Slow fermentation?

[krazydave]

I've been fermenting two batches for about a week now.
one AHS Leinie's Sunset Wheat clone and one AHS American honey wheat clone.
I know both are wheat beers, so clarity isn't a concern and I know many don't rack to secondary... I'm still considering it however just to get it off the dead yeast and free up my larger carboys.

The Sunset wheat has been sitting at 65 degrees for 8 days now and is still bubbling about once per second with about 1/8" of krausen on the top.
The other has been going for 6 days at 65 as well, and is bubbling just about the same but still has about an inch of krausen on the top.
Sunset clone used Danstar Nottingham yeast which was rehydrated, the other had Danstar Munich yeast which was rehydrated. Both pitched at about 70 degrees and throw into my "mother of a fermentation chamber" with the thermistor taped to the side of the carboy and thermostat set to 65. Fermometers on both carboys have been steady right around 64-65 since about 12 hours after I put them in the chamber.

Now the question is, is this slow for the fermentation of these yeasts? From what I've read on Danstar's site, both of these yeasts say that they can finish in 4 days above 17c. So it seems a little odd that it's still so active at 8 days.
Do I have my thermostat set too low? Did I pitch at too high of a temp?

These are my first two batches, so 'scuse the newb questions.
My main concern here is that I have to leave town next weekend and wont be around to swap out the ice in my chamber and keep it at ideal temps. I was hoping to have it in a keg by then and carbonating\conditioning in my kegerator.

Which also leads to another question...
Is there a problem with conditioning at serving temps while co2 carbonating?

 

[COLObrewer]

Step away from the beer, the yeast work on their own schedule, fermentation will vary from batch to batch, day to day, it depends on too many variables to track.

You should wait until you think fermentation is complete, then take a hydrometer sample and check the gravity, remember, bubbling means nothing. If the gravity is near the expected FG then you can proceed to the next phase be it bottling or secondary,

To your last question - Carbonation/conditioning will be slower at serving temperatures.

Brew on my friend.

 

[krazydave]

Thanks

I know yeasts work on their own schedule. I just wanted to make sure that I didn't pitch too high or am fermenting too low or something.
I know the beer will come out, I'm not worried about that.

I also know that lack of bubbles doesn't mean that it's done fermenting, but am I wrong in assuming that bubbles still coming out is a pretty certain sign that there's still fermentation going on?

Whatever the case, I just hope I can get it in a keg before I have to leave town. The temps in So Cal haven't exactly been fermentation friendly lately. It's been mid 90's in my garage where the beer sits for the past few days and usually hovers around the low to mid 80's. So missing a couple of days of swapping out ice in my chamber certainly couldn't be too good for my brews.

 

[COLObrewer]

Your welcome,
Your pitching and fermentation temp's are fine.

Well, OK, bubbles do mean something, that there is co2 egressing the container, that is all, you should not say the words "bubbling" and "done/still fermenting" or "still/not fermentation" in the same sentence. There are certain times after primary fermentation that the trub will be off gassing, as well as other times, causing bubbling in the airlock.

It seems like you may have a scheduling issue with this particular batch? You could probably allow the ferm temp to increase a little at this point, also I think it will be fine to keg it before you leave.

 

[krazydave]

Cool deal... I did just bump up the thermostat a couple of degrees but still trying to stay in the 64-68 sweet spot of those yeasts.

Thanks again!