Airlock stopped bubbling... when do I worry

[osoling]

Hi all,

I am brewing a Belgian Dubbel. It's in the fermenter and I am using ,y Cool Brewing bag to control temperature. By the way, that thing's AWESOME!

Anyway, I brewed the wort on Sunday and it started fermenting very quickly. The airlock bubbled more than I have ever seen it in my long career of "one batch before this one." But now, a week later, it's stopped altogether. Is it still fermenting? The temperature got up to 74 at one point, but I quickly got it under control and it's been around 66 to 68 since Tuesday.

I know I should take readings with my hydrometer, but I don't own a thief to get wort out of the bucket. I am just wondering if anyone has seen this type of behavior before, or has any advice. My current plan is to keep it at a good temperature for the two weeks the directions told me to keep it there and then bottle and hope for the best.

So, teach me. What should I know?

Thanks in advance. I always appreciate you guys.

 

[Yooper]

At 75 degrees (very rare for me, but have done once or twice on purpose and a couple of times by accident................), I've had beers ferment out completely in 24 hours.

When fermenting at 65 degrees with an appropriate yeast pitch, my beers are done by day 5-7 always.

So I think you're right in there!

Just because it's done fermenting doesn't mean it's completely ready, though. For about 24 hours or so after the beer reaches FG, the yeast go back and digest less preferred foods, including their own waste products. After that, the yeast will start to become dormant and fall out, clearing the beer.

So a few days or more in the fermenter after the beer reaches FG is a good thing. No need to check the SG now- it sounds perfectly on track.

 

[thadass]

Yooper's spot on as always, nothing to worry about!
Regarding the lack of a thief, you will of course want to take a sample eventually, so I would suggest getting one. With a bucket, a well-sanitized turkey baster works as well (best if it wasn't ever used for turkey, though). Brew on!

 

[Calder]

I have a cheap turkey baster that is dedicated to taking samples.

What yeast? Some of those Belgians don't like the temperature to drop, even if it is within the recommended range, and can drop out of suspension. Once it has gotten warm you should keep it warm. Once they are done, it is often desirable to push the temperature to 80 F to help finish it off.

The best thing you can do right now is take a sample to get the gravity. If it is where you were expecting it to finish, you are OK. If it is high, warm up the beer and gently stir it to try and get the yeast back into suspension.

Some Belgians can finish quick. I once had one take trippel down from about 1.070 to under 1.010 in less than 36 hours from pitching.

 

[jro238]

Sounds like you are right on schedule and most of the fermentation has finished. Since it is a belgian, I would actually suggest taking the temperature controller off of the fermenter and just letting it rise to wherever it wants (as long as it doesn't get much above 85F) until you are ready to bottle.

 

[Unibrow]

Never worry about the airlock! Listen to Yooper