what to do when fermentation seems to stop

We have a Double IPA in the primary that has been there now for 4 days. the bubbles coming out of the airlock dropped considerably last night and this morning they have stopped completely. Our local brew supply shop had mentioned once that on high gravity beers if they seem to stop too soon, to shake up the fermenter a little.

Is that advisable at this time? Or do we just leave it? Any other suggestions?

Thanks for all the help, we really appreciate it!

Do you have a hydrometer?

4 days in my book is too soon to dock the yacht but, not infeasible for a IPA and a hungry yeast.

do you plan on racking to a secondary? or going right to bottles?

4 days does seem like a very short time for complete fermentation.

From all my research here the best suggestion is 10 more days in primary then secondary or bottle for 3 weeks.

Your fermentation hasn't stopped, your airlock has.

All you really know is that your airlock isn't venting excess co2, NOT whether or not you have a stuck fermentation!

There's a big difference between those two conditions.

Just because your airlock isn't bubbling doesn't mean that fermentation is finished, or stuck, or anything.

Your airlock is not a fermentation gauge, it is a VALVE to release excess co2.

More than likely the peak of fermentation has already wound down, so there's simply no need to vent off any excess co2.

"Bubbling action" is not a good way to tell if anything is happening, plenty of beers ferment without a single bubble from the airlock.

Fermentation is not always "dynamic," just because you don't SEE anything happening, doesn't mean that any-thing's wrong,, and also doesn't mean that the yeast are still not working diligently away, doing what they've been doing for over 4,000 years..

The bubbling just means that it is venting excess CO2, nothing more. If it's not bubbling, that only means that it is not producing enough co2 to need to vent.

If your airlock was bubbling and stopped---It doesn't mean fermentation has stopped.

If you airlock isn't bubbling, it doesn't mean your fermentation hasn't started....

If your airlock starts bubbling, it really doesn't matter.

If your airlock NEVER bubbles, it doesn't mean anything is wrong or right.

The only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in....

Thinking about "doing anything" without taking a hydrometer reading is tantamount to the doctor deciding to cut you open without running any diagnostic tests....Taking one look at you and saying, "Yeah I'm going in." You would really want the doctor to use all means to properly diagnose what's going on. It's exactly the same thing when you try to go by airlock....

Yes we are planning on racking to a secondary after about 2 weeks in the primary.
I will get a hydrometer reading today and compare it too? tomorrow? or do we wait longer?

if it doesnt change over ?how many days? then we do? what?

our plan for this beer was 2 weeks primary, 8 weeks secondary, with 1 week of dry hop, then bottle and wait at least 3 weeks after that. Does that sound sane?

double IPA needs some time, don't touch it again until it is at least 2 weeks old. then take a hydrometer reading, and another one 2 days after that.