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I have returned to home brewing after a long leave of absence and would be very grateful for some advice just to make sure my wort is still going in the right direction as I am getting a bit concerned. I replaced the time expired yeast packets with new ones and have made two kits, a Brewmaker Strong Export Bitter and a John Thompsons Strong XXX Bitter. Everything was properly sterilised. It's now day 6 and the wort of the Brewmaker is 1.030 and the Thompson's is 1.020. I remember clearly when making these beer kits before that they would generally reach a gravity of about 1006 after 6 or 7 days and become ready for barrelling, it says this is the beer kits instructions.

The gravity readings are taking longer than usual to come down, the temperature of the wort is about 20°C and they both seem to be foaming away quite happily! Am I worrying unnecessarily about the slow fermenting speed could the replacement yeast work slower than the original time expired batches? Any advice would be very helpful and much appreciated.

Thanks. Jon.

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  • What was the gravity when you started?
    – Philippe
    Commented Jul 25, 2017 at 11:05
  • Depends on your original gravity. May be OG was low
    – Murphy's
    Commented Jul 25, 2017 at 12:08
  • The 2 kits are they 2 or 6 gallon.
    – Jack Scotti
    Commented Jul 29, 2017 at 23:32
  • Not enough info to say, but in addition to the other comments (OG and volume) - some more details on the amount of yeast pitched is also necessary to judge the pace of fermentation. If underpitched, longer time would be expected.
    – andy
    Commented Aug 1, 2017 at 12:18
  • what was the yeast that was pitched and how much (eg packets) was used.
    – barking.pete
    Commented Aug 3, 2017 at 21:33

1 Answer 1

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Pitching insufficient or partially inactive yeast can cause prolonged fermentation periods. If the brew is still visibly fermenting then let it ferment to completion. I usually wait for at least 10 days before testing the SG of the brew to determine if it has completed and often wait for at least 14 days before attempting to keg or bottle.

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    Or easier, measure gravity over consecutive days. If it's not moving over a few days - then it is pretty much safe to assume that it has stalled (or finished - depending on reading).
    – andy
    Commented Aug 2, 2017 at 12:38

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