Midwest Honeybee Ale

[longcj2]

Alright so I started midwest's honey bee ale around a week ago with their strain of wyeast the headwater ale yeast. I followed the recipe to a tee and made sure everything was sanitary and went to pour the yeast in and waited for about an hour. An hour later the fermentation took off the airlock almost constantly bubbling and now almost a week later it is still very active is that a bad thing? I have never had a beer be this active for this amount a time.

 

[IvanTheTerribrew]

A few things could contribute to what you're describing. These are questions to think about:

What temperature are you fermenting at?
What was your OG? Did you add any adjuncts or treatments?

The best thing id suggest is open it up and take a hydro reading. Compare that to what your target FG is. Also take a whiff of your beer and see if there's any off smell precent. Then lastly try it, take a sample and see what it's like. You can't always predict what yeast will do, when, or for how long. Sure there are things that can get certain results, but I wouldn't worry too much about this fermentation. Let me know what the reading is and how it tastes. Cheers.

 

[longcj2]

The temperature im fermenting at is about 68-69 degrees. I forget the exact OG it was spot on to the recipe. Yeah I think friday im going to open it up and do a gravity reading that will be exactly a week, this is also my first time ever using wyeast.

 

[CBMbrewer]

Different yeasts behave in different ways. Some more so then others. Relax, this is a good thing. Continue to follow the directions from the kit and you will be fine.

 

[IvanTheTerribrew]

Yeah if it will just hit a week on Friday everything seems fine I'm sure it will attenuate pretty close to your FG. No use talking more about yeasts and all the different things that can happen, because I'm sure your batch is doing fine. Cheers and let us know what you find tomorrow. Just make sure that when you take a sample for reading you make sure everything is sanitized and doubly so if you plan on putting it back into the batch. If you plan on that then do what you can to not splash it in. Your beer will have a "CO2 blanket" from fermentation because CO2 is heavier than air so don't worry too much about the exposure. Cheers!

 

[CBMbrewer]

If you take a hydro reading, don't put it back. Six ounces is not enough to worry about. Drink it instead.

 

[longcj2]

Also should I even take a reading if it is still actively fermenting the airlock is still active just not as much as it has been maybe a bubble every minute or so.

 

[IvanTheTerribrew]

I'd say wait until it's not so vigorous of fermentation. It will stop eventually. Whenever it does just got for the reading and see where you're at. And as for the whole taking the sample and drinking it or putting it back, I've done both, never had a problem either way, it's preferences. Good luck!

 

[richlong8020]

I've made this kit before and it's on my list of repeats but it was a very smooth boil, fermentation, and consumption style of beer. Not sure why you have had a strange time with yours. Mine took a good 12+ hrs to get the first bubble.

 

[longcj2]

Hm the bubbling has ceased but i took the top off of the bucket and it kinda looks like dough on top what should i do?

 

[richlong8020]

It's cool. It's just the rest of yeast floats and hops. You can leave it another week to see if it sinks out but it should be ready to go for bottle/kegging

 

[BansheeRider]

Also should I even take a reading if it is still actively fermenting the airlock is still active just not as much as it has been maybe a bubble every minute or so.

No. You should give it at least 2-3 weeks before taking readings.

Hm the bubbling has ceased but i took the top off of the bucket and it kinda looks like dough on top what should i do?

That is probably krausen, everything is fine. I normally wait for the krausen to drop before taking a reading, which happens in 2-3 weeks normally. I once had krausen in the fermenter after fermentation was completed after 4 weeks, it was with the high gravity belgian yeast. If you just wait 2-3 weeks you should have reached FG then you can bottle.