Quick fermentation

[Kev]

Hi, I’ve just started brewing with grain and hops instead of the canned wort in a 5ltr fermenter. The fermentation only went for 2 days and stopped bubbling. Any ideas why? Is it a temp thing? I used a blow off hose for the first day. Is that why? I will leave it there for a week still. But bubbling is done. Appreciate any thoughts. Thanks

 

[nathanvonbeerenstein]

Hi, I’ve just started brewing with grain and hops instead of the canned wort in a 5ltr fermenter. The fermentation only went for 2 days and stopped bubbling. Any ideas why? Is it a temp thing? I used a blow off hose for the first day. Is that why? I will leave it there for a week still. But bubbling is done. Appreciate any thoughts. Thanks

Hey Kev,

Congrats on making the move!

First and foremost, how does it taste?

Fermentation can sometimes go that quick depending on what yeast you used, but unless you’re tightly controlling the temp, my guess would be you’re possibly fermenting it a little hot or pitching a butt-tonne of yeast since it’s only 5L.
What temp did it ferment at? Remember too, fermentation throws off heat so could be a few extra degrees in the liquid.

The blow off tube won’t affect fermentation speed/quality, at least perceptibly.

The extra time might help clean up the beer but if the beer was harmed in those first 2 days, there’s only so much time will fix any off-flavours.

Cheers

 

[ABG]

Congrats on the move to AG Kev.

Don't worry about the bubbling. It's almost completely irrelevant. It just shows you have a pressure differential between your fermenter and the outside air because of the build up of CO2 as the yeasties do their thing. The CO2 may still be building up, but escaping elsewhere - like a poor seal on the lid of your fermenter.

The important thing to measure is your starting gravity and what your gravity reading is now. That will tell you how close to completion you are. You will want to ensure your final gravity reading is stable for around 3 days.

A few questions that will help answer you more completely:
What yeast did you use? How much did you pitch and what was your starting gravity?
If you only used a blow off tube for the first day, what did you use after that?
What was the temperature of your beer in the fermentation vessel? Did you hold it steady, or did you ramp it up? How are you controlling your temeperature?

Regardless of whether you're making an AG beer, or a K&K beer, the most important part of the process is ensuring you have a healthy and uninfected yeast population to ensure proper fermentation.

If you haven't already, I would highly recommend reading How To Brew by Jonathon Palmer http://www.howtobrew.com/

 

[Paddy Melon]

Fermentation has got me stumped. When I think I've got it something else comes up. I've tried to read what is relevant but this last one seems to be a bit different. I brewed a Kit and kilo stout and added 500grm of Coopers #3 enhancer into the mix. My OG was 12 Brix (1.048). I used one and a half packets of the yeast and it said to ferment at 21 degrees C. I have a controlled fermenter fridge and the brew sat on 21degrees for two days bubbles like hell and on day 3 nothing. The gravity reading was 7 Brix (1.015 after the calculation) it has been steady now for another 2 days sitting at 7 Brix. can it be possible that it was done in 2 days? It tastes fine with no discernible after taste. I'm stumped.

 

[razz]

Hey PM, did you use a refractometer or hydrometer for your gravity readings? Sorry, I just realised you said after calculation. So you have corrected the reading. Sounds like it is finished fermenting to me. That final reading is high for a 1.048 beer though.

 

[Paddy Melon]

yes that's what I thought. I gave it some agitation and raised the temp today and see what the reading is in the morning. I was wondering if there was something else I may have been missing. I forgot to add that I had ensured that there was plenty of oxygen in the fermenter. I use an aquarium aerator.

 

[Paddy Melon]

re tested today. Still sitting firmly on 1.015. That's 3 days now on 1.015. How does this situation happen? How can the whole fermentation process be complete in just two days? I had another taste and it seems fine. Do I need to worry about anything else?

 

[Half-baked]

What yeast did you use? Just the one attached to the can? If it was a bit old/stored warm, there might not have been enough healthy yeast to get it any lower... If you used a different type of yeast, could be a strain that only consumes ~70% of the sugars (the characteristics of yeast can differ greatly)

 

[Paddy Melon]

Oh!..I used 1 and a half packs of the yeast attached to the can. I hydrated it and got it going before applying it. It seemed to be ok going crazy for the first two days. I didn't think of yeast characteristics. I guess it's safe to go ahead and bottle it, given it tastes fine.?

 

[Half-baked]

One of many possibilities tbh! Could also be hydrometer calibration being off...

One gravity stops dropping, yeast still work of flavour a bit, so maybe a couple more days then bottle

 

[Paddy Melon]

Fantastic. Thanks Brewing is fun especially the tasting. Much appreciated the responses.
M