Fermentation stopped at 4 days

[Lazur]

i brewed a cream ale and used us-05. I could see the beer moving around after 12 hours but no bubbles in the airlock. It continued to move around a bit for 3-4 days but is now still. No ring. Possible that the yeast died out? Og was 1.053 will take a gravity reading later today. I haven’t had a beer ferment out that fast before and wondering what may have happened?

 

[thehaze]

4 days is not that fast. Windsor - dry - can finish in 3 and Kveik yeast is done at 48-60 hours and can be ready to drink 7 days from brew day.

A gravity reading is the best way to know if you had any fermentation, although I would never wait 4 days to do that with a beer, I am unsure whether it had active fermentation or not.

 

[mongoose33]

When you say you saw the beer "moving around" do you mean it was roiling? Do you have a clear fermenter and could watch it that way?

If it's clear, then there should have been krausen and at the end, a krausen right above the beer an inch or two or three.

A lot of times brewers will be concerned because their airlock isn't bubbling...but often that's just because everything isn't sealed correctly.

But if you had no krausen, no reason to think there was fermentation. What yeast did you pitch and at what temp was the yeast and the wort when you pitched it?

 

[Lazur]

Yes the beer was rolling. It has a small ring but not what I’m used to. I used Us-05 and pitched it at 70 degrees.

 

[balrog]

Leave it be.
You just have a gas pressure leak allowing CO2 escape without pushing through the airlock.

Roiling definitiely means fermenting. Ring, no ring, crustiness, no crustiness, you have seen fermentation. Give it a few more days, 3-4 I recommend, then measure. No need to measure after just 4 days from pitch.

 

[Lazur]

Ok will do. I brewed it 6 days ago and it’s been still now for 2-3 days.

 

[balrog]

@Lazur, I still say let it be another 3-4 days if it's been 6 days from brewing. Even something light like a Cream Ale, which people can brag going grain to glass in under whatever days. My fav recipe is @Yooper 's Dad's Cream Ale which is classic cream ale recipe with Cascade finish for some interest, always a big hit, I've done it several times on various yeasts, but I generally let it go more than a week, and since Life Happens, that means brew on weekend then wait 14 days and keg on weekend. You can try to push it, but generally just let it be and you'll be happier.

 

[Lazur]

This is what it looks like currently.

 

[RM-MN]

That light strip above the beer is your krausen ring. Not all fermentations produce a big krausen. Your beer fermented. Now wait until some of the suspended trub has a chance to settle before you bottle or keg this beer. By day 10 you could take your hydrometer sample, again on day 12 and if they match you can bottle at any time after that.

 

[brownni5]

I'd be surprised if a 1.053 beer wasn't done 4 days post pitch with US-05!

 

[day_trippr]

Yeah, given a respectable pitch I'm inclined to agree terminal gravity would likely be reached in 4 full days.
That said, the yeast will still be cleaning up after themselves at that point, so there's still some time to pass...

Cheers!

 

[Lazur]

So being a bit worried/impatient I pulled a sample of this beer just now and checked the gravity. It’s at 1.015 which is close to the FG I was looking for. Guess it was done. Will probably leave it alone for a couple more days then rack it over and crash it.