Hey guys, I’m new to beer brewing and have a question. I recently bought a 1 gallon small brew kit with Caribou Slobber Brown Ale was everything went good until I got to the step of fermenting. I noticed the temp was at around 80 F while fermenting and remembered the instructions said to keep at 60-75 F. So I put it in a water bath to lower temp and noticed the brew or yeast isn’t moving around and being active now like before, it’s calm with no bubbles coming out of airlock? Temps holding at 70 F now in water bath. Did I mess this batch up or should I give it a few days to see what happens?
Dropping 10 degrees could have stalled your yeast but the beer may have just finished fermenting.
When did you pitch the yeast?
How long was it from pitch before you started cooling it down?
I pitched at around 2 pm on Friday and yesterday I put the carboy in the water at about noon.
It could be finished fermenting. What kind of yeast and how much did you pitch? Should have asked you that before.
I used Danstar Windsor Ale dry yeast (.388 oz) and put half of the packet in like the recipe called for.
Like Dannyboy says, it could be done fermenting. I did one of these as my first beer and it fermented like crazy for about a day and a half, maybe two days, then just quit. It tasted great and would have been just fine if I hadn’t screwed up the priming process…
Half a pack is probably still overpitching just a little for a gallon batch. That’s not really a concern. Your fermentation temperature of 80 was a bit high and you may get some fusols and off flavors from it but you bambi my good brewer have made beer! Congrats! Let it sit for a couple weeks at ambient temps then bottle it up.
It’s important to control temperature for the first 3-4 days of fermentation which you now know. Google swamp cooler for ideas on how to do this.
Most brewers chill to low to mid 60s or the low end of your yeast’s optimal temp range prior to pitching. I generally pitch ales at about 63 and try to keep them below 65 for the first 3-4 days then let the temp rise to ambient which in my brew room is generally 68-70 degrees.
Have fun and welcome to the addiction (hobby)!
Thanks. I guess I’m stressing for nothing. I just don’t want to mess anything up. Appreciate the help and info, Danny and Marty!
You’ll never hear a homebrewer say their first batch was the best they’ve done. Ive been brewing 2 years and im still learning
Did the exact same thing with my first batch which was also caribou slobber. The beer came out fine. Brew on.
