Fermentation Issues

Im new to home brewing. I did a batch of Caribou Slobber from Northern Brewer and it fermented really fast because I had it in a room that was way too warm. I started a batch of Russian Imperial Stout from Brewers Best on Sunday. Followed all the instructions exactly. The OG was exactly were it needed to be, between 1.077-1.080. The yeast was pitched at the correct temp, and its being stored in a room that doesnt get warmer than 66-68 F. I was getting no real activity in the airlock within the first 36 hours. I opened up the fermenter to just peek at where it was at and it looked like it foamed way up yesterday afternoon or last night and now has resided way down. Im not sure if Im doing something wrong or if this is normal? Im worried it fermented too quickly and that Ill get off flavors in this.

Im using a Northern Brewer fermentation bucket for a primary and a 6 gallon glass carboy for a secondary. Also the fermometer says its at 68 F. The yeast packet said optimum temp range was 64-75 F. Any help would be amazing thanks!

A couple of thoughts. No airlock activity for 36 hours is troubling—but perhaps it escaped your notice? The brewing literature out there does say there's a direct correlation between a long "lag" phase and off flavors, but you won't know until you taste the finished product.

Second, if it looks like you had some Krausen (foam from fermentation) at some point and it is now gone, then perhaps it might be near completion. The only way to really tell is to get a sample and test it with a hydrometer. The final gravity on an imperial stout tends to be between 1.020-1.030, depending on how high you started (you said 1.080 or so so I would expect it to finish at 1.020 or slightly lower even).

Don't worry about off flavors just YET. Give this beer a couple of weeks to ferment and clean itself up (don't hurry to rack to secondary too quickly), then take a hydrometer reading when you transfer. Let us know what that reading is, and we'll help you proceed from there.

Finally, this style does benefit from an EXTENDED aging process. Even if you have no off flavors, the alcohol will by high and hot while it is young. We're talking at least a few months before it mellows out.

Im new to home brewing. I did a batch of Caribou Slobber from Northern Brewer and it fermented really fast because I had it in a room that was way too warm. I started a batch of Russian Imperial Stout from Brewers Best on Sunday. Followed all the instructions exactly. The OG was exactly were it needed to be, between 1.077-1.080. The yeast was pitched at the correct temp, and its being stored in a room that doesnt get warmer than 66-68 F. I was getting no real activity in the airlock within the first 36 hours. I opened up the fermenter to just peek at where it was at and it looked like it foamed way up yesterday afternoon or last night and now has resided way down. Im not sure if Im doing something wrong or if this is normal? Im worried it fermented too quickly and that Ill get off flavors in this.

Im using a Northern Brewer fermentation bucket for a primary and a 6 gallon glass carboy for a secondary. Also the fermometer says its at 68 F. The yeast packet said optimum temp range was 64-75 F. Any help would be amazing thanks!

Thanks for the response! Yeah the finish is supposed to be around 1.020-1.018. The recipe also says that is should be transferred to the second within 5-7 days? Is that too short, how do I know when its the right time to move it to the secondary?

Yeast don't work on a brewer's schedule. Factors that affect fermentation time: temperature, wort original gravity, yeast strain, yeast viability, pitching rate, pressure, and a million other things. On average, my fermentations complete between 3-4 weeks, but I'm always watching the appearance of my wort in my carboy. When it looks like it has cleared, go ahead and give it another week to "clean up." This stage if fermentation is very important because the yeast absorbs all sort of off-flavor compounds like diacetyl and acetaldehyde. Taking your beer off the yeast too soon can lead to leaving those flavors in the beer.

The only true way to know if a yeast is done eating the sugars in your wort is to use a wine thief or similar product and take a hydrometer reading of your beer. Then, wait 4 days and take another reading. If the gravity hasn't changed, the yeast is probably done.

Also, I don't do a 2-stage fermentation. You'll find a lot of homebrewers are in this camp now. I do a single stage fermentation in a Better Bottle 6 gallon fermenter. This way I lose less beer in transfers, reduce my risk of infecting beer through transfers, and ensure that the beer sits on the yeast long enough to clean up fermentation byproducts mentioned above.

Thanks for all the info, its been a huge help!

somewhere there is a Revvy quote about to pounce on this thread. I'll do it without the 'quote' structure and all.

Hydrometer is not spelled a-i-r-space-l-o-c-k nor is is spelled f-o-a-m. There is only one way to measure fermentation, and that is with a hydrometer. All other signs may or may not occur. (note1)

No airlock activity? hm. It occured when you were away, or your vessel isn't sealed sufficently to force the venting through the airlock. No Krausen? it could have fallen (which you indicate you've seen signs off) or it could be you have a brew that doesn't generate one. I've had that some times. And for what it is worth, there is little foaming in wine /mead making, but that is off type.

So to see if it has fermented, or is going, etc, you need to take a hydrometer reading (note1-again). with an og of 1.080 about 1.020 is likely This will depend on if you used 100% malt or perhaps some sugars/honey. Everything else Soviet says to do is right on.

As a further note, in the first bit of fermentation time (post lag) you should get to about 90% of the FG - that is I'd expect by now you are close to 1.025 if not at 1.020. The last .001 or .002 of gravity if it is there to ferment out takes the longest. This is because as there is less food, the yeast die, as the ABV goes up, the yeast die, and as the disovled CO2 goes up, it is harder for the yeast to move sugar through the cell wall. Those last few points are often gotten, especially if the beer sits 2 to 3 weeks, but after that amount of time, the beer is pretty much done.



Note 1, really who cares what the hydrometer reads, after all, we don't want a numbers perfect beer that tastes like crap, so you can also taste test and see if there is fermentation. I trust you know what beer tastes like, even celler temp under carbonated beer, over say wort (sugar water) or such. The problem with taste is you don't know if your FG is reached. I personally use about 3 to 4oz of beer and the hydrometer and then drink the sample. Hydrometer tells me 'its almost done' Taste tells me 'yup it is worthy to bottle. Still if you want to look and see if it has fermented, - hydrometer.

Like I said man I'm new! I should have looked around the site to gather more info before I posted something. I was just asking some questions about. Thanks for all the help though I appreciate it!

Dude, don't sweat it. You asked great questions—don't get the impression that anyone is trying to blow you off. The home-brewing community is always happy to help new people.