Fast fermentation ?

[Jay_ID]

Hi everyone,

I started my first brew around 36 hours ago and saw fermentation start within around 5 hours, my OG was 1.042 and having just taken another hydrometer test which came out at 1.021 i was thinking that it is fermenting extremely fast.

Is this actually fast and if so is it a bad thing ?

Thanks

 

[PRE66_6TART]

Once the yeast get going they tend to start going pretty fast early on while there's still abundant simple sugars to eat. It's only a bad thing if it's the result of your fermentation temperature being too high.

 

[Jay_ID]

I'm brewing an Australian lager using ale yeast, so i am keeping the temperatures at a steady 20 degrees

 

[PRE66_6TART]

I've never brewed a lager. I think that temp is ok for most ale yeast. Could be a little high depending on what strain if you're trying to get a really clean yeast profile. Are you measuring the actual beer temp and not the air around it?

 

[Jay_ID]

This is my first brew so i kept it simple and have gone with an extract kit (coopers Australian lager).

On the instructions it says to keep it at around 21-27 degrees during fermentation, for a lager i felt that was a little high so i have kept it at 20c.
I'm using an LCD thermometer that sticks onto the side of the fermenter so i think all is good

 

[PRE66_6TART]

I haven't really brewed anything quite like that, but it sounds pretty good to me.

The yeast will start slowing down as they get down to the harder to eat sugars and the environment in the beer get less hospitable. I don't measure my gravity until the end, but I would suspect a 20 point drop in the first day after the lag period is pretty normal.

 

[Jay_ID]

My fermenter has a tap so when i went to take my hydrometer reading i took a little sample... i couldn't resist
Obviously it's flat but it tastes surprisingly nice.

Thanks for your posts

 

[PRE66_6TART]

Just did the conversion from Celsius to Fahrenheit and 21 to 27 degrees sounds crazy for anything other than a Belgian. I think you were right to go lower. I wonder why they recommend so high.

 

[Jay_ID]

Yeah PR i'm not too sure either, they said to NOT go under 18 degrees (in caps) which i thought was weird for a lager.

Maybe because it's uses ale yeast ?

Anyway it's good to know someone else thinks going lower than 21-27 degrees was a good idea