Screwed up starter and fermentation that flourished thens stuck???

[fg12351]

Hey all,

I brewed a Belgian Pale Ale extract kit from my local LBHS last Saturday. I used the Wyeast Labs Belgian Ardennes #3255, my first time using liquid yeast.

I smacked my pack (sounds dirty :cross the Sunday before hand thinking I was going to brew the following Wednesday but did not.

I made a small starter (500ml) per my local LBHS typed yeast starter kit instructions the Wednesday before I brewed and stirred it periodically.

So I brewed on Sunday and had a heck of a time getting the starter out of my flask and into the fermenter (hopefully no infection here as I had to swirl wort in the flask to loosen up the cake).

Monday morning the air lock is bubbling like crazy, this continues until about Wednesday morning when it has slowed down considerably and by Wednesday night it's stopped, Friday night it's still stopped. It's been at a constant 65-66 degrees according to my thermometer in our house that is 70 degrees. I had it in tub of water for the first few days but after the bubbling stopped in the airlock I removed it Wednesday night thinking it may be too cold.

Now I know it can't be done by now so how long do I wait to take a peek, shake, or repitch, cry, etc?

Any thoughts? I'm trying to follow revvy's advice to sit back and think before I act. I have not opened the fermenter yet.

Any advice on how to repitch?

Thanks,

FG12351

 

[BigB]

If you were really following Revvy's advice, you would know not to use the airlock as a fermentation guage. Take hydrometer readings a couple days in a row to be sure it is stable. Finally, for the fermentation to go fast monday through Wednesday night sounds perfectly normal to me, especially after making a starter. So listen to the good Revvy and use your hydrometer.

 

[Calder]

Your temperature is too low. Get that baby up to 75 or even 80 and gently stir the yeast back into the wort.

Seriously, 65 is the bottom of the range for that yeast (it's 3522 by the way), and if you really want to get the most out of the flavor, you need to bring it much higher. I start that yeast at 75 and take it up to 85 over a week, get somewhere between 85 and 90% attenuation, and wonderful flavor..

As for quick fermentation, last time I used that yeast (started at 75), I went from 1.055 to 1.010 in 28 hours. That is not normal, but it shows what that yeast can do. That beer ended up at 1.006 (89% attenuation), and tastes great.

 

[JollyToper]

+1 on taking a Hydrometer reading. I bet it's done.

 

[0110x011]

+2. Only your hydrometer can tell you what's going on.

 

[curlyfat]

It sounds like you had a successful fermentation! I usually only see super active fermentation for three days at most (except for some unusual yeasts).

That yeast obviously worked fine at that temp, but I agree with Calder. You probably won't get a lot of "belgiany" flavor from that yeast at that temp. That's OK, it'll just taste closer to a "traditional" pale ale.

If you really want to check on it, grab a sample and check the graviety. Then, LEAVE IT ALONE for a couple more weeks so the yeast can clean themselves up, then bottle/keg the darn thing.