Possible Fermentation Fail?

[subzero829]

Well we made it on Sunday night and it started bubbling Monday morning. I went and checked on it that night after work and it was really cool being able to see the yeast actually releasing the CO2. But as of around noon today it stopped bubbling and I couldn't see any movement of co2 being produced by the yeast in the beer. So it's was only doing it for about 2 days (roughly) should I be concerned about it not fermenting correctly? The beer we made was a Brewers Best English Bitter kit and should only produce roughly 3% alcohol so I wasn't expecting a long fermentation but this still seems short.

 

[thood6]

It's not unusual for a beer to finish in two days especially with a low alcohol beer like that. What temperature did you ferment at?

Give it a another week or two then try taking two gravity readings 3 days apart. Then bottle if they are the same.

 

[subzero829]

I fermented at 65 degrees. Our instructions said to stay between 60-70 degrees.

This is the first beer I have ever made so I am still over-worrying about things since this is a big learning experience.

 

[thood6]

Yeah it's normal to freakout over your first batch.

While you are probably ok at 65, keep in mind that actual fermentation temperature can be up to 10 degrees higher than ambient temps.

 

[schmeldorf]

Don't worry. I bet you are just fine. I have been told that some low alcohol English Beers can go from Boil to serving in a week. <--- I am not recommending that in your case.

Let it sit a solid week before you worry about it.... And then it won't hurt it to let it sit at least another week after that. Patience can mean the difference between a good beer and a great beer.

 

[subzero829]

We are just gonna bottle it on Saturday or Sunday.

It was our first brewing experience and was very trial and error to find our weaknesses and mistakes. We are going to immediately go into making a second beer the same day we do the bottling. Then we are gonna let that ferment for a full two weeks possibly 3 weeks.

 

[defdans]

I'm a total noob as well, but I've seen it said repeatedly said here that bottling after 1 week without doing the gravity readings is the best way to create exploding beer bottles. I"m sure others will say this, but you should take gravity readings 3 days in a row and bottle ONLY if the gravity is the same on all 3 days. If it changes, then it's still fermenting and you need to wait. Otherwise you'll have a big ol' mess.

 

[phattony]

I'm a total noob as well, but I've seen it said repeatedly said here that bottling after 1 week without doing the gravity readings is the best way to create exploding beer bottles. I"m sure others will say this, but you should take gravity readings 3 days in a row and bottle ONLY if the gravity is the same on all 3 days. If it changes, then it's still fermenting and you need to wait. Otherwise you'll have a big ol' mess.

+1 or you could end up with gushing bottles.

 

[stpug]

I've occasionally pushed beers into kegs within 1 week, but never bottles - with kegs you can easily vent excess pressure if needed. I agree with defdans that you should be checking gravity a few days in a row to ensure the brew is done fermenting - those last few gravity points is all that's required to carbonate the beer in a bottle and if you compound those with priming sugar then you won't be having the experience you're expecting (e.g. over-carbed beer, gushers, exploding bottles, etc). If you don't absolutely need the vessel then let it sit 10+ days. If you DO need the vessel then transfer to a secondary if you have one. If you don't have a secondary and you are deadset on brewing again this weekend and need a fermenter then go buy another (ale pales are <$15 usually). Having two fermenters will always prove better than one. I still consider myself lightweight and have five carboys, AND I STILL don't have one for my beer this weekend

 

[subzero829]

I will check the Gravity tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday.

 

[schmeldorf]

screw all the gushing and blowing up bottles mess! the beer will suck!

pulling the beer off of the yeast cake too soon or moving out of primary prematurely causes all sorts of off flavor issues. the reason is, even though you do not see vigorous bubbler activity, the yeast is still doing a lot of work cleaning up flavor compounds that you do not want in your beer. give the beer at least 2 weeks (i always go 3 weeks minimum) in the fermentor and you will drastically improve the beer.

do a quick experiment. bottle 12 beers this weekend from a second bucket, and do it again in another week or 2. the two beers will be drastically different and the older beer will be much much better.

and get another fermentor! brew this weekend and get your production line going!

good luck!

 

[stpug]

screw all the gushing and blowing up bottles mess! the beer will suck!

pulling the beer off of the yeast cake too soon or moving out of primary prematurely causes all sorts of off flavor issues. the reason is, even though you do not see vigorous bubbler activity, the yeast is still doing a lot of work cleaning up flavor compounds that you do not want in your beer. give the beer at least 2 weeks (i always go 3 weeks minimum) in the fermentor and you will drastically improve the beer.

do a quick experiment. bottle 12 beers this weekend from a second bucket, and do it again in another week or 2. the two beers will be drastically different and the older beer will be much much better.

and get another fermentor! brew this weekend and get your production line going!

good luck!

While there are definitely instances where the above post may be true, I haven't experienced a "sucky" beer because I moved it along the line too fast. I generally sample my beer prior to moving and if it tastes good then I move it; if not then it stays on the yeastcake a little longer. I've made three beers recently that went from fermenter to keg within 7 days (english mild, session saison, heavyweight saison) and would not say that any of them had "off" flavors (except for the usual saison funk ). So, no, the beer will not suck just because you move it a little early. If you do a good job managing the fermenting temperature then you'll find the rewards of drinking good beer come quicker. Could it improve if left on the cake for a week or two? Sure, but the improvements may be anywhere from subtle to drastic depending on how the beer fermented, the yeast used. Not to mention that conditioning will still take place in the bottle and some of those "off" flavors will mellow with time, albeit at a slower rater than if left on the cake.

 

[schmeldorf]

To each his own.

When providing free advice to new brewers, I personally encourage new brewers to leave their beer in primary for a little longer period of time as opposed to a shorter period of time, even if that is just a span of 3-4 days. But, every brewer, beer, and beer drinker is different... so take it all with a grain of salt.

If the question at hand is should one rack the beer sooner or later, I stand by my advice that leaving it in primary for an extra couple of days will do much more good than harm. Racking your beer too early is often the root cause (albeit not the only cause) for off flavors in your beer resulting from high levels of acetaldehyde and diacetyl. So yes, your beer could most positively suck if you move it too early. And trying to drink 5 gallons of a bad beer is no fun, especially if you do not realize it until after going through the trouble of bottling it.

The best advice I can think of when determining if it is time to rack down your beer is as follows: Measure the beer, taste the beer, smell the beer and look at the beer. Your senses and a measurement can tell you more about the fermentation than a calendar. If you have hit your FG, the beer tastes good, smells good, and it has cleared up, then you are probably ready for some bottling or kegging followed by some beer enjoyment!

 

[Hockeyhunter99]

you said you can see the yeast form CO2 so i can assume you are using a clear carboy, is there still a yucky looking krausen on the top? if there is and it is bubbling or off gassing, it is still working. once the krausen falls back it should be good to go on the bottling, (after checking gravity) the yeast will clear the beer in the bottle. if you are truely worried about bottle bombs, sanitize and fill a 20oz. plastic bottle when you bottle the beer. if it begins to bow out the bottom of the plastic, you have to degas and recap the bottles. it is also a fun experiment to see how much pressure the yeast can push before giving up and going dorment