stalled fermentation?

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jmgreen7

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I just got back into brewing after a 3-4 year hiatus. My first batch was an extract hefeweizen with all new equipment. I was unable to get my og b/c i found that my hydrometer was broken on shipment. I had about a 30 hour lag before fermentation. After that fermentation went well for 2-3 days. Now i'm not seeing the airlock bubble too much, if at all. I did take my gravity tonight and it was 1.022. The kit says 1.052 is the expected final. I assume that it is pretty far off still. Should i wait a day or two and see if the gravity moves much, or should i put an order in for some more yeast?
I'm using wye labs hefeweizen liquid yeast and fermenting at about 66-68.
Opinions?

Thanks
Jason
 
You sure the final gravity was supposed to be 1.052? If so you are actually lower than your final gravity which means it is definitely done (gravity decreases as sugar is converted to alcohol and most FG's i have seen are just below 1.020) and you still should wait a week or two for the yeast to clear up off flavors and byproducts. If I am reading this correctly I'd say you're on the right track
 
yeah, you're right. The OG was supposed to be 1.052. The final abv is supposed to be 5% (IIRC). Should i be concerned that when i sampled the beer last night, it did have some carbonation, or is that an indication of fermentation still occurring?
 
It sounds to me like it's only been 4 or so days. It simply isn't done yet. Give it time.

Wait 2 days, then use a hyrdometer to check the gravity again. If it's the same as it was last time, then it's stalled. If not, wait another 2-3 days, then measure again. When the FG is the same for 2-3 days in a row, it's done.
 
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