Sudden drop in SG

[Brewlander]

Hi guys, looking for some advice here, surprise surprise...

Been brewing my first batch of homebrew with a youngs American amber ale kit. I started on Monday and all went well with lots of bubbling from the airlock and lots of movement visible in the fv. Then on Wednesday night the heating went off and when I checked the fv the next morning the temperature had dropped to 17-18 degrees Celsius rather than the 22 it had been and all bubbling had stopped in the airlock . The heating was back on so I left it for the day but when I came back there was only no bubbling still and no movement visible in the fv though the temperature had recovered. I checked the sg and it was 1.030 and noticed a bit of floating yeast so gave it a stir to see if I could get fermentation going again and after a short time it the was bubbling away again but later slowed and eventually stopped though the temperature was fine. I left it for 24 hours and checked the Sg again and now its at 1.010 which is a sudden drop seeing as it hasn't seemed like much was happening? The guide that came with the brew suggested it would take closer to 14 days to reach this point? I'm going to leave it a couple of days and check the Gravity again and see if it's moved at all but if it hasn't do you reckon it's worth hopping it for a couple days then moving onto secondary fermentation early and leaving it conditioning for longer? Or should I leave off on that until closer to the 14 day mark to see if any changes occur? I know that bubbling in the airlock isn't the best way of checking for Fermentation but it's the change in it that worried me I suppose...I'm very open to all manor of ideas so throw me what you got! Cheers!

 

[wardens355]

I would let it sit until it hits the 3 week mark before doing anything. That will give time for the yeast to cleanup and start to drop out. Then dry hop in the primary for 5 days or so before packaging.

Maybe the yeast stalled because of the temp drop and came roaring back once it warmed up again? Who knows... Did you taste it?

 

[RM-MN]

Here's a better explanation of the drop in specific gravity when it seems that nothing is happening. http://www.brewgeeks.com/the-life-cycle-of-yeast.html

 

[eadavis80]

When you reach a 3-day window with the same gravity readings, the beer is done. You said it's already as low as 1.010, which is a good sign it is. However, I'd let it sit AT LEAST until you get that reading twice over a 3-day window. You could add dry hops then or wait another week to allow the yeasties to clean up after themselves. Or, you could then add your dry hops to primary, or rack to secondary and dry hop there. The choice is yours.

 

[joshesmusica]

If the instructions said it would take a couple weeks to reach the FG, then either they're just saying that to make newbies leave it in the fermenter, or they're idiots. The conversion from sugar to alcohol can be finished in like 5 days. But that's not the only thing going on in the fermentation process. What they probably mean is that you need to leave it in there for the yeast to do some cleaning up, and for a lot of them to floc out.
Don't worry about secondary. Just leave it in the fermenter for 2-3 weeks, then bottle/keg it.
You should really read up on yeast and temp control. It's one of the top five of most important aspects of making a great beer.
I'm not sure what the instructions told you to ferment at, or what yeast strain you're using, but I prefer to ferment with ambient temps around 16-17, which means at peak fermentation it's prolly around 19-20 in my fermenter. 22 seems high unless you're doing a wheat or a saison. Along with your research about the yeast and how they work, look into temps and what types of flavor will come out do to different temps.

 

[Brewlander]

Thanks for the advice guys! Yeah, the guide that comes with it says to keep it at 20-25 but having read up more on the yeast that comes with it, Newcastle dark ale, I've found that I have had it at a higher temperature than the yeast prefers...I won't blindly trust the kit again. Going to invest in a brew belt for better temperature control but it should have been fine if the heating hadn't switched itself off in the house. It does look and smell like beer though so I suppose all is well, will probably check the gravity tomorrow just to see if it is still dropping but I do reckon that is done now and I'll wait for the yeast to settle now, it was more a panic over the drop being sudden more than anything else. Thanks again for the advice guys!