Fermentation has slowed. Should I worry?

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MtnGoatJoe

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I started my fermentation last night (in a 2 gallon pale), and it kicked off nicely. It even made a bit of a mess overnight. Now it's slowed to nine seconds between burps. Should I be worried? That seems a bit slow for me.

I used Lalvin 71B yeast and added some honey and brown sugar to boost the SG to 1.060.
 
So, I cracked open the bucket, checked the SP, and gave it a stir. The OG was 1.060, and the SG today was 1.050. The burp rate has picked up slightly to 7 seconds per burp (for a 2 gallon bucket).

Should I just stay the course, or do I need to do anything?
 
Stay the course. Air lock activity especially in a bucket is not a very good indication of how your ferment is going. Keep an eye on it and check SG periodically. If still drooping your fine.
 
Well, the airlock has pretty much stopped. It got down to 64 last night; is that too low?
 
Stay the course. Air lock activity especially in a bucket is not a very good indication of how your ferment is going. Keep an eye on it and check SG periodically. If still drooping your fine.
Wow! You were right! There has been no activity in the airlock since my last post 5 days ago, and when I checked the SG today, it was down to 1.018. I thought the bucket would have a slightly better seal than that, but you were right! And 1.018 is right where I want it to be!

Thanks!
 
71B should drive you cider to pretty near bone dry. <1.000. If you like it sweet, then the only way to keep it sweet is to cold crash / clarify and pasteurize or add those nasty chemicals to inhibit your yeast.
 
71B should drive you cider to pretty near bone dry. <1.000. If you like it sweet, then the only way to keep it sweet is to cold crash / clarify and pasteurize or add those nasty chemicals to inhibit your yeast.
I couldn't cold crash this year; no room in the refrigerator. But I'll try it next year.

So, I heat pasteurized this year at 1.018. Hopefully I'll get good results. We'll see.
 
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