may be overthinking it - WLP001 temp question

[havinafett]

Hey everyone.
I brewed my 2nd BIAB all grain batch this past Saturday - Troegs perpetual IPA clone.

OG was 1.080
pitched WLP001 with a 1.5 liter starter at around 9PM Saturday night at a room temp in the mid 60s

started seeing the airlock bubbling Sunday afternoon/evening pretty actively.
all day the temp was around 64-66

Monday when I got home from work I saw no activity.
I know the airlock isn't an accurate representation of fermentation activity but it still seemed odd to me and I was concerned.

I kind of started to worry the temp in my house had gotten too cold and put a blanket around my bucket and gave it a little swirl.

Today the temp is up to 70-72 but still didn't see any activity.

Gave the bucket a bigger swirl and came on here to document my neurosis in this post.
15 minutes later and I'll be damned... it's bubbling again.

So after all that I guess my question is am I overthinking this? Did I do the right thing? Was the temp a little low these past 3 days?

 

[3greubs4]

Check your gravity. You might have just missed fermentation and its done already. The fact that its bubbling after you swirled it doesn't really mean anything, sounds like the beer is just releasing C02 in solution.

 

[Calder]

ALWAYS check gravity if you think there is an issue before trying to do anything. It may be done.

 

[BigFloyd]

65*F is an ideal temp for that strain. None of the temps you mentioned were too cool. Let it sit a few more days then check the gravity.

 

[havinafett]

I'll check the gravity in a few days as others have suggested.

I usually don't check the gravity until at least a week after pitching the yeast.

Right now it's still sitting at 70-72º, airlock is still bubbling away happily hours after swirling, so I don't know.

 

[PrinceOfThePoint]

I know you are concerned about having caused your yeast to go dormant but that is highly unlikely. Must check gravity. I wouldn't be caught dead letting a WLP001 ale get up near 70!!

 

[jahdub]

There's no reason to heat it up to 70+. If you suspect your yeast is dormant at 65F, you should assume you're not gauging activity properly or your thermometer is wrong. There's no reason for your beer to not be fermenting after 2-3 days at 65F.

 

[havinafett]

Well like I said I saw no activity, now 24 hours after starting this thread, with the temp around 70 my airlock is still bubbling.

Since 70 is still in the recommended temp range for the yeast I'll leave it be and see how it turns out.