Stuck fermentation

[bitter_dave]

Ok, I know the issue of stuck fermentation has been discussed already, but I think mine is a litte unusual :rolleyes: so I'm wondering if the usual advice applies.

I made up a kit of Brupaks colne valley bitter at the weekend - possibly not good timing given the hot weather.

I rehydrated the yeast, but added it when the temperature of the wort was possibly too hot - definately below 30 but probably above 25 (old theremomter v. inacurate).

I used safale 04 because I know it works up to 24 C, and kept an eye on the room temperature - it stayed at 23 C for most the period (not going above this).

Anyway, fermentation started mighty quick, but after 36 hours the head had diminished dramatically. It now has almost no head. It has remained at about 1017/1018 ish for the last 24 hours. I have fitted a lid with an airlock to keep out pesky airborne bacteria as best as possible.

What to do?

- leave and see again in 24 hours?
- stir it? (little head to stir in)
- add the yeast that came with the kit?
- barrel it as fermentation is stopped, and hope for the best?

[bitter_dave]

...yeast was pitched on saturday at 7pm btw..

[PieOPah]

With this hot weather, I have had beers ferment very quickly. What was your OG? Have you taken another gravity reading? It is possible that it just finished very quickly...

[bitter_dave]

Just done a more accurate reading in a hydrometer jar - it is 1016 or thereabouts with the wort at 21 c (so no adjustment required).

Looking at the instructions they say it should go down to 1010 or below, but could be 1015 and acceptable, so I guess I'm not too far off that.

Not sure of the OG :rolleyes: - didn't check. The instructions did not give one, so I made it up to the 5 galon mark. The alchohol content should be 4 - 4.3% according to the hop and grape website, so I guess the OG must have been somewhere in the region of 1040 to 1042.

Guess I'll just leave it alone for a couple of days under cover and airlock and then barrel it.

[PieOPah]

You'll probably find that the gravity will drop a couple more points. Just because the krausen has gone doesn't mean fermenting has finished, just slowed down. Give it a couple more days and take another reading. Once the reading is stable over 48 hours then you know that it is ready to bottle/keg.

[bitter_dave]

Cheers PoP

It's clearly not as bad as I thought. In all my other brews the krausen has remained until I've racked to the barrel, so it freaked me out a bit to see it disapear so quickly.

I think I'll reserve brewing for the cooler days of the summer from now on