Fermentation to quickly

[psuicers]

Hello everyone, Im a new member as well as a new homebrewer, and i have a question about fermentation. I made 2 beers so far and in both cases they have fermented very quickly. The most recent one was Saturday night. Started fermenting Sunday night and now I looked at it and it is completely done fermenting. The temp in the room is at 70-72 degrees, which is a good temp. I think. My first batch is in the bottles now so hopefully soon ill see how it turned out, but im just a little concerned about the fermentation. Maybe its not done fermenting either and just doesnt bubble when Im looking at it. I dont know. I orginally had it in the basement which is like 65 degrees but my local homebrew store guy said thats way to cold. Any info as to why this is happening would be appreciated, and thanks for the responses.


P.S. the first batch was a magic hat #9 clone and the second batch was a wheat beer.


thanks again.

 

[weirdboy]

How do you know it's done fermenting? Have you been checking the gravity with a hydrometer?


Also your local homebrew store guy is crazy. 65F is a good fermentation temp for most ales.

 

[BendBrewer]

65 degrees would be better IMO. The warmer the yeast, the faster they work. But, this isn't a race.

You need to take gravity readings to make sure you don't bottle too soon. i.e. make sure fermentation is complete, but that doesn't mean the yeast still don't have some work to do. After converting all the sugars, the yeast will clean up their by-products as they fall out of solution. Try to learn to leave it in the bucket for 3 weeks regardless of any perceived activity or lack thereof.

 

[dos_perros]

65 degrees would be better IMO. The warmer the yeast, the faster they work. But, this isn't a race.

You need to take gravity readings to make sure you don't bottle too soon. i.e. make sure fermentation is complete, but that doesn't mean the yeast still don't have some work to do. After converting all the sugars, the yeast will clean up their by-products as they fall out of solution. Try to learn to leave it in the bucket for 3 weeks regardless of any perceived activity or lack thereof.

Bend is right on point here, giving the yeast a little more time to clean up some of ther mess in primary wont hurt at all and will actually help quite a bit. I would also agree with the temps being a bit high, 65ish would be better for most ales, but a hefe or something similar can go into the 70's to produce some of the banana and clove notes that you wouldnt get at lower fermentation temps. What styles have you brewed and what yeast did you use?

 

[psuicers]

How do you know it's done fermenting? Have you been checking the gravity with a hydrometer?


Also your local homebrew store guy is crazy. 65F is a good fermentation temp for most ales.

I havent really checked it since i made it on Saturday. I was afraid to check it so soon, since the homebrew store guy said try not to disturb it that often so oxygen and other things dont get intoduced to it. But then again Im open for all kinds of feedback about checking the hydrometer, and how often its safe to check it.

 

[psuicers]

65 degrees would be better IMO. The warmer the yeast, the faster they work. But, this isn't a race.

You need to take gravity readings to make sure you don't bottle too soon. i.e. make sure fermentation is complete, but that doesn't mean the yeast still don't have some work to do. After converting all the sugars, the yeast will clean up their by-products as they fall out of solution. Try to learn to leave it in the bucket for 3 weeks regardless of any perceived activity or lack thereof.

I usually do 2 weeks in the primary and then 2 weeks in the secondary. So I hope that is long enough before it goes into the bottles.

 

[BendBrewer]

I usually do 2 weeks in the primary and then 2 weeks in the secondary. So I hope that is long enough before it goes into the bottles.

Yeah. You would do better with 3 weeks / 1 week IMO.

FYI, I don't bother taking any readings after pitching the yeast. I give the yeast plenty of time and trust the process.

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

To be honest I make some of my best beer in the winter when my basement is a constant 66* remember when the beer is going full blown the activity raises the temp up to 70-72 easily in the fermenter which is perfect. I really wouldn’t worry about how soon it ferments out. All yeast will act differently some finishing in 48 hours other a week. No matter how fast they work I still give them 10-14 days in primary and 2-4 weeks 2nd if needed. Long story short your temps are fine.