im puzzled at 4 days

[Oventoasted]

so, the OG of my brown ale 4 days (1/23/16) ago was 1.050. coming home from work i saw now activity from the airlock for quite a while. this batch is sitting right now to my other batch of Red which is still active and going on almost two weeks (1/18/16). i made sure the lid was still sealed tight and then for curiosities sake i took a sample to check the gravity. its at 1.011 now! i dont see how the yeast can work that fast for a 5 gal batch?

now for some more details i did ad about a 1.5 gals of top up water to the primary before i took the OG. so, even after all that extra water it was still at a 1.050.

the sample tastes fine too. no sour tastes or odd smells.

anyone have a clue what happened? maybe i created some super yeast in the starter before pitching. :rockin:

 

[slym2none]

Depending on the yeast, the main part of fermentation can occur quite quickly.

What yeast did you use?

 

[J-Drew]

Four days wouldn't surprise me that much, especially depending on the temperature of the ferment and the yeast strain used.

 

[Oventoasted]

i used "White Labs WLP005 British Ale". my starter was 3 cups water to 3/4 cups DME for 26 hours. the temp in the room i keep the fermentors in is 64-67f (its winter and hard to keep the temps regular).

 

[RichBrewer]

It is not unusual for most of the fermentation to be completed within two or three days. It is a sign of healthy yeast and a good pitch rate.

 

[Oventoasted]

It is not unusual for most of the fermentation to be completed within two or three days. It is a sign of healthy yeast and a good pitch rate.

but i had a timeline! 1 week in the keg and then bottle it. the red was supposed to be next in the keg.

maybe ill just bottle the brown the old fashioned way? it would still be ready to drink along the same timeline since its 10 days ahead of schedule.

 

[slym2none]

You can still go by your schedule. A few days to "clean up" is not a bad thing.

 

[RichBrewer]

You can still go by your schedule. A few days to "clean up" is not a bad thing.

Exactly! I always let the fermenter sit at least 2 weeks before bottling or kegging.

 

[J-Drew]

I used WLP005 once and it fermented pretty quickly. Also, if your ambient temperature was 64-67F, it was probably in the 70s inside the fermenter. If you put those two together, I fully expect the yeast to move through it pretty quickly. Also, if it did ferment in the 70s, you might wind up with fruity esters.

 

[Oventoasted]

didnt think it could warmer in the fermenter than the thermometer on the outside of the container. maybe i should move the fermenters to a slightly cooler side of the house?

also, ill take your advice and just let the brown wait its turn for the full two weeks before kegging it.

 

[J-Drew]

didnt think it could warmer in the fermenter than the thermometer on the outside of the container. maybe i should move the fermenters to a slightly cooler side of the house?

If you have something like a fermomenter on the side of the container you are fermenting in, then go with that. Everything I have read and experienced indicates that those are fairly reliable, and if they indicate 64-67F, I would think you would be fine. I thought you were talking about the ambient temperature of the room and not the temperature from the fermenter when I commented earlier.