I brewed an American Amber Ale. Within hours bubbles were coming out of the blowoff tube. The next morning the top of the wort had about 3" of fine brown foam. The bubbles coming out of the blowoff tube were coming out 2 or 3 per second. Then within 48 hours I see about 1 bubble every 14 seconds. And barley any foaming on top of the wort. Is this not good. Or a good thing. Every batch I've ever made always started slow and had a 2" layer of krausen until two or three weeks. I'm just concerned it could be ruined I'm just not sure.
Fermentation Started Fast
- Thread starter an123
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
What is/was the fermentation temperature and how much yeast did you pitch? All Grain, BIAB or Extract? Mash Temp and duration? All of these things can cause fermentation to take off differently. They can, also, lead to other things, if say the temperature was very high during main fermentation, you could get some off flavors or fusel alcohol.
Staticsouls
When will the beer be free?
I bet it is fine as long as you followed good sanitation practices. Giver her time.
70*F is probably at the upper end of the yeast temperature. Most likely it has already finished. 150*F mash will give you slightly more fermentable sugars and the higher fermentation temperature would support a very quick ferment. It may be a little drier than you anticipated though.
Have you used starters in the past. It seems totally normal to me. It will be fast and not necessarily best at 70 degrees. Is that ambient or the actual wort temperature? I ferment most ales in the mid sixties.
Actually I would be more worried with a Krausen that lasted 2-3 weeks. That seems like a really slow fermentation. Almost all of mine have dropped before day 10. Lately I have been kegging or bottling at about day 14.
Actually I would be more worried with a Krausen that lasted 2-3 weeks. That seems like a really slow fermentation. Almost all of mine have dropped before day 10. Lately I have been kegging or bottling at about day 14.
I agree that the fermentation was probably on the warm side, which creates the potential for ester production. Not everyone (and I'm mostly including myself here, but I would guess there are others) is a fan of fruity esters in an American amber, but that doesn't mean it won't be drinkable or that it is even out of style according to the 2015 BJCP guidelines, which state fruity esters can be moderate to none in an American amber. All in all, I doubt that your beer is totally ruined; however, if you notice fruity esters, the fermentation temperature is your likely culprit.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1472608275.759290.jpgthis is what it looks like today
