Brewed according to directions on Saturday. Plenty of fermentation bubbles through the airlock on the first day. Wort temperature 68-72 F. On Tuesday and the fermentation seems to have stopped. Wort temperature (according to the NB sticky thermometer on the carboy) is 62-64.
Krauesen seems to have fallen (there is still a lot of residue on the inside surface of the carboy).
I moved it to a slightly warmer place on Tuesday and no signs of further fermentation.
? Does this kit normally ferment this fast?
? I am assuming I should leave it to rest on the yeast cake in the primary for at least the first week. Is there any advantage/need to put this in a secondary?
It may be done.
At that temperature, I wouldn’t be surprised if it were pretty much done after three days. I just fermented the same one at 62F, and it was done in 4 days. If you check the final gravity using a hydrometer, you’ll get a bit more information. 1.012-1.018 is where I’d expect it to end. I see no reason to go to a secondary fermenter; you don’t care about clarity too much with a hefe, and you want a bit of yeast to carry over to the bottle or keg. Schneider Weisse (a classic producer in Germany) has a 4 day primary fermentation. I’d give it another week and then package it.
When you are getting ready to brew check out the optimum temperature range for your yeast. Try to pitch and ferment at the lower end of the optimum range.
[quote=“DOCatRU”]Thanks for mentioning to confirm optimum temperature for the yeast. Is this listed on the package?
I’ll be sure to do this on my next batch.
DOC[/quote]
The temperature range may be shown in the brew instructions. If not can be found on the manufacturers web site. I print off the fact sheet for each of the yeasts I use.
I fermented mine (Wyeast) at 71, dropping to 67 after a day or so. Vigorous fermentation was done in a couple days and I ended up at 1.013 (measured 12 days later).
Fermenting at the top end gave me some wonderful banana flavor. I read that cooler will favor clove. I’m drinking one now and it’s one of my favorites so far.
