So has this ever happened before...

ok now I know that i am new and you guys have probably heard this before but i have scoured the net to find if this has happened to anyone and i havent seen anyone.

This was my 6th batch and i wanted to do a high gravity pumpkin ale sorta like pumking. I roasted a 20# pumpkin and cleaned it and mashed it with my 6row for about 4 hours, did my process like i had been, og= about 1.085. Yeast nutrient added and two dry pack of nottingham yeast game on.

The next day i get up early and am gone all day and when i came home the fermentation was so aggressive that it literally blew the lid off of my fermenter and the krausen was practically coming out of the bucket.
After some research I realized what i needed to do was a blow off tube which i set up and let go overnight, the next day it had calmed down i put the airlock on and thought everything was ok. Well it went from hyper aggressive fermentation to none, no bubbles at all.

So i took an airlock reading today which is about 2 days after i pitched and the reading was 1.02. Is this even possible? fermentation that fast seems just absolutely insane, everything about this just seems nuts, i am concerned that there is something wrong with the fermenter because when the lid blew off the rubber lining fell out and i put it back in but maybe the seal isnt right, should i move it to another fermenter?

I assume you mean hydrometer reading, not airlock reading. Is your hydrometer properly calibrated? If so, leave it alone. It is fermenting, doesn't matter if the seal is tight and moving it right now wouldn't accomplish anything.

What temperature did you ferment at? It sounds like it might have been on the high side w/ that vigorous of a ferment.

Also, what was the temp it was fermenting at? If the room temp was 68-70F then I'll bet it was at least 75F inside the carboy, and at those temps fermentation is over very fast. Also, it's not uncommon for most to be done with active fermentation in as little as 48 hours after you pitch. Its still at 1.020 so I'd let it go for the full three weeks and check it again. If it's down to where it needs to be then go ahead and secondary or package.

Has it happened before??

Keep reading. There is a post like this almost every day.

Fermentations, especially at higher temperatures can pass their active phase very quickly. Maybe even overnight. That does not mean the fermentation is finished.

Airlock bubbling only means that more co2 gas is being created than the fermenter can contain. Gravity readings are the only way to tell how the fermentation is progressing. You released all the pressure when the lid popped off.

The yeast will also continue to work after the active phase has ended cleaning up off flavors produced during the active phase.

It is common practice to primary for 3-4 weeks then take the gravity readings before bottling.

As others have posted, bubbling isn't a good measure of whether or not fermentation is complete. Just let it sit for a couple of weeks it will probably be fine. The fact that the lid blew off and you stuck it back on there and now not seeing bubbles may simply mean the seal isn't as good right now so the CO2 isn't escaping through your airlock - just going out somewhere else.

yea but fermentation strong enough to blow the lid off?

fermentation was about 70 in the room. i just hope its alright this is the most time and money ive spent on a beer.

Yankchef said:

yea but fermentation strong enough to blow the lid off?

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yes, bad planning happens all the time.

blow off tube.

oui

unionrdr said:

Not nessesarilly. I've had initial fermentations done in 24 hours before.

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if not 24, 48 seems kinda commonplace.

70 degree ambient is pretty warm, especially when fermentation get to rocking. I have my ferment room set at 60 degrees and am thinkibng that may be a bit warm because I am getting really fast ferments but taste is fine so far..