Fermentation Time?

How long should a typical Ale ferment for? OG was supposed to be like 1.044. I wasn't able to get a reliable OG reading, but when I checked the gravity about 5 days ago, it was at 1.015. The krausen subsided almost all the way, but right now there's still about 1.5 inches of it on top still. The airlock has quit bubbling completely.

I posted that my krausen wasn't going down a few days ago, and all the responses I got said that it ALWAYS subsides.

In total, it's been 15 days now in the fermenter.

Its probably done with active fermentation, but the yeast are still active cleaning up the byproducts of fermentation.

If you want a nice, clean beer...let it go another 15 days.

Patience. It is not for you to tell the yeast when to finish. The yeast will tell you when it is done. The yeast is your friend and partner, not your slave.

Keep in mind that there's no set answer here. A variety of both internal and external conditions exist that can and will affect the time period.

For example, last week I moved a few of my carboys to the basement of my home which is a little cooler than where I typically leave them. This is extending the fermentation process.

Some folks say if you have three days of the gravity being at one setting then it's not going to do much more. To some degree there's logic in that. Transferring to a secondary for a few days might stir things up a bit and get the yeast to crank over a little bit more activity. Then again, maybe it won't.

You're not going to lose anything by letting it sit and do its thing.

If there's krausen still there then let it sit. It will subside in time. If you need something to do start putting together a brew log or make another batch, pull labels off of bottles....