Stuck fermentation?

[StraightCs]

I'm brewing my second 1-gallon batch. It's an American IPA, and I'm carefully following a recipe recommended to me by other home brewers. I'm using SafAle US-05 Dry Ale Yeast and used 2 grams. Things started to go well at first, and it was happily bubbling away in the blow-off tube for the first two days, at which time replaced it with airlock in the stopper. Now, it seems to be stuck. Nothing is moving. I have just a light krausen on top, and perhaps 1/4 of the carboy is a nice hazy gold. The other 3/4 however, looks like a solid, yeasty trub and it's pretty thick. Moreover, I'm now six days in and nothing has changed at all in three days.

This isn't at all like my first batch, which fermented very slowly at first, but was very active for the full 15 days it was in the fermenter.

 

[Rob2010SS]

StraightCs, you say it's stuck but have you verified that with a hydrometer? You pulled off the blowoff tube and replaced with an airlock. At that point, you relieved some of the pressure inside the fermenter so it is expected (IMO anyway) that you would NOT see any airlock activity because there's not enough pressure in there to force any air movement out of the airlock.
No airlock activity is NOT sign of a stuck fermentation. I would let it go for another day or two, take a hydrometer reading, and then check hydrometer reading again 3 days after. If your hydrometer reading is stable, you're done.
Now, I don't know what your target FG reading is, but if your target FG is 1.012 and you are at 1.025 when you check it in a day or two, you're clearly not done. Give it that 3 day period and check again and if you are STILL at 1.025, then it MAY be stuck and someone else will have to chime in, without knowing the details of the beer, recipe, ingredients, OG and target FG.
That's my suspicion anyway, but I'm still a noob so let an expert chime in.

 

[seatazzz]

You'll see the advice I'm about to give you in countless other posts here. Just relax. Airlock activity is NOT a sign of active fermentation. Primary/initial fermentation is probably close to done, and now the yeast are cleaning up after their party and not farting as much co2. That trub should settle out over the next couple of days, as well as the krausen dropping. Hopefully you took an OG reading. I'd wait a few more days (until at least 7 after pitching, 10 is better) and then give it a test. Bet you'll find the gravity has dropped considerably. Test again in 2 days, if the gravity is the same, you're done.

 

[Rob2010SS]

...And, just to give you an idea, the airlock on my first batch, which was an IPA, stopped bubbling at about day 6. So just because one batch is active for 15 days doesn't mean every batch will be.

 

[seatazzz]

Dang Rob2010SS, we were typing at the same time....

 

[Rob2010SS]

Dang Rob2010SS, we were typing at the same time....

Hahaha, I was thinking the same thing. Great minds think/drink alike!

 

[StraightCs]

You'll have to forgive me, but I don't have a hydrometer. I started with a kit from Brooklyn Home Brew that includes a carboy (I have since bought another), stopper, airlock, tube and racking cane. I had thought that I would buy a hydrometer after I graduated to bigger batches and assumed that since I am closely following a well-shared recipe, I wouldn't really need one. So, my noob apologies for not having one.

That's for the feedback; I'm feeling better about it.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Ok, so without a hydrometer, I'm thinking you should let that sit for a good 2 weeks, maybe even 3 to ensure that it is fully done. Assuming you're not doing any dry hopping, you should be good to bottle after those 2 or 3 weeks go by. Highly recommend the hydrometer for your next batches though. Just because a recipe worked one way for one person, does NOT mean it will work that way for you.

Good luck. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Seattle2k]

And, when you buy 1 hydrometer, but a 2nd. You're bound to break it sooner or later.

 

[Lefou]

A hydrometer is one of the most valuable gadgets you can have. Another valuable gadget is a home computer with an Internet connection linked to HBT.
So much experience here. Don't sell yourself short on the basics. Once you make beer, you'll want better beer. The "best" tools aren't necessarily the most expensive ones, but the ones you can leverage the most.

 

[Lefou]

One more bit of advice ... if you're doing an ale, maybe bumping the fermentation temperature up a few degrees for a few days within the yeast's higher tolerance might speed fermentation.
It would be somewhat like putting your wort through a diacetyl rest. Next best tool ... controlled fermentation environment! It's a guaranteed improvement method.