Quick or stuck fermentation?

[CalamitousChris]

Did my very first batch this weekend, 5.5L of wheat beer has been standing since Saturday late afternoon. Woke up Sunday and to my delight it's bubbling away. Woke up Monday and to my dismay all activity has seized. Nothing has visibly changed since, but since I forgot to by a hydrometer I can't measure gravity. It looks normal, smell is normal although very yeasty (compared to bought beer, but then I don't really have a reference to homemade as it's my first batch). Didn't know that stuck fermentation is something that can happen, but common advice seemed to be to give it a stir to avoid yeast just setting at the bottom so I've done that, but it's still not breathing as of ~8 hours later. As far as I can gather, it's one of three options;

1. A remarkably, but not impossibly quick fermentation
2. Some awfully bad luck getting stuck fermentation on my first batch
3. I'm a bit of an impatient fathead who's way too nervous about how the fermentation is going

Gut feeling says 3, I hope for 1 so I can take a swig, but dear lord don't let this be option 2. As I am a complete rookie, I ask you for some actual knowledge in what this could be. Thanks in advance!

 

[Gerryjo]

2 things at this assuming that everything prior was correct is Temperature and Patience. What was/is the temp of your brew and where have you got it?

 

[CalamitousChris]

Temp is and has been low 20C's since fermentation which should be right with the yeast. Standing in an undisturbed corner in the living room, no sun and quite consant temp.

 

[Gerryjo]

What was your mash temp?

 

[CalamitousChris]

Mash temp was 67-68, shouldn't have gone too high to destroy the enzymes

 

[Gerryjo]

How much yeast have you pitched?

 

[terrym]

Are you saying its finished because your airlock has stopped bubbling (assuming you have one fitted)?
If it has stopped bubbling after a healthy start after onklty two days and you have a standard plastic FV, the most likely cause is the lid to FV seal is allowing CO2 to bypass the airlock. It might look sealed but it isnt.

 

[CalamitousChris]

Only pitched about half of a packet of liquid yeast, so maybe I'd need to pitch a bit more.

The airlock is what's stopped bubbling, which is my main concern. Standard plastic bucket yes, but I'd be damned if it doesn't even survive its first outing. Would have to get another fermenter if that's the case.

 

[Gerryjo]

Only pitched about half of a packet of liquid yeast, so maybe I'd need to pitch a bit more.

The airlock is what's stopped bubbling, which is my main concern. Standard plastic bucket yes, but I'd be damned if it doesn't even survive its first outing. Would have to get another fermenter if that's the case.

Don't panic, just run the course and let it sit out two weeks then check it with a hydrometer as it is still fermenting though you don't see the bubbler.

 

[CalamitousChris]

Cheers, good to know that there should still be something drinkable coming out of this if I just have the patience to leave it!

 

[terrym]

Only pitched about half of a packet of liquid yeast, so maybe I'd need to pitch a bit more.

The airlock is what's stopped bubbling, which is my main concern. Standard plastic bucket yes, but I'd be damned if it doesn't even survive its first outing. Would have to get another fermenter if that's the case.

Leaking FV lids allowing airlocks to be bypassed is a common problem. So don't ditch your existing FV. Both of mine leak a bit. When I want to be guaranteed airlock bubbles I place four strips of cling film over the rim of the FV and then clip the lid down. Problem solved.

 

[dwhite60]

and keep it closed.

 

[CalamitousChris]

Leaking FV lids allowing airlocks to be bypassed is a common problem. So don't ditch your existing FV. Both of mine leak a bit. When I want to be guaranteed airlock bubbles I place four strips of cling film over the rim of the FV and then clip the lid down. Problem solved.

Good to know, I'll see if I can get it sealed a tad better than it seems to be so I'll still get some use from it

 

[Pavros]

I only ever use an airlock with a demijohn, never with a plastic bucket fv. That way I don't have to worry until I take a hydrometer reading halfway through the second week of fermenting.

It doesn't matter if the lid doesn't seal properly. I push mine down firmly all the way round then crack open about an inch of the lid diameter.

 

[Iain Wishart]

I had a very fast ferment with an S33 yeast a few weeks ago, bubbling the airlock like crazy for less than 24 hrs then stopped as did my gravity reading but took the advice to be patient and raise temp slightly and it actually dropped to a suitable fg in the third week.

 

[obscure]

My most recent batch dropped from 1.039 to 1.011 between pitching the yeast on Saturday morning and Monday morning. It then proceeded to take about a week to hit its final grand 1.007 all being well I will bottle on Saturday.

This was at a steady 20 degrees +/- .5 degrees using S-04 was a 9L batch with 11g sachet of yeast which probably helped. Once yeast gets going it can get the bulk of the fermentation done very quickly but still tends to take a bit longer for those last few points. If you can get a Hydrometer it’s the only way to be sure but if after two weeks it seems to have cleared you could take a small sample and taste it to see if you can taste any sweetness, which would suggest an incomplete fermentation.

 

[Hop_it]

I searched the forum yesterday for information about using Safale S-33 as I have just used it for the first time in a Belgian Blond (theoretical ABV of ~4.9%). I wanted something slightly less intense than the Mangrove Jacks M-41 that I had used in a previous Belgian Pale (very nice, but not easy to drink a lot of it). I was quite surprised at how many people commented on the sticking issues with S-33.
My fermentation started very vigorously, but slowed down a lot after 3 days. I racked it into the secondary fermentation vessel, and its been in there for 2 weeks. It's still blooping slowly (~1 bloop/4 min), and the temp has been pretty steady at 20 degC. I decided to take a gravity measurement, and have a taste of it. It's down to 1.013, but it is still quite sweet and fruity, and very cloudy. My recipe was really simple, i.e. just 3kg of Pils malt and 2kg of extra pale M/O. I would not have expected much residual sweetness from this. I'm ok with the 'fruity', but I do like a dry finish, so I've decided to leave it for another week to see if I can get the FG down a bit more.
I'd be interested if anybody has any thoughts/suggestions??????

 

[Hop_it]

Update from 20/12/2020 re:- First time with Safale S-33
Went into the kitchen first thing this morning to make a pot of tea, and the fermentation has speeded up again. Its now blooping at a rate of ~1 bloop/30 seconds (compared with ~1 bloop/4 min 3 days ago). Nothing has changed w.r.t. temperature or location. The vessel has not been touched since Sunday, when I took the sample to measure SG and have a taste.
I've been brewing for >40 years, and I have never used a yeast that has behaved like this before . . . . . very very strange ???????
I'm pleased that I decided to leave it a bit longer. If I had bottled it on Sunday as planned, I may well have created a few bottle bombs for Christmas.

 

[Hop_it]

Update from 23/12/2020 re: First time with Safale S-33
Following on from my last post - the fermentation continued to speed up a bit over the next few days, but started to slow down again towards the end of December, and it had virtually stopped a couple of days later. I bottled it on the 4th Jan, and took another gravity reading. It was 1.004 (Brix: 5.1) . . . quite a bit lower than I had expected. The OG was 1.051.
It's sitting in a warm place for now to give it time to carbonate, and then it will go into the (very cold) garage for a few weeks. The ABV is a bit higher than I had planned for, but it tasted quite promising, so I'm anticipating a good result
The old saying - "The brewer makes the wort, but the yeast makes the beer" is more often than not shown to be true.

 

[Hop_it]

Update from 23/12/2020 re: First time with Safale S-33
Following on from my last post - the fermentation continued to speed up a bit over the next few days, but started to slow down again towards the end of December, and it had virtually stopped a couple of days later. I bottled it on the 4th Jan, and took another gravity reading. It was 1.004 (Brix: 5.1) . . . quite a bit lower than I had expected. The OG was 1.051.
It's sitting in a warm place for now to give it time to carbonate, and then it will go into the (very cold) garage for a few weeks. The ABV is a bit higher than I had planned for, but it tasted quite promising, so I'm anticipating a good result
The old saying - "The brewer makes the wort, but the yeast makes the beer" is more often than not shown to be true.

Update from 07/01/2021 re: First time with Safale S-33
I've now had a couple of chilled bottles of the Belgian Blonde Ale, and also given some to my daughter's partner for independent feedback. . . . . . . And, I'm pleased to be able to say that it's turned out very nice indeed. It was never intended to be a Leffe clone, but it has a very similar aroma and taste. The head retention is also very good. So, my patience has paid off
PS - I've also had a request for some more from my daughter's partner