Stalled fermentation

Question

I've started brewing an Oktoberfest. It has been in primary for a little less than a week. The first 24 hours was good, super active. After about a day, it got pretty warm here, and the thermometer strip on my carboy read 80°.

After that, my fermentation came to a screeching halt. I figured the warmer temp might have just sped up the fermentation process, but when I took a gravity reading, it said 1.022, my OG was 1.042. So it went down considerably in that time. I decided to wait a few more days. Today, I read it and it's at 1.018. I wanted it down to 1.012 to 1.016ish. And to be honest, as I sat here writing this out it doesn't seems as bad as I thought it was.

But, Does this seem normal? Is this a normal rate? Should I let it sit for a bit longer, or is this about as low as I can expect it to get?

This is only my third batch ever, so I'm still new to this. And this is my first time taking gravity readings.

Answer 1

At those temps yes it seems normal to me for it to go that fast. (I assume this is an extract batch and you were using ale yeast.) That high temp could have stressed the yeast out and they are too tired to finish strong at this point.

Different brands of extract can finish higher than others. If its been about a week I'd say let it go for a little longer. Try and keep it in the low 70s at this point. (80 is a little high). The cooling from 80 probably shocked the yeast a bit but they may plug along still just a little slower.

If it tastes good to you 14-20 days in and it seems to not be fermenting more, then I'd say its ready to bottle at that point.

Answer 2

The high temp will have encouraged the yeast to work faster - like proving bread; the warmer the spot, the quicker it rises. The yeast will be tired but still working, albeit a little slowly.