Should I stir my pumpkin beer?

[benwallage9]

Making my first batch of beer, it's a pumpkin beer. It is fermenting in a 30L brewing bucket. Started fermentation on Monday, there is an two inch layer of foam, and about two and a half inches of sediment looking stuff on the bottom. Should I stir it or let it sit? Is that normal?

Also the bucket I got from the beer store doesn't seem to be closing right. When I but the lid on it doesn't snap closed and you can easily lift the lid up. Is this normal or should the lid snap down like on a paint bucket?

Thanks for reading and any advise.

 

[freisste]

Lid is fine - leave it alone. Everything else sounds normal.

 

[benwallage9]

Thank you

 

[kh54s10]

The lid should seat tightly but will not be a problem.

Agreed that everything is good.

The only reason you might want to stir after fermentation has started would be if you suspect that you had a stalled fermentation. That would be that the yeast had not finished the fermentation. Then you would gently swirl the sediment, containing the precipitated yeast, back into solution, hoping that would help the yeast finish the fermentation.