Fermentation problems? First home brew.

In general, you should pitch ale yeast somewhere in the 60's. But pitching high ceratinly didn't slow down or stop your fermentation. It's probably finished, or nearly so.

 

Are you fermenting in a bucket or carboy? Can you see a krausen? Sometimes buckets don't seal airtight, so you may only see bubbles when fermentation is at the height of activity.

 

It is possible that your beer is just fine, some beers will ferment out quickly. Do you have a hydrometer and a wine thief to get a gravity reading?

It is possible that you have a weak or stalled fermentation. 65 degrees is typically a really good temperature for the majority of ale yeasts (with some notable exceptions). However if the temperiture has been dipping lower than that, say below 60 at night, your yeasts could potentially slow down or go dormant. Try rousing the yeasts by rocking the fermenter and watch to make sure it doesnt get too cold. Keep it off the floor. Yes, you can add another packet of yeast if you think fermentation has stalled. But be carefull not to oxidize your beer in the process. Dont worry about rehydrating the yeast or any of that stuff. You can gently take off the lid or stopper and just sprinkle a packet of yeast without disturbing things too much (try not to disturb the CO2 layer in the fermenter). Then wait a few hours and rock the fermentor again to get the yeast through any foam layer that may still be on the top.

BTW - next time pitch below 70

 

I was a nervous father. I used to wake my baby to make sure he was still breathing. It didn't do anyone any good. Nothing bad is actually going to happen to the beer in two days even if it has stalled. So just take the gravity reading then. That way you're giving it those two days to ferment - remember there may be nothing wrong with it. That means all you should do today is rock the fermenter and don't worry about it. Rocking the fermenter can't hurt anything, but it can help.

 

It's really important that you give this batch some time to ferment out and let the yeast clean up. If I were in this situation I'd wait a month and then bottle. You're going to be sitting on this beer for a while before you want to drink it anyway. 80F is hot, and you'll get some off flavors from the yeast. The off flavors will settle out. I think you'll start to enjoy this beer around the four month mark a whole lot more than after a few more weeks. This style will generally get better with age. Pretend you're a wine maker.

 

Generally I give my beers at least 2 weeks in the fermented before I even consider thinking about checking gravity. I will keep my eyes on it the first couple days to make sure that it actually does something but does not blow the top off the bucket. Lately I've been giving brews 3 weeks in fermenter before racking / bottling. I seem to get better results that way. Maybe it's just that much more time for the yeast to clean up after themselves, but it's working for me. I wouldn't think about popping the top after just 2 days. RDWHA(H)B.

 

If your beer is behaving normally, there is no need to take a gravity reading prior to a typical time of terminal gravity, but you needn't wait two weeks if you suspect a stalled fermentation. No reason to wait two weeks to find out your beer quit fermenting on day 2. I'd reather find out on day 6 so I could perhaps do something about it.

 

It's harder to gauge if you ferment in buckets, but the easiest visual way to tell if fermentation is complete is to wait until the yeast starts to fall out and the beer starts to clear. That's when I'll take a gravity reading. Usually after 5-7 days for most beers. There really is no reason to take a bunch of gravity readings unless you want to expose your beer to more oxygen/infection risks.