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When my fermenter stops bubbling is it worth opening it up and giving it a stir to make sure all the fermentable stuff actually gets fermented out?

Would it do anything (other than increasing the risk of infection)?

Hi Ernie, apart from the (slight) added risk of infection, stirring will indeed trigger some further fermentation to occur if possible. It will also cloud up your beer again so you'll want to let it sit a bit longer before bottling in the interests of clarity.

Don't stir, don't stir, dont stir!

So you don't think I should stir ACT? Good enough for me I suppose.

Hey T-Bone, great username. That was always going to be my on-screen name if I ever went into the porn industry....

Stirring sounds like a bad idea, if you want your brew to kick up again, either rack or give the fermenter a quick twist just be carefull not to shake it to much, racking is the better option tho in my opinion anyways

-Phill

I reckon you could get the same effect by giving your fermenter a gentle shake as you could by stirring it. Here are some advantages of shaking over stirring:

- You won't have to sanitise your spoon/paddle
- There is less risk of contamination because you would not need to open the lid of the fermenter.

just make sure you take the airlock out while you do it so that none of the airlock water is accidently sucked into the fermenter.

I just shook my brew a couple of minutes ago, but if I had another fermenter, i would certainly rack my beer.

Well, I disagree (a little). Of course shaking or turning the fermenter will also encourage further fermentation, but certainly not to the same degree. Racking too - however if you don't or can't rack, stirring isn't going to subject your beer to any higher risk of infection than racking - in fact I'd wager a spoon is more easily/better sanitised than another tub AND hose, and your beer's aerated less!
Remember also that towards the end of primary fermentation there is alcohol in the beer and it isn't as 'fragile' as it was pre-fermentation.

Personally I don't stir anyway, mostly because I don't think it's necessary.

That's my two cents.
TB

Ernie,

I never stir or shake and have never had any problems.

Doing so may give you a sense that fermentation has restarted because the airlock is bubbling, but this may just be carbon dioxide coming out of solution due to the stirring or shaking.

Conversely, just because your airlock has stopped bubbling doesn't mean the beer is not still fermenting. Check out this sticky: http://www.homebrewandbeer.com/forum/vi ... php?t=1471

Cheers,

Oliver

I stir my ginger beer after a week because it seems that the yeast sinks to the bottom and it stops fermenting. The way I look at it is that there is already some alcohol in there to stop any nasties.

thanks for all the input. have decided to leave the lid on and give it a bit of shake/swirl when the bubbling slows down....fark I have to do something. I can't just let it sit there for 7-10 days!!