Another newbie yeast/fermentation question

[Tarindel]

Three days ago, a friend and I made a belgian ale, OG 1.050, using White Star Belgian liquid yeast. Because it was kind of a last minute thing, we didn't have time to do a starter.

Everything during the brewing part went fine, except for the part where my friend accidentally pushed the solid stopper into the carboy of wort. I have no idea how I'm going to get it back out, but that's a problem for another day. In any case, I aerated the wort well and stuck the carboy in a closet.

After 24 hours, it was bubbling at a rate of about once every 4 seconds and building up a nice krausen already. Then I had to leave on a trip for two days. I just got back in (now 3 days out from brew day), expecting to see it bubbling like crazy and krausen foam up to the airlock (cause that's what happened last time I tried making beer, like 2 years ago) -- but what I'm seeing is one bubble every 8 seconds, and a steady krausen of about an inch and a half. It's pretty sedate!

I took a hydrometer reading and it came out at 1.021 (temperature adjusted). I also tasted it -- kinda sweet.

So, my yeast has obviously been working, and continues to work given that it's still making bubbles. But given that it's been 3 days and it seems to be already be pretty slow, I'm not sure if I should let it ride, or whether I should give it a few swirls to see if I can kick some additional life into it. I'm inclined to just leave it alone, but I didn't want to assume that's what I should do and then have someone tell me tomorrow that I should have swirled it today.

Any advice?

Many thanks!

 

[jbsg02]

I'm not familiar with that strain, but if it's only been 3 days, the yeast is not done. Let it sit for 2-3 weeks and do its thing.

 

[Schecter]

RDWAHAHB!
All is well in the land of brewing.

 

[Pie_Man]

Beer takes longer than 3 days to finish fermenting. Let it go for another 2 weeks and then see what you have.

 

[homebrewdad]

Beer takes longer than 3 days to finish fermenting. Let it go for another 2 weeks and then see what you have.

This. Also note that bubbles are an indication, but the lack of bubbles means NOTHING. Wait two weeks, check the hydrometer, wait two days, check again. If the gravity is stable, it's done - not before.

 

[TopherM]

Fermentation can be really fast, like less than 24 hours, or take quite a bit of time, like 7-10 days. It's like asking how long it takes a lion to eat a water buffalo. Well, it takes how ever long it takes. The yeast eat on their own schedule, so fermentation time is not a set schedule for any beer.

What most experienced brewers do is just leave the beer in primary fermentation for 2-3 weeks. If you give it three weeks, you are pretty much assured that the yeast have finished fermentation. Also, after they finish fermentation, the yeast will go back and eat their byproducts, resulting in a cleaner, better beer. Even after that, the beer effectively starts to bulk condition, also resulting in a better final product.

So, what everyone is telling you is to be patient and let it sit in primary three weeks. Your beer will be better for it!