Belgian ale questions

[Ohwellale]

I recently after much curiosity and practice in beer drinking decided to attempt to brew my own. I got a kit from a Beer Beer and more Beer store. Followed instructions on the kit of belgian ale as good as I could. Everything looked pretty good (belgian ale kit 555) safbrew s-33 is the dry yeast they gave me to use. I have kept the ferment or in a dark closet and it has been right around 78 f inside the closet. It's day 3 now. I saw bubbling on the first morning after the night of brewing. But now in day 3 no action. I can see the krausen ring and what looks like a yeast cake. Should I go tomorrow day 4 and get a make shift swamp cooler or has the beer already set its course??

 

[brouwer]

It could very well be done the main fermentation. How many points has it dropped?


- Cheers

 

[Ohwellale]

Haven't checked yet. Another question I guess would be how often should I check?

 

[Qhrumphf]

That's a fairly warm fermentation normally, but for a Belgian you might be alright. I wouldn't be surprised if it's done already (most of my beers are pretty much quiet after a couple days, let alone anything fermented in the high 70s), but regardless I'd give it a couple weeks to sit and mellow itself out before you do anything with it. I'd say once it's been about two weeks in the fermenter, pull a gravity sample. Then 3 days later, do it again to make sure it's done. It probably is. And I'd probably give it 3-4 weeks total before you bottle it.

If fermentation is already pretty much over, a swamp cooler isn't going to do you much good now. The very start of fermentation is when it matters the most. Just let it right. I'm pretty sure all is well with the world.

 

[Ohwellale]

That's a fairly warm fermentation normally, but for a Belgian you might be alright. I wouldn't be surprised if it's done already (most of my beers are pretty much quiet after a couple days, let alone anything fermented in the high 70s), but regardless I'd give it a couple weeks to sit and mellow itself out before you do anything with it. I'd say once it's been about two weeks in the fermenter, pull a gravity sample. Then 3 days later, do it again to make sure it's done. It probably is. And I'd probably give it 3-4 weeks total before you bottle it.

If fermentation is already pretty much over, a swamp cooler isn't going to do you much good now. The very start of fermentation is when it matters the most. Just let it right. I'm pretty sure all is well with the world.

I'll take your advice. As much as I was hopping 2 weeks was the number I'll just wait an extra week. As for bottling. Leave at same temp for another week or so?

 

[brouwer]

Haven't checked yet. Another question I guess would be how often should I check?

Normally it wouldn't be a concern. Just if your worried about a stuck fermentation a gravity check always helps cut through any concerns.


- Cheers

 

[Qhrumphf]

I'll take your advice. As much as I was hopping 2 weeks was the number I'll just wait an extra week. As for bottling. Leave at same temp for another week or so?

At this point, unless you're capable of dropping the temperature in a very controlled manner, I would just leave it where it is. Otherwise you can cause the yeast to flocculate and drop faster than you want, and inhibit cleanup of various intermediary compounds.