Fermenting time

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Fermenting time

Postby halfdutch » Saturday Feb 12, 2011 11:32 am

I've just put my first brew on and it seems to have finished fermenting too quickly. The kit is a Fat Yak clone. It stopped bubbling after only three days but the temperature has been up around 25 or 26 degrees.

I'll do the hydro tests but can anyone tell me if it's possible that the beer is correctly and completely fermented? If not what should I do about it.
I've still got the yeast that was in the lid of the tin in the clone kit.

Cheers,
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Re: Fermenting time

Postby Bum » Saturday Feb 12, 2011 11:43 am

While it is possible for a brew to ferment out that quickly you haven't given us enough info to advise if this one might have or not. If it has fermented out that quickly you'll want to make sure you don't let that happen in future - can lead to some pretty yuck nail polish remover type flavours and a higher chance of nasty hangovers (if you're prone to them at all).

High temps can lead to fermenting too quickly. I believe over-pitching can too (but I very much doubt this is the cause with a kit beer). Your current temp is quite high so I imagine it was a tiny bit warmer during the more vigorous early stages of fermentation. Keeping an eye on temps is the way to control the rate of fermentation - cooler = slower.

As you say, take your readings and if they are constant and in the expected region then you're pretty safe to go.
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Re: Fermenting time

Postby billybushcook » Saturday Feb 12, 2011 1:02 pm

Another point to take note of is that lack of activity in an airlock is not an indication of a lack of activity in the beer.
The lid seal or airlock gromet may have developed a leak & pressure will always take the easiest path...through a leak instead of pushing it's way through an airlock.

Mick.
Home brew my Arse, get that Shit to forensics!
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Re: Fermenting time

Postby Tourist » Saturday Feb 12, 2011 1:30 pm

Not suprising that your ailock has stopped bubbling after 3 days at those temps, ideal temp would be at least 5C lower. Whether or not is is completeley finished, you would have to consult your hydrometer.

A quick fermentation is, in itself, not necessarily a bad thing, but the temperature needs to be kept in check.
Back off man, I'm a tourist.
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Re: Fermenting time

Postby halfdutch » Saturday Feb 12, 2011 10:41 pm

Thanks fellas, I had a wet towel on the fermenter and a fan blowing for 12 hours over a hot night to try and get the temp down but with high humidity I just don't think it was going to happen short of refrigerating the damn thing. I've just taken the hydro and it's at about 1010 (started at 1050). Smells not too bad. Not certain about the taste. I'll let you know how it goes.
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Re: Fermenting time

Postby speedie » Saturday Mar 12, 2011 4:06 pm

hay halfdutch any time is fermenting time
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Re: Fermenting time

Postby SuperBroo » Sunday Mar 13, 2011 10:35 am

"hay halfdutch any time is fermenting time"

Hey Speedie,
Mate, can I ask you a favour ?
From now on, can you please include underneath each of your posts, some notes explaning what you actually mean ?
This will help the rest of us get the maximum value out of your very informative posts, which some of us are having a little trouble understanding.

Give it a go Speedie...

Eg: from one of your previous gems, you could make notes like below...
"break We don’t filter or add anything to batch only cold settle and wait Clarity is not a clear subject is it As coppers state “cloudy but fine” "

--- Which actually means...

I am just trolling to fill in time at work as I am on Nightshift, and the boss is paying me so sit on my arse and troll the forums.
Explanation of my text above =
# "break" - not sure why I put that at the start of a sentence, but it sort of fits my writing style.
# "We don’t filter or add anything to batch only cold settle and wait" - We allow it to settle and clear naturally.
# "Clarity is not a clear subject" - A healthy dose of my humour thrown in to lighten up the conversation. I was going to write "Death is a dying subject", but somehow it is not relevant to the subject here.
# "it As coppers state" - WA, like QLD, is a police state.
# "cloudy but fine" - Speedies free 1 AM weather report.


Edti : spelling :)
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Re: Fermenting time

Postby barrelboy » Sunday Mar 13, 2011 11:24 am

Very clever superbroo, thanks for the decoding.
Hi halfdutch, I'm in Adelaide and we get hot stinkers here. To control my fermenting temps I put the fermenter in the laundry sink fill up a third of the way with water that's had sanitizer added. This is to stop any infection re the tap. You then control the temp with ice cubes, ice bricks or frozen drink bottles with water in them. Works well and easy to keep temp fairly steady. After taking out of the bath sanitize your tap by spraying with no rinse type.
Hope this helps, bb.
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Re: Fermenting time

Postby SuperBroo » Sunday Mar 13, 2011 11:31 am

There is a thread somehere here where some people were using collapsable tubs for exactly what you have suggested Barrelboy...
They were doing it with ice blocks I think, and the tap wasnt under water.

Like the sanitiser idea.

have a search...
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Re: Fermenting time

Postby barrelboy » Sunday Mar 13, 2011 11:42 am

Ta, will search however you've given me a good idea! I'll put the fermenter in a big plastic bag and spray the tap incase there is any "sweating".
A barrel a day keeps the doctor away. Drink more piss.
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Re: Fermenting time

Postby SuperBroo » Sunday Mar 13, 2011 12:20 pm

now thats another good idea...
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Re: Fermenting time

Postby halfdutch » Thursday Mar 17, 2011 7:25 pm

Thanks for all the feedback. I've now cracked a few of the quick brewed fat yak clone and in my humble opinion it's orright. One of my mates put the same brew down six months previously with a much longer fermenting time and they were almost identical. Strangely the most noticable difference was the colour of the head. Mine is more cream while his was white. We tasted both beside commercial fat yak and call it brewer's bias but we reckoned that both were superior to the 'real' thing. If I'm to get really picky there might be a slight aftertaste to my beer - a slight tang that is not particularly unpleasant but it's there all the same.

Anyhoo, for future fermenting I'll definitely employ some of the cooling methods mentioned just to be sure but I think I dodged a bullet on this one. Thanks for all the advice.

Cheers.
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Re: Fermenting time

Postby speedie » Monday Mar 21, 2011 12:30 pm

halfdutch
plane your brewing around the season changes
ie lagers winter ales spring autumn summer
much like the early days of the german brewers
but any time is still fermenting time
cheers speedie
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