Fermenter stopped foaming

[IPAddict89]

My carboy was great all day yesterday, bubbling like crazy and had a nice bit of foam on top. I went to check it this morning and the foam is gone and the airlock is bubbling but at a very decreased rate. It has only been in the fermentor for about 2 days

 

[kh54s10]

What was the wort temperature? Higher temps = faster fermentation. But, too high can lead to off flavors.

 

[IPAddict89]

About 80 when I put it in the carboy and added two more gallons of room temp water before i pitched the yeast

 

[brew_ny]

About 80 when I put it in the carboy and added two more gallons of room temp water before i pitched the yeast

might be done but the yeast is still doing its job

what yeast did you use?

S_M

 

[IPAddict89]

Just the freeze dried yeast that came in my kit. Im very new to this but i have done lots of research. This is also my first batch so i dont know if i should be concerned.

 

[beaksnbeer]

2-4 days is a pretty normal primary fermentation.
I take a hydrometer reading at the end of primary fermentation. Gives me an idea of how close to my F.G. I am.
I have had beers finish in as little as 5-7 days. (style and type)
Airlock activity should not be a used to judge fermentation.

 

[Trail]

Does sound like it fermented way too hot. Look into a swamp cooling setup, you can get your temps down to reasonable levels for <$10.

 

[unionrdr]

Also,start puting 2-3 gallons of water (I use local spring water from the source) in the fridge 1-2 days before brew day. so when I chill the wort down to 75F,I strain it into the fermenter. It gets the gunk out & aerates it pretty decently. Then pour the cold chilled water in from a height to top off to recipe volume & aerate/mix a lil more. Then stir roughly for at least 3 minutes with my plastic paddle. This gets my wort down to 64F & mixed well so as to get an accurate OG mesurement.

 

[Trail]

Very good suggestion. If you don't have access to a wort chiller, a partial boil + pre-chilled, sanitary topoff can't be beat.

My first two batches were hell to cool. I didn't have any ice or a chiller, so I stuck the four gallons of liquid in a tepid cold water bath... in the summer out here, tap water's 70 degrees.

No hop aroma left by the end. None.

 

[knelson13A]

My first batch had no temperature control, and fermented around 78*. Airlock activity slowed way down and the krausen fell back in after a few days- maybe 3 tops. I left it in the carboy for a total of just over 2 weeks before bottling (3 straight gravity readings were the same over 5 days). It's been bottle conditioning for 2 weeks now. I had one test beer at a week, and 4 more (one for me, and one for each of my road-tripping to a football game tailgating companions) at a week and a half. Beer tasted great, with a slightly "hot" taste. That seemed to have lessened between the two tastings, though.

Long(ish) story short. You'll be fine, but you'll probably want to at least get a swamp cooler setup going for your next batch. I did mine from an extra rubber storage tub we had in the garage. No cost at all!!

 

[NewWestBrewer]

+1 to swamp cooler as you defnietely fermented way too high. Could lead to off flavours but you wont know until you try it.

 

[IPAddict89]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Ill be sure to chill the water next time i brew.

 

[Trail]

You need to do more than chill the water going into the fermenter... you need to keep the entire fermenter cool for the duration of fermentation.

 

[IPAddict89]

I have a room that stays 70 year round that my carboy is in.