Brand new to brewing. Girlfriend bought me the deluxe kit from NB and brewed up a batch of American Wheat. Put it into the primary on Dec 14, following the instructions to the letter on everything. Today, Dec 19, I observed that the foam has subsided (after only 5 days). Says 1 to 2 weeks. Temp was always between 67-69. Also in Denver, so not sure if altitude affects it. Anyone give me advice if the fermentation should end is early? It was doing great the first 3 days. Very active, now down to almost nothing
If 7-9 was the ambient temp, the beer itself could have been 5-10F warmer. That would promote a quick fermentation.
Don’t worry just yet. You can’t judge fermentation by appearance.
It probably finished fermenting but that doesn’t mean it stopped before reaching final gravity. Take a gravity reading, then take another reading in 4 days. If the gravity remains the same and is around the anticipated Final Gravity, it’s ready to bottle. Try fermenting in the low 60’s next time - the higher temps caused it to ferment a bit faster.
Hope it’s good! welcome to the forum :cheers:
I used the thermometer that attached to the outside, not sure how accurate it is. I’ll have to get a hydrometer to measure the FG. Don’t have one of those yet. Would fast fermentation lead to a lower ABV or affect taste that much? Been reading whatever I can, but would rather get my info here then on google.
It won’t affect ABV, but it may affect flavor.
Most homebrewers first batches ferment a little warm. It will still be beer, you may or may not notice anything. just play it by ear.
Thanks for the info! Appreciate it. One last question. If I didn’t get an OG will it matter as long as the FG is consistent and where it should be according to the recipe?
If you used all the extract, and ended with the desired volume of the kit. You can make a pretty sound assumption that your OG is what the kit predicts.
The FG should be close to what the kit predicts. If it remains the same for a few days, then you know it’s done fermenting and safe to bottle.
