Oh @#$%! Did my beer die???

Here is the recipe:

Shoultz-Meyer Brewery Upper England Brown

Briess Sparkling Amber Liquid Extract 6 lbs, 0 oz
Crisp Crystal Malt 60L 0 lbs, 8 oz
Briess Victory 0 lbs, 4 oz
Weyermann De-Husked Carafa II ® 0 lbs, 3 oz
Kent Goldings, UK Pellets 1 oz @ 60 mins
Kent Goldings, UK Pellets .5 oz @ 20 mins
Kent Goldings, UK Pellets .5 oz @ 5 mins
SAFALE S-04 1 ea

OG - 1.040 - 1.052
FG - 1.008 - 1.014
IBU - 20 - 30
SRM - 12 - 22
ABV - 4.20 - 5.40

Recipe Notes
Steep grain at 158 for 30 minutes. Add 1/2 of the LME at the beginning of the boil. Boil for 60 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 of the LME with 20 minutes left in the boil. Ferment at 65-70F.

We prepared the recipe Saturday morning, and by Sunday evening, this is what the carboy looked like:



And this is what it looked like last night and this morning:


Is it dead?????

Nope. Looks to me like you just had a very quick fermentation. It's still working, though, so give it more time.

It looks perfect.

What was the temp when you threw in the yeast? Did you rehydrate the yeast or throw it in dry? Where is it now and what temp?

It looks like you are off to a good start although I would worry a bit about the temperature you fermented at as it may cause some off flavors and sharp alcohol bite in your beer if fermented too warm. Ale yeasts eat up the sugars pretty fast and then it looks like they are dead but believe me, they are still very much alive an working very hard at breaking down some of the byproducts. Give them plenty of time to finish this as it is a slow process but will improve your beer greatly and give you mature beer quicker. I'd suggest at least 10 days from when you pitched your yeast and 3 weeks wouldn't be too long either. I've left beer in the primary fermenter for 9 weeks and it was really smooth to drink after only a week in the bottle.

Thanks guys. Recommended temp is 68 to 70 if I recall correctly. I think we are st 72? Sucks that I work 12 hour shifts. It's gonna be awhile before I get home and check on the temp. We have it fermenting in an unused bathroom in the bathtub, with a cardboard box cover to keep light off of it. My wife put towels over the heater vent to black that off. It's probably 67 degrees in that area of the house.

I think we were going to wait 2 weeks before we take an FG reading. The OG was spot on at 1.040.

1.040 OG, 70ish degrees ferm temp, healthy yeast. Yep, you're doing fine. But give is some more time to finish.

-Mike

Well, I appreciate the replies, guys. We are going to pretty much leave it be. I'll do more to stabilize the temp though. Probably move it to the closet in the basement bathroom. The ceramic tile should help pull some heat out of it.

I tasted a sample of it as we transferred it to the carbou, and it had a really nice flavor! I can't wait to see how it turns out!

Just use the tub as a water bath...a large volume of water does a great job of stabilizing temperature.

03rangerxlt said:

Well, I appreciate the replies, guys. We are going to pretty much leave it be. I'll do more to stabilize the temp though. Probably move it to the closet in the basement bathroom. The ceramic tile should help pull some heat out of it.

I tasted a sample of it as we transferred it to the carbou, and it had a really nice flavor! I can't wait to see how it turns out!

Click to expand...

If the fast part of the ferment is over you don't want to chill it. You want to warm it then to encourage the yeast to finish. If you chill it the yeast may quit before the ferment is over.

OP, for future bacthes, keep in mind that fermentation temp can be a good 5-10 degrees over ambient temp, as fermentation creates heat. Keep those temps down and you'll be happier with your beer.