4 days. Still some airlock bubbling (not that that is a sure sign of fermentation) going on though on day 6 (today). I also did a starter (although not the full recommended size).

With these batches the kraeusen has been all the way up into the neck off my 6 and 6.5 gallon carboys. I've never had a 1.060 gravity wort do that.

uechikid said:

With these batches the kraeusen has been all the way up into the neck off my 6 and 6.5 gallon carboys. I've never had a 1.060 gravity wort do that.

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My 1.068 OG stout and this current 1.061 OG IPA both were up and through the neck with krausen. Thank god for blow off tubes!!

Nurmey said:

It improves the flavors but not because it's slow, it is because of the lower temperatures.

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YMMV. It will generally have a cleaner flavor with fewer esters. Especially for an IPA, calling that "improved" really depends on what you like in beer. The joy of homebrewing is making the beer exactly how you like it.