Bubbling suddenly stopped - is this a problem?

Question

This is my second home brew. I chose "Coopers Mexican Cerveza" with "Muntons Beer Enhancer".

It's only day 4 out of 7 weeks but on the second day, the whole bin warmed slightly and there was a lot of bubbling. The bubbling stopped on day 3 and now there's little action - just a few bubbles in the middle. It's about 16 degrees centigrade house when the kit said about 17 so this should be ok? Should I keep the bin shut or can I peak? I have been peaking every now and again - is this a silly idea?

Thank you :).

Answer 1

Most likely everything is fine, it is probably just nearing the end of fermentation. Times can vary greatly depending on temperature, dissolved oxygen, pitching rates, etc, but I've commonly had fermentations that only take 2 or 3 days, and generally there is little bubbling after the first week. The increase in activity you saw on the second day was the yeast reaching high krausen (a good sign), when yeast activity is at its highest. By now most of the free sugars have been used up. However there is still yeast activity as the yeast reabsorbs some of the byproducts and cleans up the beer.

If you are concerned, definitely you can open it up. I would take a gravity reading and see if it is around what you would expect for a final gravity. If it is still high and doesn't change for a few days you can consider repitching but I'm guessing everything is fine!

Answer 2

Here's what I do: Let it go a week from the time you pitch the yeast. Even if it's past the very active stage the yeast is still at work - albeit slowly. After a full 7 days carefully (so as not to contaminate the beer) measure the gravity. Then wait at least 24 hours and measure it again. If they are unchanged then it's done. This simple process has not failed me yet! Good luck.