Fermenting going to overtime! It's normal, right?

[Brewjangle]

Almost 2 weeks ago I brewed my 1st SMaSH recipe of 11 lbs Maris Otter with 3 charges of Centennial hops. Hops were: 1.25 oz @ 60, 1.75oz @ 15 and 1oz @ 0mins.
This was BIAB mashed @ 154 using 13.75 qts of water. It was pretty cold and windy which lead to not being able to maintain a constant temp. For some reason even while stirring I would get different temps in the middle vs closer to the edge. At one point the overall temp dipped into the low 140's but not for too long. After the mash, I drained into a sanitized bucket and batch sparged with 3 gallons of 168 water.
After boil, I ice bath chilled which took about 35 mins. Transferred to fermenter, aerated and due to being lazy didn't rehydrate the US-05 and pitched dry because I had to leave.

This coming Sunday will be 2 weeks since pitching and the thing is still bubbling. Much more slowly, but maybe 1 burp every 7 - 8 seconds. It's been going like this for a couple of days now. Is that normal or did my fluctuating temps create much more fermentable sugars that are taking longer to convert?View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1457662870.195541.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1457662882.265234.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1457662891.752968.jpg

 

[Quaker]

Take a hydrometer reading
What was your OG and current gravity?
What temperature did you pitch and ferment at?
How long after pitching yeast until you had an active krausen?

If it got off to a slow start due to not hydrating yeast, cool temp end of the yeast's temp range, and/or high OG, well then 2 weeks isn't unusual. A bit more info would be helpful.

 

[McKnuckle]

Unlike dealing with a worker's union, yeast don't negotiate a set period after which overtime kicks in. It's normal - or rather, it is what it is.

I have a stout that I had cold crashed in my garage at the 12 day mark. It was waiting in a carboy for one of my kegs to free up, which has been taking a rather long time. So this week, we had a very warm day in NJ, and the beer temp reached mid-50s... and started fermenting again on day 67. Clearly it wasn't finished the first time. D'oh!

This is not typical, but it does happen.

 

[Gavin C]

Ignore it

Avoid the urge to do stuff or measure stuff.

It's clearly fermenting.

 

[Brewjangle]

We have had very erratic weather here with temps in the 30's at night and bordering 70 during the day. With that, my garage is averaging high 50's - low 60's at night and mid to high 60's during the day. That mixed with rushing and being lazy leading me to pitch without rehydrating seems to be the culprit. Last time I pitch dry. All others that I have rehydrated have been very vigorous and quick fermentations. Just Thai afternoon it's finally starting to clear and airlock has slowed waaaay down. Maybe 1 burp every 20-30 seconds.
But, might keep an eye out for that union worker yeast! My OCD wants a schedule to go by!!!

Thanks for the replies and calming my over-thinking mind!!
Cheers

 

[day_trippr]

[...]With that, my garage is averaging high 50's - low 60's at night and mid to high 60's during the day.[...]

Might explain why the fermentation got so strung out, yeast were verging on a nap...

Cheers!

 

[GHBWNY]

Might explain why the fermentation got so strung out, yeast were verging on a nap...

Cheers!

This^ Let 'er ride. It'll be fine.

 

[Brewjangle]

Might explain why the fermentation got so strung out, yeast were verging on a nap...



Cheers!

Yep. It took about 24 hrs to get going, but was slow bubbling. After 2 days it absolutely exploded and even though it's a simple recipe, had a good 5 or 6" of krausen. That lasted for about 7 days before it started to trickle off. Now, for the past couple of days it has been slow but constant. It's finally starting to clear! Gotta get a chamber to keep this more constant!
Thanks for the reply!

 

[Brewjangle]

This^ Let 'er ride. It'll be fine.

Definitely! Still, can't wait for this ride to come to an end! This isn't my first brew, but for some reason it has been the one that I have most anticipated! It smells absolutely amazing. Can't wait to taste!
Cheers!

 

[Brewjangle]

This^ Let 'er ride. It'll be fine.

Definitely! Still, can't wait for this ride to come to an end! This isn't my first brew, but for some reason it has been the one that I have most anticipated! It smells absolutely amazing. Can't wait to taste!
Cheers!

 

[Brewjangle]

This^ Let 'er ride. It'll be fine.

Definitely! Still, can't wait for this ride to come to an end! This isn't my first brew, but for some reason it has been the one that I have most anticipated! It smells absolutely amazing. Can't wait to taste!
Cheers!

 

[Singletrack]

Ignore it

Avoid the urge to do stuff or measure stuff.

It's clearly fermenting.

Hey Gavin, Perfect response. I "Like"d your response and broke the curse of 122. But now I can't post -- or can I?

Edit: Seems I can now. Never mind.

 

[Brewjangle]

So when and what can I do if anything? It's going on 3 weeks and the airlock bubbles about once every minute or so and this has been going on for days without slowing. Is it ok to throw in the fridge for cold crashing to stop fermentation or could this lead to over carbed bottle bombs? I'm guessing I should take hydro readings for a couple of days but just want to get the opinion of more experienced Brewers! As you can tell, I'm ready to bottle and enjoy this one! Not looking to take shortcuts but don't want to add to the wait either!
Thanks for the help!

 

[Gavin C]

So when and what can I do if anything? It's going on 3 weeks and the airlock bubbles about once every minute or so and this has been going on for days without slowing. Is it ok to throw in the fridge for cold crashing to stop fermentation or could this lead to over carbed bottle bombs? I'm guessing I should take hydro readings for a couple of days but just want to get the opinion of more experienced Brewers! As you can tell, I'm ready to bottle and enjoy this one! Not looking to take shortcuts but don't want to add to the wait either!
Thanks for the help!

It's done. Package it.

3 weeks it's done well and truly. No worries. Package it up in your preferred manner.

 

[tennesseean_87]

Or was it just off gassing because it warmed up?

 

[Brewjangle]

Hmmm... Possibly. However, it's bottled now and sitting boxed in the garage just in case.
BTW, what is "gassing off"? Sounds like my friends after a night of Mexican?

 

[GHBWNY]

Hmmm... Possibly. However, it's bottled now and sitting boxed in the garage just in case.
BTW, what is "gassing off"? Sounds like my friends after a night of Mexican?

"Off-gassing": After active ferm, there is still CO2 trapped in the fermenter which slowly escapes. Not a sign of continuing fermentation, just escaping gas. I know it's bottled, but did you do an FG reading? If not, it is the one thing that will tell you whether or not your beer is done, regardless of presence/lack of airlock activity. Given the length of time in ferm, this one should be OK in the bottle, but get in the habit of taking hydro readings to assure yourself of complete fermentation.

 

[mongoose33]

Hmmm... Possibly. However, it's bottled now and sitting boxed in the garage just in case.
BTW, what is "gassing off"?

The amount of CO2 that can be dissolved or held in solution in a liquid like beer is related to the temperature of the beer. Colder beer can hold more CO2 in solution.

Thus, if you have reached an equilibrium at some temperature and pressure, warming up the beer will cause CO2 to come out of solution.

You can mimic this by pouring a cold beer into a warm glass--it foams, which is CO2 coming out of solution.

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

What temp is your garage. You generally want to keep the beer at room temp for a couple weeks for carbing if you're bottle conditioning.

 

[Quaker]

So what was the OG and then FG at bottling? How did it taste then?

 

[Brewjangle]

"Off-Gassing" makes perfect sense! The temp in my garage was running in the low to mid 60's. Is would gradually warm during the day and get to around 70. Sounds like that may have had something to do with the continued airlock movement. Thanks for the explanation.

OG was 1.054. I was shooting for a FG of 1.010 to 1.012, but came in at 1.014. This was my first time brewing a SMaSH and 1st time using Maris Otter so I'm not really sure what kind of finished flavor I should have been looking for other than a fuller malt flavor. It tasted fantastic, but seemed just a little sweet. Do you think that is to be expected or was due to coming in at 1.014?

 

[Quaker]

seemed just a little sweet. Do you think that is to be expected or was due to coming in at 1.014?

Likely a combo of both, the grain and the FG