reddevil5252
New Member
I have my first brew (autumn amber ale) in primary, and the bubbles in the air lock lasted only about a day and a half. Is this normal?
1st brew
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Tall_Yotie
Well-Known Member
Could be, all depends on the yeast, beer, temperature etc.
Fermentation can be quick.
The tool that will answer the grand majority of the beginner questions is a hydrometer. Do you have one? If so, you can always take a reading and see how close you are to your expected FG.
Welcome to the forums!
Fermentation can be quick.
The tool that will answer the grand majority of the beginner questions is a hydrometer. Do you have one? If so, you can always take a reading and see how close you are to your expected FG.
Welcome to the forums!
temptnmonkey
Well-Known Member
It happens. Don't worry.
Let it sit for at least 2-4 weeks. At around 2 weeks take a couple hydrometer readings over a couple days to record and determine if it is done, which it will be for most beers (you can only know fermentation is complete by stable SG readings over a couple days--airlock activity ending doesn't matter too much).
Good luck!
Let it sit for at least 2-4 weeks. At around 2 weeks take a couple hydrometer readings over a couple days to record and determine if it is done, which it will be for most beers (you can only know fermentation is complete by stable SG readings over a couple days--airlock activity ending doesn't matter too much).
Good luck!
Revvy Is on his way LOL. Tall Yotie is 100% correct . The airlock is pretty and is fun to watch but it really doesn't tell you anything. A Hydrometer it is your best tool. Best thing to do is let it do its thing take a hydro reading in 2 weeks and then don't touch it again for another week minimum. I have let all of mine do three and half weeks in primary and a week to 2 weeks in secondary. Just my 2 cents.
Haha!
Yeah my airlock settles usually after two or three days, but that doesn't mean your yeast is finished. It may be done with primary fermentation, but it still has some cleaning up to do. I always leave it another week or two before racking.
reddevil5252
New Member
Thanks for the responses. I'll wait 2 weeks and then bottle. Hopefully it's drinkable.
flyingtiger
Member
I made an autumn amber ale from midwest two weeks ago as my fist brew and it did the same thing. Lots of activity for about 2 days and then it slacked off to almost no activity by day 5. By taking the advice on this forum I just left it alone for 2 weeks and took my first reading today that came out at 1.019. It smelled like beer and tasted like beer so I guess I did something right. Just leave it alone for another week and use your spare time to read everything you can on homebrewtalk.
That's just initial fermentation finishing up. It'll slow down on fermentation till it reaches FG. They all do that,so no worries. When it reaches a stable FG,just give it 3-5 days to clean up & settle out more. Then dry hop for a week or bottle it up.
reddevil5252
New Member
Tried a bottle today. It was a little cloudy and a little yeasty. Will more time in the bottle help this.
Definitely! I assume that the beer is only a month old at this point- which means it's been in bottles about two weeks or so?
Next time, chill it for at least 24 hours without moving it (longer is better). That helps the yeast cake compact on the bottom. When you pour it to your glass, pour it in one motion so that you don't go up and down and resuspend the yeast sediment on the bottom. Leave the last 1/4" in the bottle, and stop pouring when you see yeast/sediment. That will really help!
