Sloooooow ferment...

McCall St. Brewer · Dec 27, 2006

My altbier with 9 lbs. of extract has been bubbling away in the primary in my cool basement (59-61 F) for over two weeks now. The krausen has not fallen. Should I just leave it until it stops, or should I put it in the secondary?

boo boo · Dec 27, 2006

Leave it until all fermentation has ceased. :mug:

butler1850 · Dec 27, 2006

Sounds like my basement at the moment.

A batch of cider, and a batch of American Wheat ale. Both pitched on Sunday 12/16, and were fermenting away by Monday evening.

The temps in my basement are about 66F, and the cider is at about 6 blurps/min, and the ale at about 2 bl/min.

It's taking a whole lot longer than it had earlier in the year, where ferment temps were more in the 72-76F range.

Can't wait for these to come out! They should be so much better fermented in the lower ranges of the yeast. (WPL liquids, English Cider yeast & American Wheat respectivly)

McCall St. Brewer · Jan 6, 2007

I think that at last it may finally be done fermenting. I didn't notice any bubbles from the airlock after watching it for a few minutes this a.m. Krausen hasn't fallen, yet, but it looks like it's a really stiff one, so it may not. I think it may at last be time for the secondary.

jeffg · Jan 6, 2007

What yeast did you use? I did a Koelsch last year with a White labs german ale yeast and the krausen never fell either. it was so thick it looked like it would have supported a golf ball.

Tough winter for cellaring beer--it's January 6th and it's like 65 out right now. So much for pond hockey.

McCall St. Brewer · Jan 7, 2007

I used Wyeast 1007 German Ale Yeast. I racked to the secondary today. The beer was really clear and clean. I think that's a strong characteristic of that yeast.

I have made two batches of Kolsch using Wyeast Kolsch yeast and it, in contrast, is a very, very messy yeast. You have to age the beer for quite awhile until it clears up. Once it clears, though, you have a really good beer.

Evan! · Jan 8, 2007

Ambient temps aren't a great indicator, especially given that the fermentation process generates heat itself. Spend a few dollars and get yourself some stick-on fermometers, so you can control/observe the actual temp of the wort/beer.