I did my first brew this weekend (Saturday) using the one gallon starter kit using the Irish Red recipe kit. On Sunday it appeared as if fermentation was going well as there was plenty of foaming and air bubbles going into the air lock.
By Monday however things seemed to come to a complete stop. I watched for several minutes and no more air is going into the air lock and the bubbling foam has completely disappeared.
Today I’m noticing some white stuff floating at the top of the liquid and some on the sides of the jug (outlined in red).
There is also a pretty noticeable amount of whitish sediment at the bottom of the jug.
I’m fairly positive I did everything correctly and used about half the packet of yeast as instructed. Is this normal or has something gone wrong here? Thank you.
The white spots in the neck are probably yeast that stuck to the glass. The sediment is normal; it’s mostly trub (proteins and other stuff you will leave behind, including some yeast). Nothing to worry about from either of those.
[quote=“Old_Dawg”]The white spots in the neck are probably yeast that stuck to the glass. The sediment is normal; it’s mostly trub (proteins and other stuff you will leave behind, including some yeast). Nothing to worry about from either of those.
I’d be very worried about those red circles![/quote]
Thank you for the quick reply, that’s very reassuring. However the instructions pointed out that all of what is happening now should be happening at the end of fermentation (1-2 weeks) but its only been a couple of days. If nothing continues to happen do you think it would be ok to bottle this weekend?
looks just like some of mine. I would say all is good. as far as bottling, do you have a hydrometer? if not wait at least 5 days after fermentation stops. that should be at least 8-14 days total time for ales. I have bottled at 9 or 10 days and the beer was good after 2 weeks in the bottle. this is not always the case, some beers take longer to finish. if your new at this, one thing you will find out is there are lots of variables in brewing and I mean a lot so have patience.
PS in the future its best to tell us what yeast you used and the type of kit, extract or all grain, also what the temps were and are in the fermenter.
