so how long should major activity last?

[Ironhead]

Just did our first batch two days ago (Saterday). Into the carboy at 3:00. Now, I didn't expect to see any activity untill the next day but by 4:00, I was counting 1 bubble every 10 seconds and stuff was allready churning around. By the next morning at 11:00, activity had grown to a steady 70-80 bpm. We left the house and by the time we got back around 7:30, activity had slowed to a crawl again. Now, 42 hours later, it's down to 1 bubble every 15 to 20 seconds. I thought major activity would take longer to start and last longer than it did. This is a German hefe. Can anyone give me som words of reassuance.

Rich

 

[TheJadedDog]

Sounds like you are doing just fine. Lag time can be influenced by all sorts of variables; sounds like you gave your yeasties a nice environment to flourish in.

Sometimes really active ferments appear to die down quickly, do not be fooled. Airlock activity is NOT an indication of fermentation activity; just because your airlock bubbles have slowed down, that does not mean fermentation has stopped. Make sure you leave your beer in primary for at least a week, patience is hard but pays off big in the end.

 

[Surly]

Do not make any decisions based on airlock activity, or, lack of.....Your hydrometer will tell you when to move the beer to secondary or to the bottle or keg.

Be patient and enjoy your beer.

 

[Joker]

Personally I wait for the krausen to drop then take hydrometer readings over 2-3 days before moving the brew.

 

[Ironhead]

Thanks guys.

I just got home and checked again. 1 bpm and it's already starting to settle and clear up. It's all happening much faster than I expected and I suspect that I won't allways experience these same types of results depending on the style of beer I choose.

Rich