Stout help!

[97azgt]

I brewed a batch of American Cream Stout Saturday night. I done everything to the T and everything was going good. Pitched the yeast and put the blow-off on the fermenter and let it be. Up until a couple days ago it was fermenting like crazy. After the krausen settled back i switched it to an airlock and it would not bubble at all! I just don't understand what happened to it. I waited two days and then racked it over and it hasn't done anything. I can watch in the stout and not a bubble pops or even comes up. Any ideas as to what happened? Could the yeast have died out? Any help would be appreciated!

 

[JBrady]

its been 5 days, its not totally uncommon for the majority of VISIBLE activity to be finished, but the yeast are still in there cleaning up after themselves. Don't worry, let it see at least 18-21 days of fermenter time then bottle that joker.

 

[Golddiggie]

Racking to a secondary carboy/fermenter after under a week is NOT recommended at all. In fact, a great many of us are not using secondaries for any fermenting anymore. Using it only for additional flavor element additions where you actually need to get off of the previous element to halt it's contribution.

I would have let it go a full two weeks before taking a HYDROMETER READING. Then, give it a few more days, take another reading. Give it a few more days, take a third reading. If the readings are all identical, then taste it for two more times (you can taste it during all the previous readings too)... When it tastes 'ready' then bottle it up.

A decent OG stout should take 2-4 weeks to complete and be ready for bottling. Another 3 weeks at 70F and it should be carbonated (if bottling and carbonating with sugars)...

Next brew, give it TIME... I've gotten to the point where I simply make sure the brew isn't blowing wort all over the place for the first week. Then I let the yeast do it's thing for another 1-2 weeks (2-3 at that point). After about 3 weeks, I start taking readings. Even if the SG is at, or below, the projected FG, I take another reading. If they match, fermentation is complete. I then taste it to see if it's actually ready to come off the yeast, or not. That dictates when I bottle...

I didn't do that for my first two brews, but I've since learned better... Once you start using the long primary method, you'll be amazed at how much better your brews are.

 

[jaycount]

Yup I typically only get 24-72 hours of active bubbling

 

[Golddiggie]

Yup I typically only get 24-72 hours of active bubbling

Mine usually slows after the first week... Then it gets much slower during week two... Too long between blurps after that to actually get a time between them...

I have found that if I go with a smaller starter, with a bit cooler temps, I'll get a slow, but steady fermentation. It also makes for a much smoother brew, without needing to age to get it to smooth out. Of course, I am going for more full bodied brews, where smooth is highly desired (at least by me)...

My first porter fermented at a steady rate for about two weeks. Came out great. I did another (brew #3) that had a rocket fermentation (blowing through the airlock after under 6 hours from when the yeast was pitched). That one has needed time to age in order to smooth out.

 

[jaycount]

Mine usually slows after the first week... Then it gets much slower during week two... Too long between blurps after that to actually get a time between them...

I have found that if I go with a smaller starter, with a bit cooler temps, I'll get a slow, but steady fermentation. It also makes for a much smoother brew, without needing to age to get it to smooth out. Of course, I am going for more full bodied brews, where smooth is highly desired (at least by me)...

My first porter fermented at a steady rate for about two weeks. Came out great. I did another (brew #3) that had a rocket fermentation (blowing through the airlock after under 6 hours from when the yeast was pitched). That one has needed time to age in order to smooth out.

I have only used dry yeast so far. My last batch, an amber ale, went active after only 3 hours and went totally ballistic. Good thing I have plenty of headspace in my primaries

 

[Golddiggie]

I have only used dry yeast so far. My last batch, an amber ale, went active after only 3 hours and went totally ballistic. Good thing I have plenty of headspace in my primaries

I'm going for slow, but steady, fermentation rates now... All the brews I've made that went that route have been really good much sooner (no aging needed) than those that have gone ballistic.

I'm using starters for my washed yeast, just to make sure they are ready for the wort. I'll be making one tonight, when I get home, for the brew we're making tomorrow... I just want to make sure the yeast is good to be pitched, don't really need to increase it's volume (I split the washed yeast into two doses)...

Since I've not used dry yeast for beer [yet] I don't have a baseline for what type of rate is better for it. I would suspect, though, that it's pretty much in line with the liquid yeast I've been using... Better to have a pretty steady ferment over 1-2 weeks, than a rocket for 4-7 days, then have it go to almost nothing.