Surprisingly fast ferment

[motleybrew]

I'm fermenting my second AG brew, an altbier. I pitched on 10/18 late in the day and had active fermentation by the next morning. Today (10/23), I took a SG reading and it was already down to 1.012 (from 1.052). This is my calculated FG. So, is my beer done? Amazingly, it has been fermenting at no greater than 61F, and has gone as low as the mid 40's at night since I'm fermenting it outside.

The sample I took for the SG reading was remarkably clear as well (I used Irish moss). I'm worried that if I let it sit and condition for another 1-2 weeks, the yeast will entirely flocculate out and won't carbonate in the bottle (I used Wyeast 1007).

Is it even possible for the yeast to settle out so much so as to not be able to carbonate?

I'm thinking let it sit in primary for another week and then bottle. Was planning on secondary, but don't think it needs it.

 

[Hex23]

I'm fermenting my second AG brew, an altbier. I pitched on 10/18 late in the day and had active fermentation by the next morning. Today (10/23), I took a SG reading and it was already down to 1.012 (from 1.052). This is my calculated FG. So, is my beer done? Amazingly, it has been fermenting at no greater than 61F, and has gone as low as the mid 40's at night since I'm fermenting it outside.

Certainly not way outside the norm to hit terminal gravity that fast. Any particular reason your keeping it outside? 1007 will sometimes throw off some nasty sulfur, especially at lower temps. Your average temp is pretty decent (a good lager fermentation temp), but the swings are not ideal. They can cause the yeast to go dormant. In your case it seems like it didn't impact attenuation, but maybe it could affect the rate at which conditioning/cleanup occurs. It would be a good idea at this point to raise the temperature to something like 65-68 to speed up the process of cleaning up by-products.

The sample I took for the SG reading was remarkably clear as well (I used Irish moss). I'm worried that if I let it sit and condition for another 1-2 weeks, the yeast will entirely flocculate out and won't carbonate in the bottle (I used Wyeast 1007).

Is it even possible for the yeast to settle out so much so as to not be able to carbonate?

You really need very little yeast to carbonate. Even clear (but unfiltered) homebrew still has live cells in suspension. Your cold conditions may leave less yeast, but you're probably still OK. Before I started kegging, I bottle conditioned some lagers that had lagered for over 2 months. They still carbonated fine with no yeast added.

I'm thinking let it sit in primary for another week and then bottle. Was planning on secondary, but don't think it needs it.

That sounds like a good plan. At two weeks give it a taste and if it tastes matured, go ahead and bottle. Otherwise, give it a little longer.

 

[BigFloyd]

The sample I took for the SG reading was remarkably clear as well (I used Irish moss). I'm worried that if I let it sit and condition for another 1-2 weeks, the yeast will entirely flocculate out and won't carbonate in the bottle (I used Wyeast 1007).

Is it even possible for the yeast to settle out so much so as to not be able to carbonate?

Not gonna happen. I cold crash in the primary (after fermentation is done, of course) 5-7 days @ 35-36*F. Even the nice, clear beer I rack over into the bottling bucket has sufficient yeast left in it to bottle carb.

Let it sit another 10 days or so in primary, confirm it is stable at FG and bottle. If you have the means to do it, cold crashing does a nice job of giving you clear beer and less yeast trub in the bottom of each bottle.

 

[motleybrew]

Thanks, peeps.

I was fermenting outside because it was cold enough to keep the yeast strain happy. My basement stays pretty warm because of the furnace. It seems that it worked out though. Tonight had a frost warning so I pulled it in and will let it sit in my apartment at about 65F for a week or so before bottling.

The sample I took yesterday tasted pretty good. I did use some nontraditional hops for the style, which I am also not familiat with also. But it tasted like there weren't too many off flavors.

Because I don't have any sort of temp control for fermentation, I have to do it outside where the temps are in range for the yeast. But it is starting to get too cold at night for even that. I did have the fermenter wrapped in a blanket to try and keep it from having too great of a variation between day and night, plus it was in the shade.

I'll report back once it has matured.

 

[BigFloyd]

Thanks, peeps.

I was fermenting outside because it was cold enough to keep the yeast strain happy. My basement stays pretty warm because of the furnace. It seems that it worked out though. Tonight had a frost warning so I pulled it in and will let it sit in my apartment at about 65F for a week or so before bottling.

The sample I took yesterday tasted pretty good. I did use some nontraditional hops for the style, which I am also not familiat with also. But it tasted like there weren't too many off flavors.

Because I don't have any sort of temp control for fermentation, I have to do it outside where the temps are in range for the yeast. But it is starting to get too cold at night for even that. I did have the fermenter wrapped in a blanket to try and keep it from having too great of a variation between day and night, plus it was in the shade.

I'll report back once it has matured.

Please be mindful of some potential problems with fermenting outside.

1) Large temp variations as you have already noted. A blanket can only do so much.

2) Any outside light (even indirect) that gets to your fermenter is going to skunk your hops. Then your beer will taste nasty like Heineken.

3) Bugs. Fruit flies and other pesky critters love the smell of fermenting beer and will be happy to bring their microbial friends to the party.