Fermentation seems to have stopped

[likafox]

Hi everyone, beginner here. Forgive me if I do something dumb, haha. Just brewing up my first american amber ale (third beer overall). So... admittedly, I was a little drunk while I was brewing. I don't have the capacity for boiling 5 gallons so I add water at the end of the boil. I neglected to do that. I was at 4 gallons, which probably would have been fine. But I got antsy and boiled up a gallon the next day, cooled it to 70 degrees, and added it to my primary. I wanted to mix it up a bit anyway, since I didn't stir in the yeast. It was just pitched and sealed (Not sure if it really matters if you stir it or not anyway). It was bubbling away before I added the water, but now its come to a complete stop. I'm quite sure the water wasn't too hot/cold. I will probably wait a while and see what happens. It's been two days of no action.

Here's the recipe if it helps:

1/2# carapils
1/2# Victory
3/4# Caramel 80

A basic Amber LME... oops forgot to write it down

1 oz Northern Brewer dual purpose hops 60m
1 oz Kent golding aroma hops 10m

English Ale yeast (in a vial) (WLP002)

SG=1.043

 

[StoutNoDoubt]

As long as you didn't add the extra water at a hot temp then you shoulda been ok. For future brews, it's ok to top up your primary to bring it to volume and use cold water as it will help lower your final temperature to pitch your yeast. I've seen some people bring their volume up in secondary with water although I don't recommend it. I'm still fairly new at this myself. If you are using tap water, I recommend using bru vigor to help boost your yeast activity.

 

[likafox]

As long as you didn't add the extra water at a hot temp then you shoulda been ok. For future brews, it's ok to top up your primary to bring it to volume and use cold water as it will help lower your final temperature to pitch your yeast. I've seen some people bring their volume up in secondary with water although I don't recommend it. I'm still fairly new at this myself. If you are using tap water, I recommend using bru vigor to help boost your yeast activity.

I did that for my first two brews. But someone told me that there's a chance to contaminate using straight tap water. I guess its probably slim though since I have city water and its got chlorine. I've been thinking about using spring water since there's some areas around here where you can get it straight from the ground. Getting off topic now.. Never heard of bru vigor but I'm guessing my local brew shop has it. I'll check it out.

 

[likafox]

Still no bubbles. I have no idea what happened. Only thing I can think to do is pitch more yeast. I will say that one day it got a little cold in the house, but it wasn't really that cold. And that shouldn't matter anyway, the yeast would just slow down or go dormant. Also, when I was replacing the lid a little of the sanitizer I had in the airlock squirted into the mix. But I'm pretty sure its not enough to cause any damage. I wouldn't be that upset if I lost the batch, but I just wish I knew what happened. I'll give it a couple more days. I'm just a little worried that if there's not positive pressure in the bucket that it could get contaminated.

 

[duboman]

I doubt its infected. You need to take a gravity reading to see what the beer is doing and where it is at before you consider packaging or adding more yeast.

Chlorine is NOT good for beer so you need to find out what the concentration is or if you detect any off flavors then consider switching your water source if you have an off tasting beer, if not then don't worry about it as very small concentrations can be negligible IMO.

 

[likafox]

I doubt its infected. You need to take a gravity reading to see what the beer is doing and where it is at before you consider packaging or adding more yeast.

I'll do that after I give it a few days. Though I did take a reading after adding the extra gallon of water, and I'm fairly sure it hasn't bubbled since. I'm not well versed in the ways of yeast though so I definitely will check.

Chlorine is NOT good for beer so you need to find out what the concentration is or if you detect any off flavors then consider switching your water source if you have an off tasting beer, if not then don't worry about it as very small concentrations can be negligible IMO.

I was raised on well water so I definitely know when I'm drinking treated water. But I don't know if I would be able to detect chlorine in my beer. So far they have tasted good to me. I took a look at last years water quality report and they noted that the water contained chlorine - .49 ppm. Don't know how much chlorine it takes to add noticeable unwanted taste but I'm sure it would be best to have none. I'm guessing that is bad for the yeast too though... Could it be that chlorine killed my yeast?

 

[duboman]

I'll do that after I give it a few days. Though I did take a reading after adding the extra gallon of water, and I'm fairly sure it hasn't bubbled since. I'm not well versed in the ways of yeast though so I definitely will check.

I was raised on well water so I definitely know when I'm drinking treated water. But I don't know if I would be able to detect chlorine in my beer. So far they have tasted good to me. I took a look at last years water quality report and they noted that the water contained chlorine - .49 ppm. Don't know how much chlorine it takes to add noticeable unwanted taste but I'm sure it would be best to have none. I'm guessing that is bad for the yeast too though... Could it be that chlorine killed my yeast?

Look at phenolic here:http://www.beerjudgeschool.com/uploads/Beer_Characteristics_Flash_Cards.pdf

It is a possible off flavor associated with Chlorine.

As for the rest, like already mentioned bubbling means nothing. You need a gravity reading. Adding the water did not kill your yeast, cause an infection or halt fermentation.

 

[volks_r_us]

Give the fermenter a gentle shake/swirl without opening it. That what I did when my last fermentation stopped showing sign of activity. was back bubling less than 24h later.

 

[likafox]

Give the fermenter a gentle shake/swirl without opening it. That what I did when my last fermentation stopped showing sign of activity. was back bubling less than 24h later.

Wow that totally worked. I swirled it up real good last night and its bubbling again today. Thanks!

 

[likafox]

You need a gravity reading. Adding the water did not kill your yeast, cause an infection or halt fermentation.

I was going to break out the hydrometer today but I think now that it appears active I'll let it sit for a bit. I'll test it again when I rack it.

Is it actually possible for the yeast to be fermenting without the c02 byproduct? Seems unlikely that it would be finished fermenting that fast. How would a gravity reading help in this situation? Not trying to pry but I'm really interested in the science behind this stuff.

 

[likafox]

Update: I racked it and its quite dark, about the color of a brown ale. Tastes like one too. Reminds me of Newcastle. No significant hop aroma/taste. Very good though, I like it. Now that its tasting darker, I'm thinking about adding some blueberries or blackberries. Not to get off topic, and we don't have to get into that process here. Or maybe I'll just dry hop it.

Took a reading and its at 1015. I feel a lot better now that I tested it and tasted it. I might ask about fruit/hops in another forum. Thanks for the help guys.

 

[StoutNoDoubt]

Good stuff! Always trust your hydrometer and you'll be fine. If you have a fairly healthy aggressive yeast, fermentation can be done in as little as 2 days. Cheers!