I have started a batch of red irish ale last weekend. I had added the least and the bubbling in the air lock started in appx 18 hours. The bubbling in the air lock lasted appx only 20 hours. Does this mean my yeast had stopped working? The beer has not started to clear yet after appx 8 days. The fermenting temp of the carboy has averaged between 66 and 70 degrees. How long should I let it in the primary before I bottle? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. I am very new at this and could use any available advice. I also have a Honey brown ale brewing which has activity in the air lock for 48 hrs and still going strong.
Thanks everyone for the help
It would help to know which yeast you used.
Some strains of yeast finish very fast if the fermentation temperature is on the warm side. Yeast produces heat as it works. The temperature of the fermenting beer will always be higher than the ambient temperature. The higher the ambient the harder the yeast works producing more heat than would be produced at a lower ambient temperature.
The airlock will bubble the most during the active fermentation because of the larger amount of CO2 pressure being produced. This will even happen in a bucket fermentor that does not seal well. As fermentation slows CO2 will escape around the rim of a bucket producing no bubbles in the airlock.
Specific Gravity readings are the only sure way to know if fermentation is done. Two successive readings, taken a few days apart, that are the same indicate Final Gravity has been reached. With some very slow fermenting yeasts five days apart is better. This is usually in the case for some of the high Original Gravity beers. After fermentation is done the CO2 produced will begin to off gas. This will allow suspended particles to drop out.
I will typically wait fourteen days to take the first SG sample. I ferment in glass so I can see the beer is beginning to clear from the top down. I’ll take a second SG a few days later or so and also check the clarity. The same readings, after being temperature corrected, indicate FG. I’m in no rush. I prefer to bottle somewhere after three weeks in the primary so the beer going into the bottle contains the least amount of sediment practical.
Bubbling usually stops long before the yeast is done. Three weeks in primary is usually sufficient; 4 is OK too. What you really need to see is stable gravity readings. Do you have a hydrometer? In the long run, bottling too soon can cause bottles to over carbonate and explode violently. Waiting too long is really not a thing, unless you go several months in the bucket. Better to error on the side of waiting too loo long.
And @flars beat me to the reply. I type extra slow on the iPad.
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I wish there was a good swype app for the iPad. The hunt and peck method is just not what it used to be.
Danstar Nottingham dry yeast was the yeast that was sent with my red irish ale kit Thanks again
