The beer’s been in the fermenter for 6 days now. For the first couple of days it went crazy, I had a good two inches of krausen (foamy yeast head) after 24 hours, but then after about 48 hours it died back completely.
A sneaky peek into the fermenter, krasuen going mad!
Being the worrier I am, I headed over to seek the advice of the helpful folks at the brewuk forums. Apparently it’s nothing to really worry about, as the temperature was on the higher end of the scale (close to 22 degrees by my reckoning), which can cause the krausen to drop very quickly. I left it alone for a few days, but was worried by the lack of pressure in the fermenter and bubbler airlock, and once again asked for help.
The only way to tell if it’s still fermenting is to take a hydrometer reading and see how it is compared to what it went in at (Original Gravity – OG), and then maybe again in a few days to make a comparison again. So last night I sterilised a plastic jug and took a sample, poured it into my sample jar and took a reading which gave me 1011.
The OG was 1050 (targeted 1049), and the Final Gravity (FG) is supposed to be 1011, so once again I went along to ask about it. Could it really be that I hit FG in five-and-a-half days? Apparently, yes. The advice I’ve been given now is to leave it another week for the gravity to drop a little more and for the beer to clear. I think as my original wort volume was a litre or two below the target of 23 litres, I’m going to end up with a slightly stronger beer.
Here’s the (end of) the sample I took. Looking pretty good so far. The targeted colour is 8 EBC, and I think I’m pretty close to that, so that’s another box ticked.
Beer sample to take a gravity reading, nice pale colour
You’ll notice the sample is quite small there. That’s because after I took the gravity reading there was this err.. accident or something, where some of the beer disappeared… Anyway, the long and short of it is that it already tastes very, very nice, far better than I had ever really expected. There’s still a sweet note under all the bitter which I think is just the rest of the sugars that need fermenting, it just tastes a bit young. Another week in the FV, then a week or two in the barrel or bottle and it should be fantastic!
Lessons learned
Don’t be tempted to keep lifting the lid on the FV. I’ve been chastised online for doing it. Especially when the fermentation is young, there’s no protective CO2 layer and it’s the riskiest time for introducing bacteria, wild yeasts and all manner of wee beasties.
Ignore the bubbler airlock. It should bubble away like one in the top of a demijohn, but it is a handy indicator of pressure and the ferment going well.
And maybe most importantly, stop worrying!