Hello! For the first time, my yeast appears to have gone dormant during fermentation. Trying to find out if I handled the situation correctly and figure out next steps.
I tried out a new spot to keep my wort cooler during fermentation and I think it too cold. The bucket temperature read 57 degrees most times I checked. It's an irish stout with the Munton's dry yeast. Brewed on a Sunday, lots of fermentation activity on Monday, the airlock was dead by Tuesday. Today, Saturday, I opened up the bucket and took a hydrometer reading; it appears to be about halfway done (aiming for 1.012 or so, it was at 1.03).
I took the bucket inside and swished it around. Immediately I started seeing activity in the airlock again. Now it's sitting inside my condo at 70 degrees. My main questions are:
1) Did I handle this correctly? Is it salvageable at this point? I try not to oxygenate my wort while it's fermenting ... not sure if the agitation will cause issues.
2) Do I need to keep it at 70 degrees now that the fermentation has started again? I made some adjustments to the fermentation spot and think I can keep it at around 60. I don't particularly want a warm fermentation, I've had way too many esther-y home brews.
3) I figure I lost about 5 days of fermentation from the yeast going dormant. Would you recommend 5-7 extra days of time in the fermenter to make up for it? I'd rather not be doing hydrometer readings on a regular basis and instead just wait two weeks to bottle every brew -- opening it up all the time seems like an unnecessary risk for contamination.
Thanks in advance for any tips and advice!
I tried out a new spot to keep my wort cooler during fermentation and I think it too cold. The bucket temperature read 57 degrees most times I checked. It's an irish stout with the Munton's dry yeast. Brewed on a Sunday, lots of fermentation activity on Monday, the airlock was dead by Tuesday. Today, Saturday, I opened up the bucket and took a hydrometer reading; it appears to be about halfway done (aiming for 1.012 or so, it was at 1.03).
I took the bucket inside and swished it around. Immediately I started seeing activity in the airlock again. Now it's sitting inside my condo at 70 degrees. My main questions are:
1) Did I handle this correctly? Is it salvageable at this point? I try not to oxygenate my wort while it's fermenting ... not sure if the agitation will cause issues.
2) Do I need to keep it at 70 degrees now that the fermentation has started again? I made some adjustments to the fermentation spot and think I can keep it at around 60. I don't particularly want a warm fermentation, I've had way too many esther-y home brews.
3) I figure I lost about 5 days of fermentation from the yeast going dormant. Would you recommend 5-7 extra days of time in the fermenter to make up for it? I'd rather not be doing hydrometer readings on a regular basis and instead just wait two weeks to bottle every brew -- opening it up all the time seems like an unnecessary risk for contamination.
Thanks in advance for any tips and advice!