Am I very close to the end of the ferment?

[Sean_SA]

Hi all

Great to be part of the community, I'm a first time brewer. I've long been wanting to brew my own beer but never got to it. With the current covid-19 lockdown in South Africa we have not been allowed to buy alcohol for almost 2 months now so here I am and can safely say the bug has bitten hard already

Onto the matter at hand. I'm brewing an irish stout. The ferment got off to a good start with plenty bubbling going on with the airlock through days 2 and 3. Now at almost 6 days through the ferment the airlock bubbles at a hugely reduced rate. Maybe once every 10 minutes, maybe even less now. I did a gravity check last night and it was 1.014. Original gravity was 1.046. The sample I took smelled and tasted good.

Some factors to consider:

• I undershot my target volume of a 15L batch and ended up with 12L of wort after the boil. This was mainly due to a miscalculation with my kettle size not being big enough to allow me to pour all sparge water through my brew bag. School fees paid.
• I still used 1 sachet of Safale S-04 yeast as indicated for the 15L recipe
• As mentioned OG was 1.046 before yeast pitching. A test after 5 days of ferment showed 1.014
• I have been fermenting at 18°C as per recipe. Fermentation vessel is being kept inside a temp controlled chamber. Temps have been steady.

The recipe I'm using says that you must ferment at 18 C for 7-10 days and then raise the temp by 1° till you get to 21°, check for leveling off of gravity and then bottle.

Firstly, has my fermentation gone faster than it should? If so, are there possible issues ahead or adjustments to the procedure I need to make? Could that be due to a higher yeast to wort ratio?

Thanks in advance!

 

[VikeMan]

Firstly, has my fermentation gone faster than it should?

Your description of what's happened so far sounds perfectly normal.

 

[Ralphie0523]

Agreed, this sounds pretty normal. Under optimal conditions it goes pretty well, and S04 is a pretty well known for quickly getting towards terminal gravity. Hope the first batch is tasty enough to keep going!

 

[RM-MN]

Firstly, has my fermentation gone faster than it should? If so, are there possible issues ahead or adjustments to the procedure I need to make? Could that be due to a higher yeast to wort ratio?

Your fermentation has gone just as most ales do. No worries on that score. Possible issues? Yes, you are so hooked now that I see a loss of money as you upgrade to a bigger pot, more ingredients, etc. It never quits. Otherwise I don't see any problem. The instructions to warm it by a degree a day are good but.....I never worry about that for an ale. Keep it cool for a week, then just let it rise to room temp on its own. There isn't a lot happening after a week that needs good temperature control.