fast action followed by nothing

[mabari]

hi everybody,

My first brew ever; Coopers Hertigare Lage. One can coopers hertigare lager - 250 gramds of dry malt extract - 500 grams of brown sugar - batch quantity 20 liters. Pitched my yeast at 33 degree C. Got vigrous activity after 6 hours which lasted around 48 hours. Had Color change to medium brown and could not see thourgh - Temperature remained around 25 to 30 degrees -

Bubbles stopped after 48 hours and till now (which is 5th day) there is no fermentation activity at all -

Please help what to do? and if it is stuck fermentation what should i do? should i open lid and take hydrometer reading?

thanks in advance.

 

[soberJim]

Never hurts to take a hydro, from what I figure. Plus, take a taste. As long as everything is sanitised, there should be no problems. I try to taste each brew as I make it, initial, after 5 days then during bottling. I think the flavour changes give a uh something preview, before they all blend in together.. yeah, I've been drinking, I couldn't remember what that word was meant to be .. anyway, test it and see how it is. I would

 

[ahaley]

I'm also new to brewing, on and off for about. 2 yrs. but just because the bubbles stop that does t mean the fermentation period is done right?

 

[ahaley]

Also my brew has been in the fermenter almost a month. Bubbling stopped within a few days but I left it there cuz I got busy.

 

[Homercidal]

Bubbling is no sure indication of fermentation activity. There are numerous threads on it already, so I won't go into detail.

The bottom line is that you need to take a hydrometer reading and see where it's at. Lots of activity early on, coupled with a lengthy primary would indicate the probability of complete fermentation, but only the hydrometer (or refractometer if you had one) will tell you for sure.

If your Final Gravity is low enough, then fell free to bottle it up with some priming sugar (table sugar is fine if you don't have corn sugar) I recommend adding the sugar solution to the bottling bucket before racking the beer into it. Helps to ensure a good mixing and even carbonation across all bottles.

 

[homebrewdad]

Bubbles mean nothing. Their presence does mean that you have fermnetaion, but their absence does not mean that you still don't have it. The only way to know for sure is to take a gravity reading with your hydrometer, then take another a couple of days later. If they match, fermentation is done.

You may want to leave the beer a little longer, however, to let your yeast clean up after themselves - you tend to get better beer this way.