What's happening?

[Jhatfield]

Hey guys.

I'm making a 1 gallon trial batch of a white house honey ale.

1st 48 hours were normal with lots of action1 but then I saw a significant drop in fermentation after that. Thought it was too cold. Stored it in a warmer place and started right back up. Cool. Problem solved right? Couple of days later. It's slowed to almost nothing.
It's only been one week. Now it looks like it is starting to "separate" or have a layered effect. Any suggestions. Am I stalled? Do I mix it up? I did rack it into a secondary already. Not sure what to do next.
Suggestions?

 

[elerten]

looks good to me. give it another week to clear and bottle it. leave the trub on the bottom.. its dead yeast and an assortment of by products. im sure some of the guys that respond can tell you all whats in the bottom.

 

[nthammer]

is this your first beer?

my five gallon beers can finish fermenting in less then a week im sure a one gallon brew can also. surest way to tell is to use a hydrometer.

separation is good, there will be solids settling out for another week or two then youll have beer on top.

I absolutely would not try shaking or mixing it

 

[dkevinb]

It looks perfectly normal to me. My beers are usually done bubbling in 3-4 days, completely finished in less than 2 weeks. Just let it do what it's doing.

 

[Jhatfield]

Not my first batch - but I'm still learning. I haven't used this test before and it does need to be kept warmer than usual. I was worried because I am use to seeing more distinct separation. I can see a nice yeast cake starting to settle. Big thing was I was surprised to see it almost done after a week.
Not a bad thing a guess.
How do you guys feel about priming with honey?

 

[elerten]

Sugar is sugar. That being said if you have never made this exact recipe before I would stick with priming sugar. Then maybe make it again and use honey to prime with.

 

[wbarber69]

I use honey in my beers all the time. It is super fast to ferment. Whether in boil or straight in the fermented I've noticed what seems to be stalled ferments before. I have found that when it happens, a gentle shake will get it back up and chugging along. More so with top fermenting lagers. It should be fine as a priming sugar. Like they said before, find an online calculator or app to give you the proper measurement.

 

[RM-MN]

Hey guys.

I'm making a 1 gallon trial batch of a white house honey ale.

1st 48 hours were normal with lots of action1 but then I saw a significant drop in fermentation after that. Thought it was too cold. Stored it in a warmer place and started right back up. Cool. Problem solved right? Couple of days later. It's slowed to almost nothing.
It's only been one week. Now it looks like it is starting to "separate" or have a layered effect. Any suggestions. Am I stalled? Do I mix it up? I did rack it into a secondary already. Not sure what to do next.
Suggestions?

I'd suggest that the next thing you do is read this short article on how yeast make your beer. http://www.brewgeeks.com/the-life-cycle-of-yeast.html

 

[unionrdr]

First off, lager yeasts are bottom fermenting, ales are top fermenting. When the rapid bubbling/fermenting slows or stops, only initial fermentation is done. It'll then slowly, uneventfully creep down to a stable FG. I then give it 3-7 days to clean up any by-products of fermentation & settle out clear or slightly misty before bottling. I prefer dextrose for bulk priming myself.

 

[wbarber69]

First off, lager yeasts are bottom fermenting, ales are top fermenting. When the rapid bubbling/fermenting slows or stops, only initial fermentation is done. It'll then slowly, uneventfully creep down to a stable FG. I then give it 3-7 days to clean up any by-products of fermentation & settle out clear or slightly misty before bottling. I prefer dextrose for bulk priming myself.

Not if you ferment it at 72 degrees for the entire duration. That **** floats to the top and looks like balls of bread dough.

 

[unionrdr]

Those are yeast rafts. It can happen with both types of yeast. And it doesn't have to be at 72F or so, it can happen from the up & down swirling motion of an aggressive fermentation stiring up the yeast cake at the bottom.