Fermentation confusion

dmcg1230 · Oct 10, 2012

Hey all,

So on Saturday I brewed a Witbier batch from a Brewer's Best kit. Everything seemed to go well in the boiling process so i was confident in its ability to ferment correctly. When i checked on it the next morning, it was bubbling like every second, almost non stop bubbling. Content, i didn't really check it after that until the next day. I looked at it to find that the fermentation had completely stopped. I mean like 0 bubbles and i watched it for awhile. I took the temperature in the room around it which was about 55 degrees. This seemed low, but from what i read online it seems like it shouldn't stop until its a few degrees colder. As far as what to do from here on out, I have no idea.

Has anyone ever experienced this? If so, what is my best course of action?

Phunhog · Oct 10, 2012

Move it to a warmer room and swirl the carboy around to rouse the yeast. Depending on what yeast you are using it sounds like the yeast went to sleep. Get it back up to 65-70 degrees and you should be fine. Of course there is also a small chance that fermentation is done. The only way to know for sure is to get a gravity reading.

Ogri · Oct 10, 2012

Funnily enough the witbier I'm brewing just now had a similarly short vigorous fermentation only really lasting two days after pitching then the krauzen started to drop. My temps were significantly higher than yours, though. What yeast did you use?

You could try putting your fermenter somewhere warmer and letting the temp of the brew rise to 65 or so. Give the fermenter a bit of a shake to agitate the yeast back into suspension. If you see some action your yeast are back in business. After a few more days you could let the brew's temperature get even higher to help finish off fermentation and clean up various by-products.

Dan · Oct 10, 2012

Vigorous fermentaion for a day and a half. Good yeast. They are still peeing alcohol and farting Co2 even if it isn't so obvioua at this stage in the game. They have been working hard, pushing moe air out the bubbler than there is room for inside the fermenter.

Now they are very happy and slowing down. If you want peice of mind, take a gravity reading to find out what a great job they have done so far. Then forget about them for a few weeks. You can warm them up a few degrees later.. for now let them be.

jmendez29 · Oct 10, 2012

dmcg1230 said:
what is my best course of action?

RDWHAHB

Airlock activity is not an accurate indicator of fermentation. Your hydrometer will tell you when it is done. For now, just let the yeast do what they do best, which is cleaning up after themselves at the moment.

unionrdr · Oct 10, 2012

After initial fermentation,it slows down to where it appears to be done. But it's far from it. It'll slowly,unevetfully work it's way down to FG. Patience young jedi.