help please!

i am currently brewing a golden ale. my beer quit fermenting. It has been in the primary for two weeks now. My problem is that i live in a state where brewing is illegal so it is about 80 miles to the nearest home brew store. Can i use bread yeast to get it started back? If so how should i go about using it? I've only used white labs yeast up to this point, so i'm not familliar with dry yeast. Please Help. Thanks for any input.

 

What is the current gravity of the beer?

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give it swirl (not a shake) and move it to a warmer spot. Of course it may be at terminal gravity already but a prompt response is a good one. Start writing to your governor! brewing shouldnt be a crime!

 

Your beer usually quits fermenting around a week less/more a few days usually then just cleans up for a few weeks.check your gravity with a hydrometer.How are you assuming its not fermenting? Illegal?What a load of crap. Can online homebrew stores ship?

 

yeah i ordered my kit from midwest and they shipped it no problem. I don't know my gravity because i put the wort in my carboy and i haven't transfered it yet. The reason i don't think it is fermenting is because there is absolutly no foam on the top of the beer. Cake is built up on the side but the beer is flat on top. I would think that it should still be fermenting cause i added rice solids to up abv. brewing in alabama is a felony

 

can the temp be too hot? the beer is 76 degrees

 

Beware Governor Robert Bentley might be reading this!

Damm shame we can't "distill" across the great nation of ours as well.

 

Many beer will finish in a week. If yours has been 2 weeks it is likely done. The only way to know is to check the gravity.

 

Post your recipe, O.G. and S.G.

 

By foam I am assuming krausen, and if there isn't any then its pretty much done. As others have said already, take a gravity reading.

 

is krausen the foam that forms during fermentation

 

The only way to know if it's done is to check its gravity. That means either using a thief to pull a sample from the carboy, or transfering to another vessel and pulling a sample in the process. Then once you have a sample, you can check it's gravity and compare your reading to the expected FG number provided with your kit instructions.

Alternatively you could just go ahead and rack to secondary (there will be enough yeast still in suspension in the liquid that you'll still have yeast activity in the secondary), or you could just leave it in the primary for another week or two and then bottle/keg the beer.

And on your next batch, remember to measure your gravity so you can be more certain about what's happening and whether or not you really have a problem.

Brian

 

Yep!

 

I would let it go for another week and bottle it. The fermentation length can be effected by yeast, ingredient type and amount, temperature, etc. Generally, 2-3 weeks is more than enough. The only time that this has failed for me is when I used 10 month old and didn't build a yeast start. Bottle it up, carb and give it a try.

 

This sounds like a completely normal fermentation. Why are you trying to "get it started again?"

 

In the first few days did it foam up normally - yes - it's done. stop worrying. I have bottled a brew on day 4 (four) and no I did not experience bottle bombs because it was done. Done equals very very little fermentables left. In the UK some commercial brewers are experimenting with fermentation at 28 deg C - leading to very short fermentation times.

 

DOnt over think it. Check the gravity...done

 

throw it out its ruined

 

Did you kit come with a syphon? you can use that to test the gravity of your beer. And its no big deal if there is no foam..... all the brews i brewed the foam went down with in 2-4 days. Its probably done fermenting. @ weeks is a while. And that sucks that brewing in Alabam is a felony! But you should of checked the OG to make sure it has dropped. Maybe you can try some.

 

yes throw it in my direction though, not iswenson's, he may not be right....

 

Felony? Hmm. then brewing and meth labs are equally evil.Everybody stop brewing.