Holy 24 Hour Fermentation Batman!!!

Usually my fermentations start anywhere from 24-48 hours from when I pitch the yeast, depending on the temperature. And then they usually last another 48-72 hours or so. I just did a Brown Ale extract kit from Northernbrewers....and fermentation kicked off within two hours!!!

The brown ale had an OG of 1044 but I decided to rehydrate two packs of Danstar Nottingham Ale yeast instead of the single pack provided in the kit. MrMalty said use two packs...so two it was. I also added a little yeast nutrient to the wort to make sure I'd have a strong fermentation. Well...it was supercharged!

In about 2-3 hours I saw activity in the airlock. At about 12 hours a healthy krausen was forming and the airlock was bubbling like a mofo. At 24 hours the krausen had dropped and airlock activity had come to a stop. The room temp was 72 degrees.

I haven't taken a gravity reading yet since it has only been in the carboy for a little over two days.....but is my experience normal for brown ales with the Nottingham yeast? Seems like things went too quick.

Thanks!

You sure Mr. Malty said to use 2 packs of dry yeast? There should be enough in one 11 g packet for 5 gal. 2 packs of liquid yeast is more likely. Sounds like you overpitched.

Also, don't believe its done until you've confirmed with a gravity reading.

OOOOOOPSSSS!!!! Funny. This would explain why my last batch of cider fermented like it was on steroids as well. Mr Malty says to use two 5g packs of yeast or one 11g pack. I thought I was using 5 gram packs!!!!

I think the yeast packs I use for bread are 5g so maybe thats where I went wrong. I've been using liquid yeast up until now. Thats going to have to be my excuse.

So any serious adverse effects to using double the yeast??? Is it going to taste like brown sourdough?

Thanks.......live and learn I guess.

Hmmm, for a 5gal batch of 1.044 you need .7 packets of Nottingham. Tis better to overpitch than underpitch though!

That quantity of yeast is overpitching, but that should be ok. My bigger concern is if the room temperature is 72 degrees and it was a very vigorous fermentation, the actual beer fermenting temperature was probably well over 80 degrees! I have a stick-on thermometer on the side of the fermenter, and in the summer I usually put it in a water bath with frozen water bottles to keep the temperature under 70 degrees (fermenting temperature, not room temperature).

Nottingham over 70 degrees has a not-good taste. Over 72-75 degrees, it's approaching foul tasting.

Yeah..the temp was a little warm for my liking. I have the stick on thermometer as well. I don't think it got past 78....which is still too warm.

Hopefully my beer isn't ruined. I had too much Nottingham in there that was over 72-75 degrees

Maybe its time to invest in a temp controller....

ScrewBrew said:

Yeah..the temp was a little warm for my liking. I have the stick on thermometer as well. I don't think it got past 78....which is still too warm.

Hopefully my beer isn't ruined. I had too much Nottingham in there that was over 72-75 degrees

Maybe its time to invest in a temp controller....

Click to expand...

You will be amazed at the difference a little temp control can make. I start most of my Ale fermentations at 63F, then ramp up after 3 days or so going as high as 75F depending on the yeast over the next couple of weeks.