Is This a Stalled Fermentation?

[Texasspur21]

FYI, I'm new to brewing, this is my 3rd brew. The first pic is right after racking to primary.

Here is my all grain Kama Citra IPA 4 days after pitching the yeast. I used Mangrove Jacks M44 in a 3 day starter. It started out vigorously fermenting 12 hours after pitching the yeast at 4pm Fri. A layer of Krausen formed and then on Sunday the airlock started slowing down and so did the activity inside. The krausen started going down. The fermentation cooler is set to 64F.

My OG reading of 1022 was definitely not correct. It is the plastic "herculometer" from Northern and the top cap came out so easily and water got in, so I don't have an OG. Could the bulk of fermentation already happened in less than 48 hours? Should I just let it go?

 

[ElChangoGuero]

damn 3 day starter is way to much, most starters are done in 24-36 hours using a stir plate, without the OG i would just "assume" i did hit the target OG and take a gravity reading to see if fermentation was done, should be in the low 1.008-1.014, you should at least leave your beer fermenting for 5 days at 64 then raise it to 70 for 2 days to finish up fermentation.

 

[TheMadKing]

Yup looks fine to me. You've got some crazy protein separation going on in the first picture, but nothing to worry about.

Get yourself a good glass hydrometer and use that to take readings. You won't know if fermentation has stalled without hydrometer readings. I've had plenty of beers mostly finish in 2 days. My usual grain to glass is 14 days.

 

[Texasspur21]

Does a longer starter hurt it? Ill start doing starters the day before then.

 

[kh54s10]

That looks fairly normal but you are still at least a few days from it being done. I suggest taking a gravity reading on day 12 or 14 then another one two days later. If they are the same and below 1.020 it should be ready to bottle.

How warm did this reach during fermentation? The warmer - the faster.... but not the better. Mid sixties is best for most ale yeasts.

 

[Texasspur21]

Yup looks fine to me. You've got some crazy protein separation going on in the first picture, but nothing to worry about.

Get yourself a good glass hydrometer and use that to take readings. You won't know if fermentation has stalled without hydrometer readings. I've had plenty of beers mostly finish in 2 days. My usual grain to glass is 14 days.

Yea, I posted about it on Friday night and got some good help with that. I'm going to whirlpool better next time. Do you get a ton of krausen in 2 days? I'm planning to head to the HBS to get one. Just threw the plastic one out today. Junk.

 

[TheMadKing]

Does a longer starter hurt it? Ill start doing starters the day before then.

No they don't really hurt, but a better procedure might be:

Begin your starter 4 days in advance
let it go for 24 hours
put it in the fridge for 3 days to cold crash
remove it on brew day
decant off the starter wort
let the yeast cake warm to room temp
pitch just the yeast slurry from the starter

This removes the starter wort so you don't risk off flavors from that.

 

[Texasspur21]

That looks fairly normal but you are still at least a few days from it being done. I suggest taking a gravity reading on day 12 or 14 then another one two days later. If they are the same and below 1.020 it should be ready to bottle.

How warm did this reach during fermentation? The warmer - the faster.... but not the better. Mid sixties is best for most ale yeasts.

I had the cooler set to 60 for the first 24 hours then up to 64 since. Should I be taking a sample and setting temp based on liquid temp?

 

[TheMadKing]

Yea, I posted about it on Friday night and got some good help with that. I'm going to whirlpool better next time. Do you get a ton of krausen in 2 days? I'm planning to head to the HBS to get one. Just threw the plastic one out today. Junk.

It depends on the beer. Judging by color and clarity alone, that's a pretty low OG beer, which tells me that your krausen will also be relatively tame compared to a scotch ale or something.

 

[kh54s10]

Does a longer starter hurt it? Ill start doing starters the day before then.

IMO, it doesn't really hurt too much, depending on how long, but doesn't help.

Stirplate = 18 - 24 hours
Shaking = 24 - 36 hours
Little agitation or just sitting 36 - 48 hours +

After the yeast reproduce they then spend energy fermenting the wort, so pitching before they expend this energy is best.

 

[kh54s10]

I had the cooler set to 60 for the first 24 hours then up to 64 since. Should I be taking a sample and setting temp based on liquid temp?

60 degrees is almost too cool. Raise the temperature to 70 for a couple of days to let it finish out.

 

[kh54s10]

Yea, I posted about it on Friday night and got some good help with that. I'm going to whirlpool better next time. Do you get a ton of krausen in 2 days? I'm planning to head to the HBS to get one. Just threw the plastic one out today. Junk.

The Herculometer is a high quality polycarbonate. A glass one is not going to be any better.

 

[TheMadKing]

The Herculometer is a high quality polycarbonate. A glass one is not going to be any better.

he said in the OP that the top cap came out and he got water in it, so it's essentially ruined unless he can get all of the water out with a desslcator or an oven that won't melt the plastic. For $10, I'd rather have a sealed glass hydrometer that won't leak.

 

[Texasspur21]

I'm not sure how that moisture could have gotten in there with that green layer that looks like a seal but that moisture was definitely not in there before. I'm just going to get a fully sealed glass one.

 

[TheMadKing]

I'm not sure how that moisture could have gotten in there with that green layer that looks like a seal but that moisture was definitely not in there before. I'm just going to get a fully sealed glass one.

One thing you should try.. check the calibration in water and see if it's 1.000

 

[Texasspur21]

Good thinking. It's way off. .986. 12 points off.

 

[rhys333]

Does a longer starter hurt it? Ill start doing starters the day before then.

Longer starters don't hurt, and if you're doing them ahead it doesn't hurt use a stir plate or intermittent shaking because you can stick it in the fridge and then decant the oxidized beer off your yeast. A short 24 hour starter doesn't hurt either. It's my preferred method. I have great success making a 1 L starter the day before, aerating just once and then leaving it till the following day without disturbing again. The whole thing goes in the main batch and activity usually starts up in 8 or so hours, 24 at the outside. This applies to harvested yeast slurry though, which tends to perform better on the second or so go around. Fresh smack packs can sometimes take a bit longer as they may need adjust to the system ...and may have been abused beforehand.

 

[Texasspur21]

Thank you. I do make a 1L starter using a stir plate. How do you harvest yeast slurry? I suppose I can research that myself.

 

[rhys333]

Thank you. I do make a 1L starter using a stir plate. How do you harvest yeast slurry? I suppose I can research that myself.

You basically just swirl the trub after racking your beer out of primary and scoop into sanitized mason jars (no washing or rinsing). You can just pitched a measured portion of the refrigerated slurry up to about 2-3 weeks old, and after 4 weeks start thinking about a starter. The Simple Yeast Storage sticky in the fermentation section gives you the lowdown: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=579350