Done that quick or???

[swamplawn]

Hey guys i jus brewed a hefe on friday and pitched he yeast late friday night. That las few days our fermentation has been going great. Went to bed last night and it was about 71 degrees in the room im fermenting. The temp dropped dramatically over night (about 57 degrees) as it got colder then it was supposed to.

Needless to say there seems to be no life in the fermenter.... Did the drastic temp kill the yeast? what can i do to save it? Repitch?

Thanks!

David

 

[Yooper]

If it was 71 on the room, and fermentation was active, the fermenting beer might have been as much as 80 degrees! Fermentation produces heat, which makes the yeast go faster, which produces more heat, etc. A "hot" fermentation can easily ferment out in 24 hours.

Do you have a stick-on thermometer on the fermenter? That's an easy way to tell the actual temperature of the beer, not the room it's in. It probably didn't' drop all that much, though- it would take a LONG time for 5 gallons of fermenting beer to drop the temperature so it's probably warmer than you think.

I'm betting that it's simply finished the active part of fermentation.

 

[swamplawn]

Thanks Yooper! That all makes sense! I think im gonna rack it to secondary for a few days tonight!

Much appreciated!

 

[AmandaK]

Thanks Yooper! That all makes sense! I think im gonna rack it to secondary for a few days tonight!

Much appreciated!

Why would you use a secondary with a hefeweizen? It doesn't need to clear, you don't dry hop it and you aren't adding fruit...

I'd leave it in the primary for at least another week to let the yeast clean up any off flavors, such as sulfur, a common off flavor of fermentation in hefes.

 

[bknifefight]

Use your hydrometer. Don't rack anything until you know it's done, and you don't unless you use a hydrometer.

 

[swamplawn]

I know to use a hydrometer! I took a reading and it says is done (got a reading of 1.014).

I was purely asking has anyone seen a beer ferment that quick, because we have not seen that yet and we have been brewing for a while now!

Thanks

 

[bknifefight]

You don't know it's done until the reading stays the same for several days. Just because it hit the estimated FG, doesn't mean it's done. I have yeast over attenuate all the time.