Update and Questions on First Brew

[daytonlawvol]

Fermentation had begun rather quickly, within 24 hours of putting the yeast in the wort. Airlock was bubbling like crazy all last night. When I come home today, the airlock wasnt doing anything.

I had the batch sitting in a tub of water with ice, which had melted. I am sure the temp was somewhere around 75-78 degrees. I just put the batch in a plastic tub and filled with ice, which it is now down to around 66-68 degrees. I had read here earlier today that it needed to be down at least in the 60s while fermenting. As soon as I put it in ice, it the airlock activity picked up, but thats probably just because I had moved the bucket.

Ill be adding much more ice and keeping the temp down. Hopefully I havent screwed up my first batch...any pointers or tips?

Thanks

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Relax. It's fine. Just keep it within appropriate temperatures.

 

[daytonlawvol]

Took a Hydrometer Reading, im at 1.021.

 

[SoonerDoc]

It doesn't sound done. What type of beer? What was the recipe? What was the OG? That will make a difference on your FG.

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

The higher the temp of the wort the faster it will ferment. If you're using extract, it is not uncommon to finish at 1.020.