Fermentation Troubles

[speckswme]

Fermentation of my Dales Pale Ale clone stopped after 1.5 days. Was wondering if it could be finished or are there problems with my brew or yeast?

Used WLP001 and made a 1L yeast starter. Decanted the starter, pitched at 75F and put into the primary. Set primary at 62F and it started to show acitivy after 6-8 hours. Kept it between 62-64F for the first day then let it up to 68F on the 2nd day, but it stopped mid way through the 2nd day. Now there is no activity in my blow off!

Could the yeast be bad? Is there a problem with my mashing process? Did I pitch too high?

What should I do?

Thanks

 

[giraffe]

That may be fine. Do you know your OG? What is the current gravity. Pitching at 75 is high, but it should still ferment out. Is there a visible krausen?

 

[estricklin]

First of all, welcome to the forum!

I wouldn't worry too much at this point, there could be some activity that your not seeing because it's slowed way down. Most of us learn not to use airlock/blowoff activity as a concrete means of measuring fermentation. Your ferment started well and had good activity so that is the most important thing. You made a starter, I think the only thing you need to do at this point is just wait a couple weeks as normal, then take a FG reading if your still unsure about it.

 

[beerkench]

FG?


Sent from hell
using Home Brew

 

[J187]

FG?


Sent from hell
using Home Brew

Final Gravity. The specific gravity reached at the end of the fermentation.

Fermentation of my Dales Pale Ale clone stopped after 1.5 days. Was wondering if it could be finished or are there problems with my brew or yeast?

Used WLP001 and made a 1L yeast starter. Decanted the starter, pitched at 75F and put into the primary. Set primary at 62F and it started to show acitivy after 6-8 hours. Kept it between 62-64F for the first day then let it up to 68F on the 2nd day, but it stopped mid way through the 2nd day. Now there is no activity in my blow off!

Could the yeast be bad? Is there a problem with my mashing process? Did I pitch too high?

What should I do?

Thanks

How do you now fermentation has stopped? It's certainly possible that the active phase of fermentation is done, but the only way to even know that would be to take a gravity reading over the course of a couple days and make sure it's staying the same. Either way, you shouldn't even worry about it for a couple weeks.... check it then with a gravity reading and see where you are at.

 

[andy6026]

+1 on the advice above. The first couple of days of fermentation are by far the most active. You'll often notice bubbling airlocks, gunk traveling up the blow-off tube, etc. After that it may "seem" like nothing's going on, but it's still doing its thing. Despite the appearance of uneventfulness that gives the impression that something's going horribly wrong, resist the urge to open the lid and start poking your nose in there. You'll increase your chances of infection and/or oxidation. Let it sit for 2-3 weeks, then take one or several gravity readings over several days to make sure it's finished. Then bottle it up.

Stalled fermentations are only likely if the temperature to a deep swing south, below the temperature range of the yeast. But even if that happens, warm it back up to the suitable range, give the fermenter some gentle agitation, and it'll be fine again.

 

[speckswme]

It had nice krausen for the first day now nothing. The pre boil gravity was 1.04 and the post boil gravity was 1.06. I got about 4 gallons of fermentable wort, then added ~1 gallon to bring it up to 5 and to aerate before pitching.

 

[theashman661]

Fermentation of my Dales Pale Ale clone stopped after 1.5 days. Was wondering if it could be finished or are there problems with my brew or yeast?

Used WLP001 and made a 1L yeast starter. Decanted the starter, pitched at 75F and put into the primary. Set primary at 62F and it started to show acitivy after 6-8 hours. Kept it between 62-64F for the first day then let it up to 68F on the 2nd day, but it stopped mid way through the 2nd day. Now there is no activity in my blow off!

Could the yeast be bad? Is there a problem with my mashing process? Did I pitch too high?

What should I do?

Thanks

75 is a bit high, but I have pitched there before. I would take a gravity reading and compare to your OG. In a few days, check the gravity again. See if there is fermentation still going on. Just because its not bubbling out the airlock doesn't mean that fermentation has stopped. Your recipe should have an Est. FG. Compare your readings to that and see if your close.

 

[speckswme]

Thanks for the advice! this is the second time this has happened to me and it just so happens they were my first two all grain batches. I'm just a little nervous that I may not be getting everything i need out of the mash. Both times the mash was deliciously sweet.

Ill take the advice of letting it be and see what happens. Not sure if I want to take a gravity reading until its been sitting for a little longer.

 

[speckswme]

I nbi ac's. K.