Quick fermentation

Yeast & Fermentation
1

My second batch is an Irish Draught Ale. The krausen was a good 2 inches day one, with lots of activity. By the end of day 2, it had all but disappeared. Is this normal for this recipe? Is this normal in general? I don’t have anywhere near enough experience to know what is going on. I would appreciate any help I can get… John

2

Patience grasshopper.

The Irish Draught is a pretty low gravity beer, so it is very likely that the yeast are finished. Leave it alone at least two weeks longer before you bottle. I would check the hydrometer reading at day 13 and 14, and if the readings are equal, then you can go ahead and bottle.

If you’re able and have the equipment, I would suggest brewing another batch because the Irish Draught will go quickly.

J

3

Thanks for the information. Patience is tough with 5 gallons of goodness sitting waiting for me! I will take your advice, and thanks for your help…

4

[edit]OK, I had the wrong beer initially, but my points still hold, so I just revised the post to apply to danstar windsor ale yeast instead of safale s-04

slalliganbrewery, I’m not much more experienced than you (my third brew ever is in primary), so take all this for what it’s worth :wink: . Did you go with the dry yeast option (danstar windsor ale) for this? If so, what you describe isn’t too surprising. From Danstar’s description of Windsor Ale yeast
http://www.danstaryeast.com/products/windsor-ale-yeast
:

  • Quick start to fermentation, which can be completed in 3 days above 17°C.[/*]

I used the same yeast when I brewed Caribou Slobber. It was active within 12 hours and finished within 2.5 days. The beer turned out great (to my untrained palate, at least)! Sounds like yours finished a half day sooner, but it also has a lower gravity. Did you notice your temps during active fermentation? Based on what I’ve read around here, temps above the low 70s can cause yeast to go gangbusters and chew through all the sugars pretty quickly. I think mine got up to 72 or maybe even 74. Seems like this yeast runs hot (at least, hotter than US-05, which has barely gone above ambient temps the two times I’ve used it).

In any case, I think your best bet is to follow the advice above. Just wait it out and at ~2 weeks take two samples over the course of 24+ hours to make sure gravity is stable. With the Slobber, I had the same concerns as you and tested at one week. Didn’t hurt anything, and probably wouldn’t with you, just be sure to sanitize and resist the temptation to do anything other than record the gravity. My guess is it will be down around 1.015 - 1.020 (it probably already is), if my Slobber’s attenuation (heh) via the same yeast is any guide (1.052 - 1.022).

5

I just brewed a hop heavey batch of IPA, and after 24hrs in teps around 66* the thing looks like it already ran its course. My plan? Wait two weeks, bottle, wait two weeks, enjoy.