First Batch - Fermentation Problems (stuck?)

I just started my first batch ever last Saturday. The brew is True Brew Oktoberfest and the ingredients are as follows:

• Unhopped Amber Malt Extract - 1 can
• Light Dried Malt Extract - 2lbs
• Melanoidin Grain - 8oz
• Liberty Hop Pellets - 2oz
• Ale Yeast (originally Multon's Green Pack, then liquid)

I proofed/rehydrated the original dry yeast that came with the ingredient kit, but after about an hour of nothing happening I figured it was dead and ran out to the local brew store to pick up some liquid yeast. The guy there said that proofing/rehydrating the yeast at 95 degrees may have killed it.

Anyways, I finished up with the boil and added the liquid yeast. Next morning I wake up and it was fermenting like crazy with krauken coming up through the airlock. It was Sunday so I couldn't get the equipment to rig a blow off tube, and I had to resort to periodically cleaning the airlock in sanitizing solution to keep the gunk out.

Eventually the furious fermentation subsided and I had good bubbles until this afternoon (Wednesday). It's been about 4 days since I pitched the yeast and the bubbles have stopped. I'm not sure if I screwed up somewhere along the line, if I lost too much yeast when it was bubbling out of the airlock, or if I should add more yeast at this point.

TL;DR: Did I lose too much yeast when it bubbled out, and if so should I add more; or did I simply mess up somewhere else along the way and need to start over.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Fast and vigourous is a great fermentation. Check your gravity and report back.

What's you current gravity? You don't know anything about what your beer's doing without taking a gravity reading...all you know is you airlock isn't bubbling, which only means......your airlock isn't bubbling...which means nothing.

I took a gravity reading today (Thursday 2:30pm) and got a reading of approximately 1.011 taking temperature into account. Unfortunately, I made a first-timer mistake and forgot to take a beginning gravity reading.

The True Brew directions provide a beginning gravity reading of 1.040-1.042 and a final gravity reading of 1.010-1.012.

I also tasted the sample and it was ok, but not great. It had a slightly bitter initial taste, but a more sweet aftertaste. There wasn't really any carbonation, but I guess that comes after bottling.

So based on the gravity reading, I'm guessing that fermentation isn't stuck but is complete? The directions suggested leaving it in the fermentor for a week, but the John Palmer - How to Brew book suggests leaving it in the fermentor for 2-3 weeks (I'm using a single-stage fermentor and not transferring to condition).

Thanks again for your help!

Your beer is done. Leave it alone for a month now. More if you can stand to wait.

Next time ferment your lagers at the proper temperature, or else find an ale that suits your fancy.

Keep on brewin'!

Awesome! Thanks for the quick reply.

Just to clarify, when you say "Leave it alone for a month," do you mean in the fermentor or from now-through bottling-until drinking should be a month?

funkybass said:

Awesome! Thanks for the quick reply.

Just to clarify, when you say "Leave it alone for a month," do you mean in the fermentor or from now-through bottling-until drinking should be a month?

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In the fermenter....Let the yeast clean up after itself, and more than likely you'll find all the flavors you don't like about the beer cleaned up.

Many of us leave our beers in primary for about a month. There's a tond of discussions on here about it.

Yeah, in the fermenter for a month, then you can just bottle it. There aren't many good reasons to use a secondary; I do use them quite frequently because I am short on primaries (for lagers I use a big 12 gallon fermenter with a loose-fitting lid so I can monitor the gravity to time my d-rest properly) and short on kegs. But there is no danger to leaving your beer on the cake for a month, and you lessen the chance of infecting/oxydizing your beer through an unnecessary racking. When I use secondaries, I purge the carboy with CO2 first.