I'm a newbee to brewing & I have some questions re: fermentation

This is my first attempt and I’m brewing 2 gallons of a Bourbon Barrel Porter. Being a first timer, I’m following the directions as close as possible. The difference is that I used a yeast starter which I prepared 2 days earlier. After transferring the wort to the fermenter and adding my yeast, I added the airlock and placed the carboy in an area of the house that is a consistent 65 degree a in the box it came in to shield it from the light. There was quite a bit of bubbling in the airlock within 24 hours.

The instructions say that fermentation should last 2 weeks when the bubbling should stop and the Foam Cap drops to the bottom of the fermenter. Bubbling seems to have stopped but the Foam Cap is still floating, It’s been 2.5 weeks from brew day. Does the foam cap ever stay on top? Should I wait longer? Any suggestions would be seriously appreciated.

Thanks, Nick

The foam cap does not need to drop to the bottom for the beer to be ready. You probably don’t have a way to check your gravity? If you do that’s the best way to determine if the beer is done. Once you get two or three stable readings in a row with a hydrometer ( in the range close to the target final gravity of your kit ) it’s time to bottle or keg.

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@voodoo_donut has great advice. Since it’s 2gals give it a few more days to see if the krausen drops. If not rack below it. You likely had great fermentation since you used a starter and had a warmer ferm temp. One thing to keep in mind is your ambient temps are 65° but fermentation is exothermic (produces heat) so your ACTUAL ferm temps will raise easily 5° above ambient. Likely this beer is finished.

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I just wished that the peeps doing small batches had a Hydrometer IN the fermenting vessel to monitor gravity… Albeit a clear one… Life would be so simple fer them… (is our host listening?)
Sneezles61