What to expect during fermentation?

I am a new brewer (obviously) and just brewed the Irish Red Ale small batch. Fermentation started two nights ago. I’ve noticed the Krausen has already dissipated and bubbles thru the airlock are about one every 3 seconds. Yesterday there was a decent head of krausen and bubbles at about double the rate. Does this sound about right? I pitched the yeast directly per the directions but I’m concerns a:) the wort was chilled too much and b:) I jostled the fermentation jug too much getting it to its resting place. Am I over thinking this (I’m an engineer - I can’t help myself). TIA.

That seems normal-ish. Jostling the jug is not a big deal. Overchilling could be, but since fermentation started, you’re probably fine. What temp are you fermenting at? If it’s a little warm, fermentation could go quickly, but for a couple of days, I think you’re right on track. Keep in mind, yeast does less showy stuff after all the krausen and bubbling. Leave your beer alone for a while so things can settle down, yeast can drop out, and clean up fermentation byproducts (that sounded like hooey to me as a newbie, but yeast really does clean up after itself). For my five gallon batches, I let things sit in the primary a minimum of three weeks.

Gallon batch? If so …

For the gallon kits (and most custom recipes) I’ve done, this seems about right. With a half packet of yeast in a one gallon batch, my experience is that the krausen falls in 2-3 days & it’s ready to bottle around 14 days after pitching the yeast. Recently, I’ve done a couple of batches with a quarter packet of yeast and the process does go slower.

Nothing to worry about here.

Nope. While engineers often do their best in the light, yeast do their best work when they are in the dark and you ignore them :slight_smile: .

@uberculture said it well here:

Overall, it appears you’re on track for a good 1st brew experience.

Thanks both of you. I’ll hang tight and let the process complete itself :smile: