Fermentation done after 1 day?

[betterbeer1]

Took a shot at a pumpkin ale on Saturday. 1.5lbs of dme, 3.5 lbs of lme, 2lbs of specialty grains and spices. I boiled about 5lbs of pumpkin cubes for about 30 minutes in 1 gallon of water and used that water to steep the grains. I'm not sure if that was a good idea or a great idea. I used a s-33 dry yeast and pitched it directly into the wort. OG was about 1.046 and everything seemed like it was going just like all the other beers. About 8 hours later the airlock was bubbling frantically and then about 24 hours it was down to a bubble every 30 seconds. By last night (36 hours) the bubbling had stopped completely.

I've never had a beer start and stop fermenting so quickly, I haven't taken any readings yet but before I pop the lid and risk any infection wanted to see if this was because of my unorthodox methods with a pumpkin or just the way of the beast.

 

[MyNameIsPaul]

How do you know that it's stopped fermenting? You Don't.

Airlock Activity does not indicate active fermentation. Use a hydrometer. It's the ONLY WAY to know.

 

[Dog House Brew]

Pop the lid and take a reading. Chance of an infection taking the lid off is almost nil. Bubbles are not a good indicator on fermentation. I like to primary for a couple weeks.

 

[Revvy]

Pop the lid and take a reading. Chance of an infection taking the lid off is almost nil. Bubbles are not a good indicator on fermentation. I like to primary for a couple weeks.

Don't even bother taking a reading for a week. It's fermenting fine. And like other's have said, stopped airlock bubbling is NOT the same as stopped fermentation.