48 hours, no more bubbling

[DieKatzchen]

I brewed my first beer on Tuesday afternoon, pitched the yeast, and put it in the basement. Wednesday afternoon the airlock was bubbling merrily away. But today I went to look and it's not noticeably moving at all. I know it's supposed to calm down after the initial fermentation, but isn't that a bit quick?

 

[brew_ny]

a bit more info would help

what yeast, what temperature pitched at, fermented, what OG ?

all the best

S_M

 

[dobe12]

Yup, need more info. Specifically your pitch and fermentation time. Willing to bet it fermented on the warm side and just blew through all the sugars quickly.

 

[unionrdr]

It could've fermented to warm to finish that quick. But I've had beers with a healthy yeast pitch get through initial fermentation that quickly as well. Obviously,the beer would still have some fermenting to finish when initial fermentation is done.

 

[DieKatzchen]

The package says "Windsor British-style Beer Yeast" The directions said to cool it to 70 but I got it down from boiling to 80 really fast and then it stubbornly stuck at 80 until we decided to just go with it. The SG was 1.030, accidentally added a touch too much water. It was supposed to be between 1.032 and 1.036 The kit was Brewer's Best English Bitter.

 

[dobe12]

The package says "Windsor British-style Beer Yeast" The directions said to cool it to 70 but I got it down from boiling to 80 really fast and then it stubbornly stuck at 80 until we decided to just go with it. The SG was 1.030, accidentally added a touch too much water. It was supposed to be between 1.032 and 1.036 The kit was Brewer's Best English Bitter.

Very warm ferment and a low starting gravity... yup... that will do it.
Case solved.

 

[Homercidal]

A few things. A warm ferment (Like about 75 or more) will ferment faster. Yeast LOVE that temp and will go like crazy, but then you have to deal with their off-flavors.

Second, that's a pretty low OG, so it literally could have "finished" in that much time if the temp was up there.

I'm wondering, though, what kind of fermentation vessel you are using. If you are using anything that you KNOW doesn't have a leak, the fermentation might be done. If you aren't positive, then there is a chance that the hard fermentation period was strong enough to overcome the small leak, but as it slowed down the CO2 could manage to sneak out the leak where there isn't any resistance.

In any case, there is nothing to worry about. Let it sit for a week or two and then check gravity. If it was a warm, fast ferment you might end up with a beer that isn't as tasty as it could have been is all. A little more time before bottling and drinking won't hurt it.

 

[JimRausch]

Yep, relatively low OG, high initial pitching temp, and probably relatively high fermenting temperature means that visible signs of fermentation could be done by 48 hours. HOWEVER, fermentation is not complete. The yeast have eaten the easy stuff but now will work on the harder to ferment compounds. Leave her alone for 7-10 days, then check SG before deciding what to do with it.

 

[DieKatzchen]

Thank you. I'm not absolutely sure there's no leak, it's a brand new 5 gallon bucket from, again, Brewers Best. The kind with graduation marks on the side, which I like. I planned on racking it to a carboy after primary, how long would you say I should wait before cracking the seal on the bucket? Still 7-10 days?

 

[dstranger99]

I brewed my first beer on Tuesday afternoon, pitched the yeast, and put it in the basement. Wednesday afternoon the airlock was bubbling merrily away. But today I went to look and it's not noticeably moving at all. I know it's supposed to calm down after the initial fermentation, but isn't that a bit quick?

Just because it stopped bubbling doesn't mean it's done, you'll need the hydrometer to be sure.

 

[hudsons]

This happened to me on my first brew.

You probably are finished with primary fermentation. If you're worried, go ahead and check your SG. Just don't sneeze in it or anything. If the SG is in your target (should be a little below your target since you started low), you can go ahead and rack to your secondary if you want. You might get a clearer beer if you wait a few days longer before racking to the secondary. This is your first beer (congrats), so you probably don't care too much about clarity. Go ahead and rack if the SG is good.

 

[Homercidal]

Buckets are notorious for having small leaks. It doesn't affect the beer at all, unless the brewer were to do something ill-informed, like judge the fermentation by the bubbles in the airlock...

 

[JimRausch]

Thank you. I'm not absolutely sure there's no leak, it's a brand new 5 gallon bucket from, again, Brewers Best. The kind with graduation marks on the side, which I like. I planned on racking it to a carboy after primary, how long would you say I should wait before cracking the seal on the bucket? Still 7-10 days?

Yes, primary only, or racking to a conditioning vessel, leave her alone for 7-10 days before even checking SG. Patience is a tough mistress, but the end result will be worth it. Rushing the process oftentimes leads to 'raw, green' beer that needs a couple extra weeks to condition anyways.