A little bit of reassurance

[discodave]

Two days ago I put on a Coopers Stout with 1kg Extra Dark Spraymalt.

For the yeast, I put it into a 1 litre bottle with 500ml water, a few spoonfuls of spraymalt and a pinch of yeast nutrient the day before brewing.

I then added this mix to the fermenter when brewing so hopefully the yeast has had a chance of getting going first.

The thing is, it has fermented out to 1011 after exactly 48 hours. The temp was a steady 20 degrees in the garage so it wasn't down to that. Maybe it'll just reach 1010, but the fermentation is well and truly over!

Can a fermentation go so quickly, just because of the way I prepared the yeast? Is this OK practice?

(I just took a sneaky sample and it is GORGEOUS. Gonna leave it for another 12 days then barrel for November).

Thanks in advance, (over the past year my brewing has excelled due to this forum)

Dave.

[steve_flack]

Yes, fermentations can go that fast.

[delboy]

(I just took a sneaky sample and it is GORGEOUS. Gonna leave it for another 12 days then barrel for November).
Dave.

i think you've answered yourself Dave , if it tastes good then it is good.
Sometimes its possible for the yeast to ferment the beer in just a few days (like you have seen), its suggestive of happy and healthy yeast. The strain of yeast used can also make a difference something like SO4 seems to be capable of fermenting a low gravity beer in that sort of time frame.

BtW i think thats good practice to leave it sitting for a while longer let it 'mature' on the big yeast cake.

[Wez]

I remember when that first happened to me with a kit (John Bull Masterclass - something) I rang the shop to tell them what had happened and told them I thought something had gone wrong, the advice above is good.

[Barley Water]

Just a quick rule of thumb. If you take starting gravity expressed as the three numbers to the right of the decimal (for example 1.050 would be fifty), divide that by four (or twelve and one-half) then add the one and the decimal back in (or 1.0125) that is a pretty good approximation of where your ending gravity will end up (in a normal situation).

[discodave]

Thanks for the comments...feel safe now...just got to let it sweat out over the next 2 weeks before barrelling...This one is gonna be another Coopers success.

I've never had a bad Coopers! They really are the best single can kits out there.

Oh, if anybody is interested, I wrote to Muntons (Edme) regarding my last 2 stuck fermentations....guess what...?

THEY NEVER BOTHERED TO REPLY...I'LL WRITE AGAIN NEXT WEEK.

Sound familiar eh? That's another promise never to buy Muntons stuff again.

I'm planning on dry hopping the stout. My local HBS Leyland Homebrew suggested 20g of goldings in a cafetiere for 20 mins with boiling water, than add to the barrel with the beer.

Does this sound OK? All I am after is a light 'whiff' of hops as I pour the beer!

Thanks in avance,

Dave.

[chopperswookie]

everytime i have done a coopers stout, similar to the way you did yours but i use just normal dark spraymalt, it goes off like a rocket. so much so it is a bugger to clean up after its finished. i always leave it for ten days even fourteen in primary just to make sure.

[StevieR]

I created a starter using Gervin English Ale yeast and used this with my Woodfordes Wherry. It didn't seem to being doing a great deal but within about 36 hours the SG dropeed from 1044 to 1014

I think its all to do with the quality of the yeast