Fermentation Problem

[joelr]

Well, I've been making wine now for about 6 months. And I deided I wanted to delve into homebrewing beer. I started a Cream Ale Extract kit last saturday that I bought from Northern Brewer. I live about 3 minutes away from there new store in West Allis, WI (suburb of milwaukee). So its very convenient just driving over there and getting what I need. I'm not sure of alot of the beermaker vocab or abbreviations you use here. So be gentle.

So heres whats going on. I started brewing on saturday. Pitched the yeast. Fermentation started working by day 2 and day 3 it was really bubbling. Went to check on it on day 4 in the morning and it was just stopped. I watched it for 15 minutes and nothing. I left it and checked it that night after work. Still nothing. So I decided to get a gravity reading on it. (Mind you my OG was 1.046.) The reading I got was 1.020. I capped the primary back up. Checked it a little later (30-45 minutes) and it was bubbling away again. Day 5 I checked it in the morning and nothing again. The directions said that fermentation would take an upwards of 14 days. The yeast I'm using is Wyeast American Ale 1056. The temps it suggests to stay within are 60-72 degrees. My basement is around a steady 64 degrees. Not sure if that could be the problem. So I came here and decided to find out if anyone knows whats going on here. Never had this happen to my wines so not sure if this is a stuck fermentation or what.

Ill be looking forward to anyone that is able to help me here.

Thanks alot everyone.

 

[bennyd]

I'd say just be patient. After 7-10 days in the primary take readings a couple of days apart and see if you come up with the same reading. Then you know that fermentation is done.

 

[Shinglejohn]

If your down to 1.020 after 3-4 days, id say your on schedule. It should die down around this time and not show much activty but its still going.
Keep your eye on the gravity.

 

[Revvy]

If your down to 1.020 after 3-4 days, id say your on schedule. It should die down around this time and not show much activty but its still going.
Keep your eye on the gravity.

John's right, everything is fine. You did good by taking a gravity reading. This is where you guys who instantly equate a bubbling airlock with "FERMENTATION" seem to miss...An airlock is simply a valve, a vent to release excess co2, to keep your lid on your fermenter and your beer off the ceiling.

It's always going to slow down eventually. The yeast are going to have less fermentables to consume, than they did in the first few days, so they are not going to produce that much EXTRA co2, and therefore the airlock is not going to NEED to blip as fast, if at all.

But that DOESN'T mean the yeast has stopped doing their job....they just don't have that much food to chew....but they're not going to stop, they just don't go to sleep unless the temp dips down to the low 50's, and they just don't die....they MAY eat all the consumables they can in the case of a high grav wort and shut down, like in a barlewine.

But in your NORMAL beer, they are just going to keep working. They are going to slowly slug away until the job is done. Just not as dynamically as they do when they are having the gluttonous orgy of sex and food....it's just like us on thanksgiving....we start slowing down eventually...but we more than likely keep eating. At least until we get to the pumpkin pie...or the midnight snack......

Besides, fermenting the beer is just a part of what the yeast do. If you leave the beer alone, they will go back and clean up the byproducts of fermentation that often lead to off flavors. That's why many brewers skip secondary and leave our beers alone in primary for a month. It leaves plenty of time for the yeast to ferment, clean up after themselves and then fall out, leveing our beers crystal clear, with a tight yeast cake.

So just sit back and let the yeasties do their thing for a few more weeks.

 

[Johnny_Crunch]

I agree, sounds like everything is going just fine.

 

[joelr]

Perfect. I guess I'm so used to making wine. With OG's up in the 1.100 range or even higher sometimes. With those starting gravity readings I guess the bubbling from the fermentation will be happening for a much longer time at a more consistent rate. I guess starting at 1.046 is almost like the desert wine I have going right now. That started at 1.900 and now is down to 1.050 and is barely bubbling. My mindset was that I would be getting results like when I make wine. But it all makes sense now. Thank you everybody.

 

[Calder]

Do you have any way of taking the temperature of the wort?

If the fermenter is sitting on a concrete floor, the liquid will take on the temperature of the floor and not the surrounding air. Maybe it cooled down too much as the ferment started to slow down. It is possible the yeast might have gone dormant due to the wort being too cold.

Move beer to a warmer location, or place it on something to insulate it from the floor (a piece of wood will do).

 

[Justibone]

they are having the gluttonous orgy of sex and food....it's just like us on thanksgiving....

REVVY'S HOUSE FOR THANKSGIVING NEXT YEAR!!! :rockin:

 

[ultravista]

I use a lazer temperature thermometer, hit the glass with it several places to get a general reading. For the most part, unless under a vigorous ferment, the temp should be somewhere in the same ballpark as the ambient tempurature of it's surroundings.

 

[joelr]

It is on wood. About 3feet off the ground. Its around 64 degrees in basement where the beer is fermenting

 

[Justibone]

I use a lazer temperature thermometer, hit the glass with it several places to get a general reading. For the most part, unless under a vigorous ferment, the temp should be somewhere in the same ballpark as the ambient tempurature of it's surroundings.

An active fermentation will be slightly higher temperature than it's surroundings, most brewers say ~5F, give or take.