Hey guys
I'm currently fermenting my second TrueBatchBrew kit, a porter, yeast is a Safale US 05
Brewed on Sunday afternoon (OG=1.052) the fermentation kicked off pretty lively (definitely much more lively than with the Amber Ale), and the temperature of the water bath I put the carboy in jumped to 27C (reading after 24 hours). Now (24 hours later), the kreusen has entirely dropped and the fermentation is much more attenuated (I switched to the airlock and I can see bubble coming through but definitely not comparably to the initial pace).
I took a measure of the gravity, and it seems to be around 1.010, which is more or less what I expected at the end of the fermentation, in two weeks, not in two days..........
I tried to give a read to the yeast specs (http://www.fermentis.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/SFA_US05.pdf) but I don't really get them entirely...
So my questions are:
- can I expect (within another few hours, once the bubbles actually stops) to consider the first fermentation finished so early?
- should I expect particular off flavours from such a quick fermentation?
- does it make any sense to let it "ferment" for another two weeks, or should I just bottle it and kick off a second fermentation in the bottle?
It could be mostly fermented out already, yes.
High temperatures and too many bodies makes for one hell of a party, but it also leaves a mess behind. In this case probably some hot alcohol and fruit off-flavors.
Most of the yeast will have crapped out now as competition for sugar knocks them off, but US05 is pretty forgiving, even at high temperatures, and there'll still be some partying on steadily and cleaning up a bit as they go :)
So you suggest to let it go until it stops entirely, then switch to bottles?
Even if it is finished, I'd definitely leave it at least two weeks before bottling. It will give the yeast a chance to clean up and fall to the bottom of the FV.
I'd leave it sort itself out til the end of the week. Then rack it to secondary and leave it another week or so. Any dryhopping then somewhere cold for 4-5 days before bottling.
It's a porter anyway, so you have plenty of other flavors in there to mask anything unexpected :)
Thanks for the suggestions guys, really helpful. Anything coming out of this batch will anyway be a great learning experience, as usual :)