Primary Fermentation - still going strong on day 8???

[Pablo Honey]

I'm brewing up a 5gallon batch of the MoreBeer Irish Red Ale. I brewed this kits last year and really loved it, great beer!

My question is, I'm on day eight of my primary fermentation and man there's still a thick head of Krausen and my blow-off hose is still bubbling at about 1bubble every 3secs or so, is that normal or to be expected?

My OG was 1.056. I don't remember my first batch fermenting for this long... Could i have my first case of stuck fermentation? Should I be worried?

Thanks in advance for any advice you may have.

-This forum is awesome!!!

[pclemon]

It wouldn't be a stuck fermentation if it's actively fermenting (stuck fermentation refers to yeast that has pooped out, for any number of reasons, prior to completing fermentation).

What yeast did you use and what temperature are you fermenting at? Did you make a starter? If you're at the low end of the temperature range and/or you didn't make a starer it's realistic for it to still be going. Some yeast strains also take their sweet time.

[MuddyMikes]

Relax, don't worry, have a home brew .... RDWHAHB

Your beer will complete it's fermentation on it's own time scale. What you need to do is monitor the gravity reading. When you've hit the target gravity, then it's done. Sometimes this could take a few days, or a couple of weeks.

[Pablo Honey]

I used a "Wyeast Irish Ale", smack pack. My fermentation temp is steady 68degrees. thanks guys!!!

- I got my copy of the "Joy of HomeBrewing" right in my hand. I'll go over the Fermentation chapters again, but it sounds like Irish Ale yeast is just taking it's time and still has some work left to do.

[hwasone]

I used a "Wyeast Irish Ale", smack pack. My fermentation temp is steady 68degrees. thanks guys!!!

- I got my copy of the "Joy of HomeBrewing" right in my hand. I'll go over the Fermentation chapters again, but it sounds like Irish Ale yeast is just taking it's time and still has some work left to do.

make a yeast starter next time, and every time!

[thetooth]

Some fermentations take longer than others. Nothing to worry about.

[A L E X]

I don't even worry about bubbles, or lack of, anymore. As long as there is a decent kraussen, a short lag time, and consistent temps, I let that bad boy sit for two weeks.

[Billy Klubb]

I just bottled the first batch of beer I made 10 years ago! autolysis rocks!













(c'mon people. it was a joke. but my first batch did taste like pure crap)

[majorvices]

I used a "Wyeast Irish Ale", smack pack. My fermentation temp is steady 68degrees. thanks guys!!!

- I got my copy of the "Joy of HomeBrewing" right in my hand. I'll go over the Fermentation chapters again, but it sounds like Irish Ale yeast is just taking it's time and still has some work left to do.

make a yeast starter next time, and every time!

+1 - always use a starter unless using dry yeast. And while I love Charlie P. (his books taught me how to brew) it is seriously outdated. Pick up a copy of John Palmer's "How to Brew".

[Beer4Guy]

I don't even worry about bubbles, or lack of, anymore. As long as there is a decent kraussen, a short lag time, and consistent temps, I let that bad boy sit for two weeks.

+1. Give all your fermentations at least 14 days before you even think about moving it.

Guy

[happs01]

I don't even worry about bubbles, or lack of, anymore. As long as there is a decent kraussen, a short lag time, and consistent temps, I let that bad boy sit for two weeks.

+1. Give all your fermentations at least 14 days before you even think about moving it.

Guy

+1

[Pablo Honey]

Update:

It's day 15 in my Irish Red's fermentation. There are some visible signs of fermentation; about a 1 bubble every 10-11secs, and there's still a light-medium amount of foam, krausen, and resin gunks floating on the surface. Do I let the surface completely clear and wait for everythign floating on the surface to settle out, or should I go ahead and bottle soon? Thoughts?

Reminder: this is the MoreBeer Irish Red, and I used the Wyeast Irish Ale Yeast.

[pclemon]

Take a gravity reading and report back. Visual signs should not be used to determine the amount of fermentation left.

[thetooth]

Take a gravity reading and report back. Visual signs should not be used to determine the amount of fermentation left.

+1

Take a gravity reading. If it's down to your target, you're probably done. If you want to be absolutely sure, take another reading tomorrow and make sure it's the same as the reading you take today. If it's lower tomorrow, then it's still fermenting.

[Pablo Honey]

11/6 - Irish Red Ale Update

After 18days in the primary, I decided to bottle. No more visual signs of fermentation, although there was still quite a bit of hop-resin junk, krausen-foamy stuffy on the surface of the beer. Which I'm not used to since my other batches the surfaces tends to clear after about a week. I kind of dodged the patches of gunk on the surface when I went in to rack the beer with my auto-siphon.

My final gravity reading was 1.022, my original was 1.056 so I'm calling that full fermentation although i'm guessing that it may have had a little fermenting left to do. It smelled great and I got my wife to help me bottle last night at 11pm. I think she deserve a wife-of-the-year award for that. This is my second Irish Red batch, oh man am I looking forward to it!!!