Smashing Pumpkin Ale Fermentation

Yeast & Fermentation
1

We brewed the Smashing pumpkin ale on Sunday. Fermentation started very quickly on Monday and was very active. As of Tuesday night it was almost non-existant. My first time with this particular beer but normally the fermentation seems to last about 2 days.

Is a short and active fermentation normal with this beer or should I add more yeast. We did an Oktoberfest LY that was inactive until about the 3rd day after the wort was created which I found out later was normal for that beer and yeast.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jeff

2

IME, three things cause quick fermentation:

  1. Fermenting warm. Over 70 degrees. Usually this is bad for the beer.
  2. Pitching a ton of yeast. Overpitching 5Gal is hard to do but possible.
  3. Relatively low OG. Say in the 1.040 range.

Ultimately, the way you know if the beer is done is to take a gravity reading. Let the beer go at least 2 weeks for everything to finish up, though.

:cheers: