Brewing a 1 gallon all-grain Brooklyn Brew Shop IPA and I’m curious about something…
-The fermentation started quickly, probably within the first 6 hours or so. Ambient temps were around 65, not sure which yeast was included in the kit. Is this normal for a small batch?
-I do plan on waiting 2 weeks for primary, although I forgot to take a hydrometer reading before fermentation.
Thanks gents!
How big was the packet of yeast and what do you guess was the SG?
i brew one gallons on occasion. if you used a packet of ale yeast and was warm it would not surprise me much to see activity starting quickly.
It seemed to be about the size I use on my 5 gallon batches! The recipe doesn’t list SG or FG, but the ABV is supposed to be 6.8%.
AND now I can start to worry about stuck fermentation! The bubble activity has come to a halt as far as I can see and there is a good layer of crud on the bottom of the little 1 gallon carboy. Time to wait… :-\
It’s more likely just done. Sounds like you way over pitched. Take a reading, it should be somewhere in the 1.010 range if it’s done. Regardless go ahead and give it a while longer and hopefully the yeast will clean up after itself.
It’s actually still bubbling once a minute. So perhaps I didn’t overdose on yeast. I assume the kits are sent out with the correct amount for a beginner.
Bubbles can mean that CO2 is coming out if solution, not necessarily that the beer is fermenting.
Could it really be done after 48 hours? I really don’t want to take a sample of the 1 gallon batch, what’s the safer move? Take a sample or let it sit for 2 weeks?
*side note, I never took a reading for OG
It depends on what done means.
Ready for bottling.
Then probably not for a couple weeks at least
It could definitely be done fermenting in 48 hours. Sounds like you pitched plenty of yeast and held it at a good temperature. I’d be surprised if it was stuck.
So the risk of bottling now would be exploding bottles if it weren’t done, correct?
That, and that although the yeast might new done turning sugar into alcohol it still has plenty of work to do cleaning up other fermentation by products
This!
So the consensus is wait?
yes.
Oh yes, wait. Yeast needs some time to clean up off flavors and the beer needs time to clear.
Thanks gents!